lemon_magic It's easy for us to make fun of short little clips like "Catching Trouble" 50 years down the line, of course. Viewers watching our mainstream output 50 years from now will roll their eyes (or their cybernetic optic implants, whatever) at things like "American Idol", "Grey's Anatomy", "CSI" or "Law And Order" in the exact same way...and God only knows what they will make of "X Files." So the biggest problem is that this clip simply didn't age well. Also part of the problem here is that "my boyfriend" Ross has no camera appeal at all and no one on the film crew seems to have coached him on how to read a line on camera. (They probably just wanted to shoot some footage and get the hell out of the swamp!) He's certainly intrepid enough as he matter-of-factly goes about catching wild animals that could easily wound, maim or kill him if they had the chance, and he doesn't seem to want to hurt or scare them. The animals are just a way of paying the bills. You don't see cattle farmers or pig farmers getting sentimental or sadistic about their "cash crops", do you? And neither does Ross. Still, this is pretty grating to modern sensibilities, what with the patronizing narrator's comments about "Old Sourpuss", etc. Someone making a short like this today would be burned at the stake by the SPCA.

Jim C. We all saw this short movie via the vehicle of "MST3K" pure and simple. Their treatment of it was funny for the most part but consider that in 50 years, the prized liberal philosophy of "political correctness", (which I despise) will be mocked mercilessly by future generations of MST3K-like programs. And to be fair to Ross Allen, he was not a mindless animal hater, but a product of his time and in fact did scientific work which was recognized. Most of MST3K's work with shorts is very funny but you must also remember the era from which they came and in many cases the ideas presented were good ones, they were just taken to a crazy extreme.

heckles For those who think the '50s are something we should get back to, who don't like the concepts supposedly described in the shapeless term "political correctness," well here's a movie to love and cherish.No one has yet noticed the racial aspects of this short. Let's talk about the Seminole - he doesn't apparently have a name, he is known as "Old Sourpuss" or worse, "his (Ross's) Seminole." Excuse me, "HIS SEMINOLE?" I guess the idea that possessing a person of another race is not admirable thing to do hadn't filtered down to southern Florida at the time. Anyway, Old Sourpuss goes around the swamp in his tribal costume, which to be honest looks more like a woman's dress than a Scottish kilt does. I suspect the Seminoles are aware of this, and save the outfit for ceremonial occasions. But the director probably said, "Hey, Sourpuss! Why don't you put on your traditional dress -er costume! That will really show our audience the white guy is in charge!" Ross captures a cougar, and upon reaching his little facility puts it into a glass-sided box about the size of a cat carrier. "Home sweet home," the narrator says. Yes, I'm sure wild cougars feel so safe and comforted in a small box that smells of the last abducted animal that was thrown in there. Then something else no one seems to have noticed. Ross is shown hauling away twin bear cubs, whose pitiful cries should have even the most animal-apathetic wanting to throw something large and heavy at Ross. May I be the one to ask the obvious question: WHERE IS THE MOTHER BEAR? And don't tell me the cubs were orphaned by a forest fire just before the movie. We must assume there is more to the incident that wasn't filmed, that *really* makes Ross look despicable and which even this thick as a brick filmmaker realized audiences would not enjoy watching.And let's not mention the obviously staged escape attempt of one of the cubs.Yes, brutality against wildlife and unmistakable assertions of a racial caste presented for light viewing. The '50s, you can keep them.

Jordan_Haelend A look at the wonderful occupation of taking animals out of their natural habitat so that they could be imprisoned in cages in the abysmal zoos of the era for no other reason than personal profit. This was probably made to convince kids that doing his would be a great way to live "close to Nature."Incidentally, only a total imbecile would wade around in a swamp like the Everglades in a pair of skimpy shorts. Considering the snakes, leeches and other things, this guy is asking for trouble.