The Van Beuren Tom and Jerry (as said already not the famous cat and mouse, this is a human duo that lasted for just under 30 cartoons, 29 if memory serves correct, between 1931 and 1933) series was interesting but uneven and not easy to rate as an overall whole. At the series' best, the cartoons were good, very good in a few cases. At its worst, they were really bad.
While few, if any, Tom and Jerry cartoons are as bad as 'Plane Dumb', 'Hook and Ladder Hokum' is to me one of the weaker ones. It is interesting for the involvement of Frank Tashlin, but sadly isn't really a particularly good representation of a talented and under-appreciated director/animator (it is safe he went on to much better things). The best thing about it is the music score which is the high point of even the worst cartoons and is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated and full of energy, doing so well with enhancing the action.
Tom and Jerry are better designed here than they usually were, less primitive and a little more detailed. A bit involving flames spelling help and hurry induces a very wry smile.
Conversely, once again, most of the animation didn't do it for me. A vast majority of it is crude and simplistic with a fair share of static moments.
For Tashlin, 'Hook and Ladder Hokum' is rather tame, not much wit here. The cartoon is bland also by Tom and Jerry humour standards, the absurdist strangeness doesn't come through enough, the gags are too few and what there is aren't funny or imaginative and the timing is sluggish. Some of the antics are also very 20s silent melodrama-like.
It's a paper thin cartoon in story once again, true of most cartoons in the series, with everything feeling like filler. Tom and Jerry are bland and surprises are next to none.
On the whole, not hokey but rather dull. 3/10 Bethany Cox