Claws for Alarm (1954) User Reviews

Very Funny, But I've Seen This Somewhere Before In Another Porky-Sylvester Cartoon

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 8 June 2007]

Porky and Sylvester are teamed as owner and pet in this one. They are out driving somewhere in the middle of night in the middle of nowhere but Porky is excited to drive up to "Dry Gulch," which looks like a ghost town. Sylvester sees it for what it is but Porky, for some unknown reason, sees it "as a perfectly splendid place to spend the night." To him, the fact nobody is around just means these country folks must go to bed early.

This is a theme I saw in another Porky & Sylvester cartoon in which Porky doesn't wake up to reality until the last minute and poor Sylvester constantly gets accused of being a "scaredy cat." The only thing different is the setting: this being in a ghost town out West.

Poor Sylvester gets accused of every mental illness you can think of, after each time he saves his dumb master's life because the latter doesn't see what's really going on. It's deadly mice trying to kill Porky.....a slew of them, but our loyal cat is up to the task, even if he's not appreciated. This, like the other cartoon with the same theme, is both funny but frustrating we wait - and hope - Sylvester gets the credit he deserves.

I can't give away the ending.....but it's downright diabolical! This cartoon can be seen on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Three.

really cute flick--why haven't they shown it in many years?!

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 21 June 2006]

This is an odd movie in that Sylvester plays Porky Pig's pet cat--I can't recall having seen this pairing in any other cartoons. Porky is amazingly oblivious to impending harm when he decides to check in at a dilapidated old haunted house. Well, Sylvester isn't so stupid--he knows that this house is trouble and Porky must force him to come with him in the house. Porky, being awfully dumb, has no trouble sleeping but again and again Sylvester sees the spirits are about to kill them and tries to alert his owner--without any success. Finally, Sylvester tires of the whole business and whomps Porky over the head and forcibly makes them leave.

The cartoon gets strong kudos for pure enjoyment and originality. Also, while I generally preferred the animation of Warners cartoons of the late 40s and early 50s, the more modern and strange style of the animation for this film really works. It's a real treat to watch.

Just because your a fraidy cat doesn't mean that the armed mice aren't trying to kill your master.

[Son_of_Mansfield · 9/10 · 5 June 2006]

Porky Pig takes Sylvester to a hotel in a ghost town and sleeps through several attempted murders by gun and nose wielding mice, while mistaking Sylvester's heroics for the ramblings of a crazy cat. This is classic Porky Pig with some of his better stuttering. The ending is priceless, after protecting his master through the entire night, Porky is so happy with his peaceful night of sleep that he decides to stay for a week, which prompts Sylvester to smash him over the head with a rifle as Porky sings "Home on the Range."

Porky Pig: "Oh, give me home where the b-buffalo roam and the d-deer and the antelope pl-pl...and the deer and the antelope pl-pl...and..."

One of the great Chuck Jones-directed Warner Bros. cartoons

[Pope-8 · 10/10 · 6 April 1999]

In my opinion, one of the greatest Warner Bros. cartoons ever. Another of the long list of great Chuck Jones shorts of the '50s ("Drip-Along Daffy", "Rabbit Seasoning", "One Froggy Evening") and another in which Porky Pig and (here, his pet cat) Sylvester go on a trip and face disaster, unknown to Porky (see also "Jumpin' Jupiter", 1955).

Porky and Sylvester check into an abandoned hotel, and are menaced by evil (satanic?) mice intent on killing them both. It's beyond me how such subversive stuff was put on cinema screens in 1954. The collaboration of Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese brings about a level of twisted genius, as well as cockeyed comedy, that few cartoons, even WB cartoons, can ever hope to match. A true masterpiece of short animation.

Scary ending!

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 16 July 2010]

I really loved Claws for Alarm, the 1950s were a wonderful time for Looney Tunes cartoons, and this is no exception. Comparisons with Scaredy Cat are inevitable, though I am not going to compare, other than to say although I loved Scaredy Cat I marginally preferred this(probably not a popular opinion here but oh well). The animation is dark and atmospheric, and also has a crisp and smooth feel to it. The backgrounds especially are wonderful to look at. The music is clever and also adds to the atmosphere. The dialogue is very good too, and the sight gags are interesting. And I have to say I loved the ending, it was very scary. Porky is good, but Sylvester is the scene stealer in my opinion, while Mel Blanc is exceptional once again as always. Overall, atmospheric with a great ending. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Boy, is Porky fussy!

[slymusic · 9 April 2009]

"Claws for Alarm" is a Warner Bros. cartoon written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones, featuring some wonderful background artwork by Maurice Noble. As a sequel to "Scaredy Cat" (1948), Porky Pig and Sylvester the cat once again spend the night in a spooky old hotel, where Sylvester sees all the spooks, but Porky doesn't.

I would say that the funniest thing about "Claws for Alarm" is the verbosity of Porky as he reacts to Sylvester's jumpy disposition. One scene in particular that I like: Sylvester pushes Porky over the registration desk to prevent him from being the victim of a hangman's noose; Porky then has trouble saying "schizophrenic" as he scolds Sylvester.

"Claws for Alarm" can be found on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3 Disc 3 (a disc specializing in Porky and other pig-related cartoons). One point of advice: If you truly like this cartoon, as I do, then don't listen to the audio commentary. The two commentators (one of whom I never really liked at all) speak quite disrespectfully towards this cartoon, comparing it with "Scaredy Cat", which I think is unfair.

Warner Bros. tries to warn the World against having a Rio Olympics . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 19 August 2016]

. . . in CLAWS FOR ALARM, set at a haunted hotel which embodies all the horrors besetting American athletes and those of other normal nations down there these past two weeks. Porky Pig represents the smug International Olympic Committee: Fat Cat One Per Center Octopi with all eight tentacles constantly probing around, grasping for unethical bribes. These sadistic buffoons get their jollies by bankrupting little countries such as Canada and Greece, supporting evil dictators in places like Hitler's Germany, Putin's Russia, and cracked Red China, as well as fomenting Civil Unrest or facilitating terrorist bloodbaths from Mexico City to Munich. The IOC outdid themselves with the so-called "Rio Games," despite Warner's warning here in ALARM. Sylvester Cat, representing American Athletes, is beset by Killer Bugs (think Zika mosquitoes, whom the World learned just this week are NOT "benign" to adults, but actually cause a lingering doom with an insidious process gradually turning their brains into Mad Cow Disease-style goo in a decades-long, Multi-Million Dollar Living Death bankrupting national health care systems with herds of the damned suffering more than Beethoven with his untreated syphilis). Local rats dressed in ghostly rent-a-cop garb blame our American Swim Heroes--again in the guise of Sylvester--for the Pre-Existing broken-down squalor they've always lived amid and extort "damage claims" at gunpoint for the privilege of going back to Civilization, that is, the USA. No wonder Sylvester, on behalf of all right-thinking Americans, flees "Hotel Dry Gulch"--or Hotel Brazil--after clobbering IOC representative Porky Pig to conclude this ALARM!

Don't escape from seeing this (that is, no escape claws).

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 19 October 2006]

In one of the many classic Looney Tunes cartoons, Porky Pig and Sylvester spend the night in a desert town. The only thing is, this town appears to be haunted or something. So, Porky, completely clueless, goes about doing his business while a gaggle of nasty mice try to kill him. Sure enough, every time that Sylvester narrowly saves Porky, Porky believes him to be insane.

Some of the stuff in here might seem a little far out for a cartoon, especially in the '50s. But that's just why the Looney Tunes were so great: they weren't afraid to do whatever they wanted. You'd better believe that they were all about trashing the rules; and that's just what they do here. These cartoons were truly the gold standard of their era. Really funny.

So yes, do give me a home...

It's scarier than you think.

[GiraffeDoor · 8/10 · 23 March 2023]

A comedic but genuinely terrifying piece of vintage animation.

It really gets to me, these gremlin on the plane scenarios, in which only one character sees the danger but is not believed.

The archetypally creepy house with Porky just totally oblivious to any possible danger could teach the horror movies a thing or two. There is a skin crawlingly real sense of an unseen menace that could be just about anywhere.

Yes, it's funny too and also somewhat poignant and the pay off is great.

I really like this silent Courage the Cowardly Dog-esque version of Sylvester and with that I think I have a sufficient character count.

"Tell me, Sylvester - is there any insanity in your family?"

[utgard14 · 8/10 · 26 December 2014]

Porky and Sylvester stop for the night at a dilapidated old hotel. Porky ignores the obvious signs that this place is haunted but Sylvester is very much aware of all the spooky goings-on. Chuck Jones does a great job here with the comedy and the creepiness. There's a really nice dark atmosphere with this short. Mel Blanc outdoes himself with some very funny stuttering punchlines for Porky. This is a follow-up to the awesome Scaredy Cat, which also starred Porky and Sylvester. In many ways, it's even better than that short. Both are classics, however, so we're really splitting hairs trying to decide which is best. Love that final shot!

Good enough but the existence of 'Scaredy Cat' renders it redundant

[phantom_tollbooth · 5/10 · 4 November 2008]

Chuck Jones's 'Claws for Alarm' is an inferior remake of his own 'Scaredy Cat'. While 'Scaredy Cat' had provided a brilliant combination of laughs and genuinely creepy horror, 'Claws for Alarm' very much concentrates on the former. This wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing had 'Scaredy Cat' not done everything 'Claws for Alarm' attempts better already. 'Claws for Alarm' uses more limited animation than the lush 'Scaredy Cat' which, while it is lively and colourful, doesn't come close to creating as affective an atmosphere as the former cartoon's gorgeous, intricate look. The plot is almost entirely identical (Sylvester attempts to rescue Porky Pig from some psychotic mice) except that this time round Porky never realises the truth, eventually driving Sylvester to violence. This leads to an ominous ending which is perhaps the only thing about 'Claws for Alarm' that is actually better than 'Scaredy Cat' (which had a rather weird ending based on an outdated reference). While many people's personal preference may be down to which they saw first, 'Scaredy Cat' is, to my mind, clearly the superior picture and its very existence renders 'Claws for Alarm' entirely redundant.

Great Cartoon

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 5 July 2019]

Sylvester leaves his indomitable role as a chaser of canaries and becomes a pet to Porky Pig. After traveling all day, Porky decides to spend the night at dry gulch. It is a haunted hotel and immediately Porky's life is in danger. Sylvester does everything he can to save him from assaults, but every time he tries he gets blamed for doing what the ghosts are actually doing. It is non-stop entertainment.

An Excellent Little Short

[pdeadman · 9/10 · 10 November 2006]

I greatly enjoyed this cartoon when I watched it in the early nineties. I only saw it in 'Quackbusters', but I liked it then as now. I think one reason I like it so much is because it was much more complex than most cartoons of that time. It dealt with violence, death and the paranormal, and it would never, ever be allowed today. The ominous nature of the piece is clear from the first moment it begins. Now, I know this is not a common way of looking at it, but I thought of something when I recently saw the Quackbusters movie again. Is it possible that Sylvester is responsible for everything that happens? After all, the 'ghost' is proved to be just a sheet, is it possible that Sylvester is delusional, maybe even schitzophrenic? You see the mice, sure, but Porky never sees them, perhaps they aren't real. That is emphasised by him seeing the eyes in the odometer at the end. I'm not sure, but I couldn't help but think that.

Love It

[movies-109 · 10/10 · 27 February 2020]

The bit with the moose head always gets me. It's basically a sequel or remake of Scaredy Cat, but I believe it's funnier. Used to see it frequently on early Saturday morning cartoons and always looked forward to it. It's in the top ten all time of Chuck Jones.