Love and Curses is a 1938 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton. The short was released on July 9, 1938. The short is a parody of the boy rescues girl from Evildoer melodramas of the 1890s.
Synopsis
An old hero, Harold, is looking through a photo album with his wife, Emily and remember one picnic they had in the Gay '90s that was interrupted by villain Roger St. Clair, who tries to tempt Emily into going tothe city and away from Harold. When that does not work, he takes her by force. Harold is still searching for her six months later. Meanwhile, Emily is forced to sing on the stage of Roger's bar with a barbershop quartet. Harold passes by and notices this. Roger traps Harold with a stage prop, and ties Emily to the railroad tracks. Harold rescues her, but the St. Clair snatches the tied up Emily and carries her to a sawmill. Harold calls for his lover as he entered the mill, but Roger uses a log swing and knocks Harold unconsciously into the conveyor belt that leads to a giant circular saw blade. As St. Clair pulled the lever that could sent his opponent to his doom, Harold's hard head, however, not only destroyed the sawblade, but in the aftermath, multiple saw tools took its place. Frustrated, Roger pulled out a revolver to gun down Harold, but the hero repelled the bullets until the St. Clair ran out of ammunition. The villain uses a nearby lumber board to outwit Harold, but the hero grabs the board with the St. Clair and throws them out bodily, but both the villain and the board flew back at Harold. The brawl continues until Harold defeats Roger, sending the fallen foe into the river, never to be seen again. After the old couple finished looking at the album, Harold wonders whatever happened to the unscrupulous cur; just then, Roger St. Clair has returned, older and still alive. He declares that a St. Clair never gives up and drags Emily away once again. Harold tries to be heroic, but sings the chorus of Poor Old Joe as he leaves the room to rescue his wife.
