Sam Hilliard, a truant officer, visits the Addams home because neither Wednesday nor Pugsley have ever attended school. Miss Comstock, the school principal, sympathizes with the Addams, deriding Hilliard. She sends Hilliard back to the Addams household for another round of consternation and astonishment. Pugnacious Puggsley and winsome Wednesday go to school, but are disconcerted by the Grimms' fairy tales read in class, which suggest that dragons are killed. The Addams Family is a refreshingly funny combination of a lugubrious setting with bizarre characters. Thing, a disembodied hand, is shown snatching letters from the mailman directly through the mailbox at the front gate. Later, Thing answers the telephone and hands the receiver to Morticia, a stately yet sultry matron who would be a fitting funeral director. A resounding gong summons Lurch, the towering servant with the sententious, basso profundo voice, who startles Hilliard at each of his appearances. Cousin Itt is a ball of fur with no recognizable face who speaks rapidly but unintelligibly. Eccentric Grandmama chides masochistic Uncle Fester for not cheating at cards. Gomez, the suave manager of the mansion, purveys black arts and unveils torture devices with relish and aplomb. The mordancy of transforming gloomy subjects into humor is a very successful formula.
Review of The Addams Family Goes to School
