User Reviews

Felix falls in with a bum who decides they'll split the work and the rewards 50-50; the result is that the little black cat does all the work and the other guy gets all the rewards.

The other reviewer comments on the habit Pathe had of splitting their cartoons in half for home distribution. The copy I looked at was from a Kodascope print, and looked pretty complete to me. The cartoon as it exists is competently done and amusing, but it lacks the fantastic inventions and transformations of the best Felix cartoons.

Felix the Cat somehow causes a car to break down. The driver throws him into the woods. A hobo gets thrown off a train and lands right next to him. He befriends the hobo despite being the one doing all the work. The hobo claims that this is a fifty-fifty split, but only the hobo gets the benefit.

The hobo is a real jerk. I do want comeuppance, but I want something more imaginative. The court case makes no sense and feels extremely rushed. It's way too desperate to get to the fifty-fifty punchline. I would rather get him to barf from bad milk and forget the punchline. It's not great, but it's a fine Felix cartoon.

Back in 1922, films were truly silent and if any music accompanied them, it was provided by the local theater in the form of a live organ or piano. However, after the sound era came, many old silent cartoons were re-released with music and, often, sound effects. "Fifty-Fifty" is a Felix the Cat cartoon where a musical score was later added...though there are no sound effects.

The story begins with a car breaking down...and it turns out it's because Felix is hiding in the engine. He soon meets up with a hobo and the pair agree to be friends and split everything 50-50. However, again and again, Felix brings his new friend food and drink and the bum eats and drinks it all! Obviously the bum isn't splitting things at all. What's poor Felix to do?! How will he get his revenge?

During the 1920s, Felix the Cat was probably the biggest and most popular cartoon star. Despite the very simple drawings and backgrounds, the films were entertaining...just like this one. Why? Because they had a nice sense of humor...and I recommend you try this one.

Felix the Cat cartoons are nearly always in two parts because this allowed Pathé to chop them up conveniently into two for release on 9.5mm for home viewing. Sometimes only the 9.5m versions seems to have survived and, as they were invariably re-titled, one has two separate films instead of one and sometimes only one of the two.

Felix in the Bone Age exists for instance as Felix at the Museum (Felix gets thrown out of the museum after trying to steal a dinosaur bone and lands on his head) and Felix in the Stone Age (where he awakes to find himself in the Stone Age) but a more or less complete version does also exist although I suspect the final pay-off (connecting the two parts and indicating it was all a dream) is still missing.

In the case of Fifty-Fifty or Felix Fifty-Fifty, there is no full version that I know of. The two halves on 9.5m were re-titled Félix le chat chausse mieux/Felix the Puss for boots and Félix a des déceptions d'estomac. In the first part Felix meets an old friend who is in agonies because his shoes are worn out. By dint of a bit of caterwauling, Felix gets shoes thrown at him and is able to help his friend out. Later however when the two are hungry, Felix manages to find them both food, but the friend eats all of it without troubling to share with the unfortunate Felix.

The second part I have not seen anywhere but the first part can be found in both an English and German version (Ja aber der Kater Felix hat doch die besten Schuhe). The feel-good first half evidently appealed more than the rather depressing second half. Again, there may have originally been a more mitigating pay-off that was cut when the film was divided.