Popeye and Bluto in CAN YOU TAKE IT? (1934) – Hand over fist, a first-rate cartoon

CanYouTakeIt

(WARNING: Major spoilers abound!)

Popeye sees a sign for the “Bruiser Boys Club – Can You Take It? – We Dare You To Join.” Inside, Popeye sees muscle-bound men doing their best to bludgeon each other into hamburger. Then he finds that the club’s president is Bluto. So, ya think Popeye would want to join this place? The only thing missing is a free can of spinach to new members.

Bluto derisively shakes Popeye’s hand and gives him an enlarged, sore thumb. Popeye responds by turning his other hand into a vice when he shakes it with Bluto’s.

That would be enough for most he-men, but not for Bluto, who puts Popeye through a club initiation that looks like The Ninth Circle of Hell Amusement Park. When Popeye ends up in a hospital bed and is told by Bluto that he can’t “take it,” well, it’s all over but the spinach. Popeye finally becomes president of the club, but that’s pretty easy to do once you’ve decimated all of the other members.

On a rating scale of 1 to 4 spinach cans, I give this cartoon: CanCanCanCan

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