This is the first of two filmed adaptations of Al Capp's classic comic strip, in which the title hillbilly (Granville Owen) does his best to avoid the marital advances of girlfriend Daisy Mae (Martha O'Driscoll). ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
Review
The first screen adaptation of LI'L ABNER is fairly disappointing, but it does do one thing very well: capture the bizarre physical look of Al Capp's outlandish cartoon world. It's not just Granville Owen (a.k.a. Jeff York)'s muscle-bound, lantern-jawed, curlicue banged Abner either ; even the unrealistically squat, potato-nosed Mammy Yokum and outlandishly-bodied Daisy Mae look as if they stepped right out of the newspaper and onto the screen, and the settings are equally faithful. The cast's "rightness" goes beyond the physical; while the characters are, by design, lacking in depth, the cast captures their personalities very well. Unfortunately, they're working in the service of a trite screenplay that is successful at replicating Capp's dialect but not the flavor that informs it. Worse, it totally dispenses with the social and political satire that Capp brought to the strip and which gave it a great deal of punch. What is left is a standard issue, uninspired story that never comes to life. Albert Rogell's plodding direction doesn't help, although he is to be commended for casting the immortal Buster Keaton, even if it's in a part that doesn't allow him to shine very much. Abner has the right look; it's too bad its charms are too much on the surface. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Albert Rogell - Director, Donn W. Hayes - Editor, Otto Ludwig - Editor, Harry Jackson - Cinematographer, Lou L. Ostrow - Producer, Herman Schlom - Producer, Charles Kerr - Screenwriter, Tyler Johnson - Screenwriter
Li'l Abner is a 1940 film based on the comic stripof the same name created by Al Capp. The four most recognizable names associated with the film are Buster Keaton as Lonesome Polecat, Jeff York (much better-known as first rival bad-guy, then ally, Mike Fink in the Davy Crockett TV serials) as Li'l Abner, and Milton Berle, who co-wrote the title song.
Li'l Abner becomes convinced that he is going to die within twenty-four hours, so agrees to marry two different girls: Daisy Mae (who has chased him for years) and Wendy Wilecat (who rescued him from an angry mob). It is all settled at the Sadie Hawkins Day race.
