Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie

Plot synopsis:
Expecting to honeymoon in Chicago and live there, newlywed Nellie is disappointed when she and Ben Halper disembark from their train at a small town in Illinois, where he has chosen to live and run a barber shop.
Ben lies to his wife, claiming the shop is only rented and likewise their home, when actually he has purchased both. Nellie gives birth to their two children, but wants so much to see Chicago that when Ben is away, she accepts an offer from Ed Jordan, a hardware store owner, to visit the big city together. In a train wreck, Nellie is killed.
The thought that his wife might have been unfaithful haunts Ben over the coming years. His children grow up, and Ben Jr. decides against his father's wishes to go to Chicago as a dancer in a vaudeville act.
Ben becomes a grandfather and his son serves in World War I, where he is injured and can no longer dance. Ben Jr. takes a job with a Chicago racketeer named Kava, to his father's shame. One day, both Ben Jr. and his boss are gunned down by machine guns.
An elderly Ben Halper looks back on his life with regret, his greatest remaining pleasure being that his granddaughter, Nellie, grows up to exactly resemble the woman he long ago married.

Tags: psychedelic

Review:
Doesn't shine enough. Fleischer were responsible for some brilliant cartoons, some of them still among my favourites. Their visual style was often stunning and some of the most imaginative and ahead of its time in animation.The character of Betty Boop, one of their most famous and prolific characters, may not be for all tastes and sadly not as popular now, but her sex appeal was quite daring for the time and to me there is an adorable sensual charm about her. That charm, sensuality and adorable factor is not lost anywhere here, nor her comic timing. She definitely makes 'Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie' watchable and her, her chemistry with Bimbo and the charming and amusing animated parts stop the cartoon from falling into total doom.'Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie' is to me one of the weaker animated/live action Betty Boop with live action performers cartoons. It's generally pretty forgettable and average and not enough of it gels. Granted, the animation is outstanding, everything is beautifully and meticulously drawn and the whole cartoon is rich in visual detail and imagination. Every bit as good is the music score, which delivers on the energy, lusciousness and infectiousness, great for putting anybody in a good mood.Betty does steal the show, the animated parts are very well done as an overall whole and there are amusing and charming moments even if there is a lack of invention. Bimbo is good fun, if not as interesting, likewise with the other performers.Sadly, the live action parts let 'Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie' down. A big problem when it is far more prominent than the animation. On the most part, despite some nice interaction, the live action is really dull in pacing and none of it is imaginative, funny or memorable. Not that the cartoon was inventive exactly to begin with and for early Betty Boop it is pretty tame which makes things feel bland. Concluding, worth a one-time watch but doesn't really gel. 5/10 Bethany Cox