Bugs tells the story of the luckless Steve Brodie who, in 1886, decided he needed a good luck charm to break his run of bad luck. There is a plaque by Brooklyn Bridge to commemorate him jumping from there - an event, we learn, that was caused by Bugs outwitting him when Brodie decided he would adopt a rabbit's foot as his charm.
Bugs Bunny doing his well loved wise cracking, tricky stuff is always worth seeing and here it is pretty much the saviour of a cartoon that trades almost entirely on Bugs' New York mannerisms and con-appeal. The plot sets time back simply to set up the punchline (which works well so no problem), and the material is the usual stuff we've come to expect from Bugs. He dresses up, he is everywhere at once and he runs rings out the luckless Brodie. It is pretty funny but it doesn't quite have as much in the way of imagination as one would hope for from Bugs.
Bugs is the saviour here and he really carries the short himself. He is omnipresent, one step ahead and very funny. Brodie is OK as a big Irish thug but I prefer Bugs' partners to have a bit more to them that simply being a patsy.
Overall this is still worth seeing as Bugs is on good form - it's just a shame the material lacks the spark and imagination that so many of his cartoons thrive on.