Mad #147 (Albert Feldstein) - Little Dull Man Issue - December 1971

Mort Drucker was in fine form as usual drawing the movie parody of Little Big Man.  Drucker and writer Arnie Kogen did a good job of identifying the inconsistencies of an otherwise very entertaining movie.  The drawings of native American actor, Chief Dan George (1899-1981) and others are exceptional.  The Chief received five nominations for his performance and won three (Golden Laurel, NFSC & NYFCC).

In a rather mean-spirited television parody, Jewish writer Larry Siegel skewered the writers of All in the Family by introducing Starchie's buddy, Adolf Hitler into the show.  Ignorant bigots are not equivalent to Nazi maniacs.  The popularity of this Norman Lear production was curious in the day.  Many viewers watched to laugh at the stupidity of the Carroll O'Connor (1924-2001) character.  At the same time, other viewers who watched were actually in agreement with the racism displayed by Archie Bunker.  In reality, Mr. O'Connor was an intelligent and quite liberal individual whose personality was the polar opposite of Bunker.  Did writer Siegel misinterpret the message of All in the Family or was he just writing on a deadline?  I agreed with Siegel's earlier condemnation of Hogan's Heroes (Mad #108) but I think that the Archie Bunker character was a self-parody that should not have been compared to Hitler. [JAM 3/3/2010]

Look for Woody Allen and Tiny Tim in "Little Dull Man".  Also look for Publisher William M. Gaines and the Dave Berg self-portrait as "Roger Kaputnik" in "The Lighter Side of Time".

Departments:
And Another Redskin Bites the Dustin - Little Dull Man
Don Martin - An Italian Robin Catching a Worm; One Day on Main Street; One Thursday Morning Downtown
Postal Mortems - Condolence Cards for Business Tragedies
Seer Sucker - Future Shock
Gung Ho-Hum - War Movies of the Past as Fought by the "Old" Army - and - War Movies of the Future as Fought by the "New" Army
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Tomahawks And Doves - If Nixon Were President During Custer's Last Stand
New Delhi-Catessen - Reflections of an Indian Nut
Fowl Play - Hawks & Doves
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side of Time
Burden of Beasts - A Mad Look at Pet Owners
Press And Jerks - Modern Muscle Magazine
Little Bigot Man - Gall in the Family Fare.

Fold-In - Dump Truck