Piano Tooners (1932) ***

Everyone knows Tom and Jerry as a cat and mouse team from the color cartoons by Hanna-Barbera for MGM in 1940's and 50's. But the original Tom and Jerry were two boys, one short, one tall, who starred in a series of black and white cartoons produced by Amadee Van Beuren. Their first film, "Wot A Night" (1931) was a masterpiece of surrealism, but some of their later films also had interesting ideas and weird gags. "Piano Tooners" has the duo fixing pianos before a big concert. Best gags include a key-extraction (without anaesthesia) and a fish-like note flashed down the toilet.