I was in elementary school. My friends and I were big fans of the L'il Abner comic strip. We didn't always get the political satire, although we were pretty smart little guys. We couldn't wait for this movie to arrive in our town. We sat down in anticipation. And then...and then...THEY STARTED SINGING! It was a a musical. The sets were theatrical and the characters didn't look like the ones we were used to. Well, I had to wait about twenty years to see it for the second time, and this time I got a kick out of it. I don't remember the songs. I know an occasional high school still does this play for its spring musical, but it has faded into obscurity. Now that I have learned to love musical theatre, I can watch with an open mind. It's fun. Not great, but fun.

Yes, it's horribly dated. But I remember when I first viewed this really peculiar glop, at the tender age of about 10, only a year or two after it had premiered, I was unimpressed even then.The "acting" - if you can call it that, is so over-the-top, hyper-energetic, schmaltzy, in-your-face, "I'm gonna entertain you or else" overdone, that it's just fatiguing to watch. There's basically no story, the songs are instantly forgettable, and the dance numbers resemble cheerleading routines more than anything else. I can't think of anything to recommend it.And with it's bizarre colors, intentional (I assume)filming on a barely disguised soundstage, and incredibly plastic costumes and sets, along with the aforementioned overacting, the overall tone is one of just unbelievable creepiness. REALLY creepy.Yes, avoid at all costs...

All right, so Al Capp's satire is dated half a century later. It's still one of the most thoroughly enjoyable musicals ever adapted from Broadway.Dogpatch, USA has been determined by the government to be the most useless place in the country and therefore a suitable place to conduct nuclear testing. So the bizarre inhabitants have to move unless they can find a reason to stop the bombing.I admit to being old enough to remember the original comic strip, so I'm probably biased. But lively musical numbers like "Jubilation T. Cornpone" and "Put 'em back the Way They Wuz" elevate this above standard Broadway translations.If you like musicals and great choreography, check this one out!

Fifties movies are -- well -- fifties movies. You accept them for what they are. In those terms, Li'l Abner is fun, especially Stubby Kaye as Marryin' Sam. Just why the fifties are a vast movie wasteland is an interesting subject. I grew up in the fifties, and you could be marked as a non-conformist by not wearing a tie. You got laughed at if your haircut didn't show at least an inch of neck above your collar. Naturally, all this had a chilling effect on television and movies, and so we have only a handful of great movies between the glories of The Third Man and To Have and To Have Not in the forties and Lawrence of Arabia and To Kill a Mockingbird in the sixties. Look at the Oscar winners from the fifties to get an idea of just how bad things were. And so we turned to science fiction -- Destination Moon, Forbidden Planet, This Island Earth -- and to movies based on comic strips like Li'l Abner. When you watch Li'l Abner, just remember, in the fifties this passed for pungent political satire and risqué humor. ricknorwood, sfsite