Evening star., 1948-06-11
The CAST.
= ev Harv Macarthur

H"Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!" Is,
as YOU probably know already, a
phrase employed in conversing Win
mules. 1t also is the name OF the
new motion picture entertainment
at the Capitol. q Technicolor frolic
featuring the brassy-haired MISS
June Haver, . young man named
Lon McCallister, Walter Brennan
and . pair Of handsome mules. It
isn't really bad as . bit OF light
diversion and If your knowledge OF
mules has been limited 50 far you
will find 1t instructive As well as re-
freshing.
"Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!" must
be noted for more than merely out
doing "Oklahoma!" by enc exclama-
ton point as typewriting problem.
It is full of mule lore. Mules, 1t Is
revealed in the conversation Of Mr..
Brennan, who impersonates a mule
lover from way back, are the favor
ties only of those who know better
than to call a horse smart or call a
dog mans best friend.
Do you know what horse does
when he gets caught in q barbed
wire fence? Yanks and yanks until
| he saws his hoof right OF, that's
what he does. But does mule do
that? Oh. no. A mule lifts his
hoof carefully and frees himself
from the barbed wire. Ever see a
mule stuff himself on food? No
Stree, bub. A mule never eats too
much. Ever see a mule drink too
much? You did not. And another
thing. You have to feed dog, but
mule feeds himself and you. too.
A man who owns team of mules Is
in business. They work for him
until they drop.
The man who sets himself up in
business in "Scudda Hoo! Scudda
Hay" is the young one played by
Lon McCallister. His problems in
clude a stepmother whom he hates,
a stepbrother whom he hates, a
young farmers daughter (Miss
Haver) for whom he yearns with a
puppyish passion, and the girls
father, who has sold him the mules
and wants them back. That's about
as much as you need to know about
plot. Lon conquers stepmother
and stepbrother and keeps his
mules, scudda hooing and scudda
haying them to triumph over all
obstacles.
You may never before have given
overmuch thought to mules, being
content to let them fight their own
fight for recognition, but you
shouldn't let that frighten you away
from "Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!"
F. Hugh Herbert, operating as both
writer and director, has made an
engaging film, for the most part,
from George Agnew Chamberlain S
novel. Among other things, Mr..
Herbert is a man who has a fine
knack for giving dialogue both the
sound of entertainment and the
sound Of people talking, which is
the kind Of dialogue you encoun-
ter less often than you realize.
Among the players in the prettily
colored rural photoplay, the mules
stand out. They're really q hand
some pair. as mules 60. Mr.. Bren-
nan does we'll, too, and so do Henry
Hull, in a brief moment as the boys
father, and Tom Tulley, as a farm
er aptly named Roarer. Mr.. Nc
Callister and Miss Haver probably
are all right, too, for those who like
the types. That. June's skinny
one, though.
Directly her opposite in the mat
ter of avoirdupois is the headliner
of the Capitol's stage show. He is
Jack E. Leonard, q rotund comic
whose antics are not exactly un-
known around here. Others are
Pierre d'Angelo and Vanya, ball
room dancers; Boy Foy, the unicy-
cling juggler, and Marian Francis,
ciy