213 A poor shmoe repairing a sofa wishes he would never see another spring again. Suddenly, Coily, an incredibly evil sprite, appears and answers his wish. Now his watch doesn't work, the dial on his telephone won't function properly, and he can't even close the doors of his car, much less get it to start. Each time he discovers the consequences of a missing spring, Coily taunts him in an incredibly annoying voice. Finally, the guy cracks and apologizes to Coily, who relents and returns springs to the world, but only in exchange for the poor guy's soul. The guy becomes an insufferable spring promoter, talking endlessly about Coily's kin until he drives all his friends away. This film was sponsored by GM, but it's hard to tell why, unless they too were victims of demonic possession. Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****. Also available on Assignement Venezuela and Other Shorts and Mystery Science Theatre 3000, Episode #1012: Squirm. A Case of Spring Fever Christine Hennig 2002-10-15 00:00:00 2002-10-15 00:00:00 5 1444 Have you ever wondered what life would be like without springs? No? Well, neither have I. In this Jim Handy production, Coily the spring appears and convinces a man that springs play an important part of our lives. Coily is one creepy animated character, with his evil laugh. Anyways, Coily convinces the man that springs are important. Then the male character can't stop talking about it, boring his friends to sleep. Quite a funny little short. Creepy Spuzz 2003-02-26 18:32:37 2003-02-26 18:32:37 3 5084 I first saw this on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, where it was even funnier and creepier with the comments made by Mike and the robots. I love the part at the golf course after the guy "gets religion" from Coily (he IS a creepy so-and-so, isn't he?)The expressions on the faces of his golf partners are great, no doubt thinking about how to get away with burying the motormouth in a sandtrap. Ha,ha,ha... Kold War Kid 2003-07-09 15:17:24 2003-07-09 15:17:24 3 6449 Gilbert, frustrated with sofa seat repair, wishes springs out of the world. Evil animated Coily-the-spring grants the wish and keeps popping up worse than a Microsoft paper clip. It isn't really a problem for Gilbert until he can't drive his Chevrolet for lack of springs. When Coily pops up, Gilbert wishes his wish away, and in return becomes a scientician orating about springs. Especially those that produce the smooth ride of a modern motorcar, which he is fortunate enough not to have his pals drive over him in order to demonstrate. Coily the paperclip Steve Nordby 2003-09-27 19:04:34 2003-09-27 19:04:34 5 10523 Highly recommended! This could be the definitive film of it's genre (whatever that is). After an ill-considered wish for a world without springs, our protagonist has a psychotic episode, and becomes a spring evangelist. This bears a suspicious resemblance to the Simpsons parody "The World Without Zinc"--all that's missing is Troy McClure. Now to find the source material for "Two Minus Three Equals Negative Fun", "Lead Paint: Delicious But Deadly" or the famed Meat Council film "Meat And You: Partners in Freedom"... An absolute classic trafalgar 2004-03-17 09:26:22 2004-03-17 09:24:57 5 11598 Spring appreciation, at it's finest/worst/only. Coily, a sentient spring with an elf head and magic powers, shows all of us why springs are so important. I'm not sure why this film was made. I've never met anyone who took an anti-spring stance. Well, now I do, but that's only cause Coily scares the dickens out of me. This film gets 5 stars for simultaneously freaking me out and serving no purpose. DEAR LORD, SAVE US FROM THIS SPRINGLESS NIGHTMARE HuckleberryFinn 2004-04-13 18:29:33 2004-04-13 18:29:33 5 17493 In terms of sheer entertainment, this is absolutely one of the top ten films available on this great site. The filmmakers probably intended Coily to be cute and amusing (what else could a crudely animated spring be?), but he takes on a weirdly sinister and disturbing character. The fact that this film mentions no brands and serves no obvious commercial purpose allows it to get in under our radar for screening out advertising. They did it for the love of springs, by gumbo! On a more serious note, we're reminded of the ludicrously mechanized nature of modern Western society, and how we're unable to cope when the world fails to meet our (i.e. engineers') narrow expectations of how it ought to function. In the absurd figure of Coily, industrial society grants our "wishes" until we realize that we didn't know what we were wishing for. To escape, Gilbert must acknowledge that he is less important and less powerful than the Platonic form of the Spring--and of course, he's right. I noticed the parallel with the Simpsons episode mentioned by another reviewer. Unless there's another film in this astonishing "genre," this must have been the prototype for the world without zinc. hysterically funny and bizarre journey into a world without springs Tavish McDonell 2004-07-25 22:39:07 2004-07-25 22:39:07 5 36174 this film is so hilariously bizzare that I don't know where to begin. Ok so our protagonist is working on fixing a couch when he wishes thier weren't any springs all of a sudden a demonic spring named "Coiley" tells him that he's got his wish and from now on thier will be "no more springs." Our protagonist then attempts to do various everyday things only to find it nearly inmpossible to do them without springs, (each time he's mocked by Coiley who taunts "No more Springs") Finally our protagonist relizes the error of his ways and asks to take back his wish Coiley agrees. You might think this would be the end of the movie but here it's just the halfway mark, now our protagonist is so obsessed with springs he yacks his mouth to his friends about all the wonderfull things springs do. Odd little film that's great for a laugh. Great film Karma Hawk 2005-03-25 11:37:13 2005-03-25 11:37:13 5 After watching this short film for a few minutes, you may accidentally recoil from your seat after laughing at the bizarre, springless dystopia that it presents. Watching Gilbert dispense his newfound knowledge of the purposes that springs serve to his cohorts on the golf course is particularly entertaining. Hilarious! Don't take springs for granted 4 GE_Pretzel 2005-12-31 18:21:57 2005-12-31 18:21:57 What's with the big ears on the springy guy? Doesn't he scare you too?! Big Ears 4 Love thy neighbour 2006-03-30 12:15:06 2006-03-30 12:15:06 Ok, two things: 1) "Sorry, boys, but Gilbert can't come out to play, he's doing some work for me today" ..... Isn't Gilbert a little old to be living at home with his mother? WTF? Gee, Gil, maybe it's time to grow a pair, ya think? 2) "See, the property of the spring is to absorb energy, and then release it!" Was it me, or did the guy who was trying to play golf while he was talking have a thought balloon pop up over his head reading "Buddy, your HEAD is going to absorb some energy, you keep busting our b*lls about springs!" Momma's boy OCSDDC 2007-11-26 12:46:16 2007-11-26 12:46:16 4 Not bad for a 1940 informative film. Kept up my interest. Cute and informative ERD. 2009-06-05 22:13:54 2009-06-05 22:13:54 4 12 4.33