1940s Hollywood Short
Discussion
There's an eight-minute 1941 Warner Brothers cartoon that is a string of in-jokes presented by Hollywood stars of the time in caricature form.
Some of the representations are quite cruel. Clark Gable has huge ears, Oliver Hardy is shown dancing with two women at once. Appearing as a girl selling cigarettes to diners where the action takes place, Greta Garbo is shown with enormous feet.
Some references are obscure. When people are checking in their coats, the check-in girl says, " Thank you Miss Rand." while accepting two white feather stoles from an unseen client. Google revealed that Sally Rand was an exotic dancer of the time, known for her fan dances, hence the 'feather stoles'.
The one I can't figure out involves Garbo. Approaching Cary Grant while carrying a tray of goods, she says, "Cigars, cigarettes, Bots." Google tells me that 'Butts' was a contemporary American slang term for cigarettes but she definitely says, 'Bots' and the subtitles verify it.
As it stands, it is quite an interesting period piece and some may recognise many of the participants. I just wonder if anyone can clarify the 'bots' thing. Bad voice over? Script error? We may never know.
Some of the representations are quite cruel. Clark Gable has huge ears, Oliver Hardy is shown dancing with two women at once. Appearing as a girl selling cigarettes to diners where the action takes place, Greta Garbo is shown with enormous feet.
Some references are obscure. When people are checking in their coats, the check-in girl says, " Thank you Miss Rand." while accepting two white feather stoles from an unseen client. Google revealed that Sally Rand was an exotic dancer of the time, known for her fan dances, hence the 'feather stoles'.
The one I can't figure out involves Garbo. Approaching Cary Grant while carrying a tray of goods, she says, "Cigars, cigarettes, Bots." Google tells me that 'Butts' was a contemporary American slang term for cigarettes but she definitely says, 'Bots' and the subtitles verify it.
As it stands, it is quite an interesting period piece and some may recognise many of the participants. I just wonder if anyone can clarify the 'bots' thing. Bad voice over? Script error? We may never know.
Jonquil said:
There's an eight-minute 1941 Warner Brothers cartoon that is a string of in-jokes presented by Hollywood stars of the time in caricature form.
Some of the representations are quite cruel. Clark Gable has huge ears, Oliver Hardy is shown dancing with two women at once. Appearing as a girl selling cigarettes to diners where the action takes place, Greta Garbo is shown with enormous feet.
Some references are obscure. When people are checking in their coats, the check-in girl says, " Thank you Miss Rand." while accepting two white feather stoles from an unseen client. Google revealed that Sally Rand was an exotic dancer of the time, known for her fan dances, hence the 'feather stoles'.
The one I can't figure out involves Garbo. Approaching Cary Grant while carrying a tray of goods, she says, "Cigars, cigarettes, Bots." Google tells me that 'Butts' was a contemporary American slang term for cigarettes but she definitely says, 'Bots' and the subtitles verify it.
As it stands, it is quite an interesting period piece and some may recognise many of the participants. I just wonder if anyone can clarify the 'bots' thing. Bad voice over? Script error? We may never know.
Are these subtitles an accurate reflection of the script though? Many subtitles on YouTube videos are just generated automatically by voice recognition software, and can be very wrong.Some of the representations are quite cruel. Clark Gable has huge ears, Oliver Hardy is shown dancing with two women at once. Appearing as a girl selling cigarettes to diners where the action takes place, Greta Garbo is shown with enormous feet.
Some references are obscure. When people are checking in their coats, the check-in girl says, " Thank you Miss Rand." while accepting two white feather stoles from an unseen client. Google revealed that Sally Rand was an exotic dancer of the time, known for her fan dances, hence the 'feather stoles'.
The one I can't figure out involves Garbo. Approaching Cary Grant while carrying a tray of goods, she says, "Cigars, cigarettes, Bots." Google tells me that 'Butts' was a contemporary American slang term for cigarettes but she definitely says, 'Bots' and the subtitles verify it.
As it stands, it is quite an interesting period piece and some may recognise many of the participants. I just wonder if anyone can clarify the 'bots' thing. Bad voice over? Script error? We may never know.
Interesting little question for movie buffs though! I have no idea, apart from the fact that Garbo was known to be a heavy smoker herself.
ETA: OK, I've now found the film. I still don't know what she's saying but I'd say the subtitles are automatically generated. Notice that Cary Grant's reply to her is subtitled "hello Gailey", which is presumably meant to be "hello girlie"?
Edited by Granadier on Friday 24th March 00:42
Thanks. I've watched it a few times and I've noticed only one other subtitle glitch. Where Cagney, Bogart and Raft are plotting what is to be a risky job, one says something about each would have to take the rap alone if things go wrong. This is titled 'wrap'. In my experience, auto subtitles are often far less accurate.
in my opinion, Garbo definitely offers Grant, 'bots' and this is what intrigues me the most.
in my opinion, Garbo definitely offers Grant, 'bots' and this is what intrigues me the most.
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