Additional Details ------------------------------ Product description: Mutt and Jeff: Slick Sleuths Directors: Charles R. Bowers, Bud Fisher Writer: Bud Fisher (comic strip Mutt and Jeff) Private eyes Mutt and Jeff are on the trail of the ghostly shape-shifting criminal, the Phantom. Genres: Short, Animation, Comedy This cartoon was one of the last Mutt and Jeff cartoons made. Over three hundred Mutt and Jeff cartoons had been released since 1913. In this cartoon, Mutt and Jeff are detectives on the trail of 'The Phantom'. The Phantom is easy to find, but since it seems to be half-shadow and half-smoke, it is impossible to catch. When they finally corner their prey and summon the police, they are in for a surprise. All this is action is 'enhanced' with weird sounds that are hard to describe and were innovative for their time - but also a bit crudely donel. This cartoon is interesting because in the early 1930s, it was colorized (by hand) and re-released with a music score. The film was reissued by Modern Sound productions in two-strip Kromocolor. The effect is much more pleasing and natural than later computerized colorization, and you would never know that the cartoon was originally in black and white. It is shocking to see beautiful full-color in a film released in 1926 - long before true color became common. In the 1920s, options for color were the Pathe color process (where paint rollers and stencils were used to hand-color the cels) or Two-Color Technicolor--which worked okay but tended to make all the colors look very green and orange. Here, however, the colors are vibrant and truly ahead of their time. It was directed by the obscure comedian, Charley Bowers, whose live-action shorts are among the funniest and most inventive of the silent era. And, it's nice to see one of his animated films--especially since it, too, has a weirdness that is refreshing. Cinemaniacs and film historians would adore this short. Format: color