'Somewhere in Turkey' is dated but fun

Somewhere in Turkey (1918)
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Bebe Daniels, William Blaisdell, and Harry Pollard
Director: Alf Goulding
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

An explorer (Lloyd) and a beautiful castaway (Daniels) fall in love while imprisoned by an idol-worshipping sultan (Blaisdell).

"Somewhere in Turkey" may be one of those films that the passage of time has left behind... or maybe it's just not that good and even audiences in 1918 might have felt a little disappointed. While it's probably both, I think it's more of the latter than the former.

First, while the film has many strong slapstick moments (several involving literal slapping), most of the comedic routines are stretched to the point they stop being funny and start being repetitive; this is not a good thing for any film, but it's Very Bad when we're talking about something with a running-time of 10 minutes. Second, the story is sloppily constructed with Harry Pollard's character just vanishing about 2/3rds of the way through... and Lloyd's character doesn't seem to give him a second thought as he rides off with his new lady-friend. It's actually unusual for these comedies to leave such a huge element unresolved. (Of course, since the version I viewed--which is embedded below--is 10 minutes in length, and various sources report that it's 12 minutes long, so maybe Pollard's fate is explained in that missing footage.)

As for the film being left behind by the passage of time, I think there are some things that modern viewers will find distracting that might not have bothered audiences a century ago. For example, there's an executioner in the sultan's palace that appears in straight-up minstrel show black face instead of a black actor playing the part--something which probably shouldn't have been so far-fetched an idea, since less than two years later, black characters were being played by in films headlined by Buster Keaton, such as "Convict 13".

I have some further nitpicks about the costuming choices for this film. The characters look more Arab or Tunisian than Turkish, but that's all those are... nitpicks, and I probably wouldn't even have thought about it if not for a far bigger problem in the film:

It's a major plot point that the Sultan's court are idol-worshippers, in spite of the setting being northern Turkey and the Sultan ruling over Muslim. Even for a goofy comedy, this really stretched my disbelief, even allowing for Turkey being more "secular" in those days. Maybe audiences of 1918 didn't have the same level of cultural insights we have today--or maybe it's me that's over-educated in this matter--but more so than anything that bothered me about this film. (It's possible that the Sultan and his inner circle are secret idol-worshippers, as this is something that's hinted at in the manner Lloyd' and Pollard's characters end up in the mortal danger, but it seems more likely to me that this is just another artifact of indifferent writing. These problems could have been avoided if the film's setting had been a fictitious nation, It's a problem that could have been avoided if the location had been an imaginary one, such as in "His Royal Slyness", a 1919 film also starring Lloyd. That said, it's entirely possible that the film originally was set in a fictitious country, but was "relocated" due to Turkey being an enemy of U.S. and allies in World War I.)

For all the negativity I've just heaped on "Somewhere in Turkey", I have to say that Lloyd and Daniels are excellent together as always (once they finally get to share the screen). In fact, Daniels is front and center in all the best scenes in the film, from her melodramatic posturing when captured at the beginning of the film; to her confrontation with the Sultan; and her imprisonment and escape with Lloyd's character at the end, the scenes are all cute, funny, and to the point. In fact, I think that Daniels' presence, more than anything else, makes this film worth your taking a few minutes to check out. (And you can do so right now, since it's embedded below.)

'Peculia' is a swift and entertaining read

Peculia (2002, Fantagraphics)
Story and Art: Richard Sala
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Peculia wanders the countryside and neighborhood around her mansion and encounters various supernatural menaces, usually after disregarding advice from her faithful servant, Ambrose.

Peculia was one of Richard Sala's signature characters. She's a young woman who usually appears wearing a "little black dress", When she's not being menaced by odd creatures or villains who seem to have stepped out of B-movies or gothic romances, she's being stalked by the mysterious Obscurus and his agent Justine. Exactly what the relationship is between Obscurus, Justine, and Peculia is never revealed, but there are hints that Obscuras and Peculia were once romantically involved, or at least very good friends, and that Justine is jealous of them. What caused the rift between Peculia and Obscurus, why he is isolated in a secret base and always masked is also never revealed--although he seems to be suffering under some of magical curse--but his spying on Peculia through Justine just as often puts Peculia in danger as saves her from it.

"Peculia" collects nine short tales that originally appeared in "Evil Eye" 1-9 during 1998 and 1999. Each is a self-contained story, and each feature a mix of horror and humor for which Sala's whimsical, simple art style is the perfect vehicle. The tone of stories reminds me of Poverty Row 1940s horror flicks with more than a little 1960s/70s Eurotrash horror movies and sex comedies throw in--and I'm invoking those in a positive way, as I find many of those movies quite fun and these comics capture the best of what they have to offer.

Over the course of the nine tales, Peculia's strolls brings her into encounters with weird gremlins who are attracted to music; three witches with a strange secret; a crazed widower who would cause many Edgar Allen Poe characters to reexamine their choices in life; a strange mystic sorority and the chutuloid monster that ends up dooming them, a homicidal girl battling a cult devoted to Bast; hoards of zombies and maniacs; a psychopathic psychiatrist conducting unholy research on unwilling subjects; Death himself; and more weird townsfolk than you think could be packed into one book. And all of this while Justine and Obscurus lurk nearby to either cause or solve problems.

While the first five tales in the book get increasingly good, and the remaining four hold steady-qualitywise, I still have to quibble with the fact that we never get an explanation for why Obscurus is seemingly cursed with total anonymity toward anyone but Justine; it's the one thing that I was disappointed over when I got to the end of the book. On the other hand, I was so delighted by the tiny continuity detail that tied the first story and eighth story in the book together that I am almost able to overlook my annoyance and so keep my rating of Seven of Ten Stars for the book.

"Peculia" is a swift and enjoyable read. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys crisp, straightforward cartooning and horror stories told with a sense of humor. (As a final note, I should mention that the book also contains a never-before-published color story. It's a fun, wordless little tale, but we don't talk about things that aren't in black-and-white in these parts!)

Post-Script From the Department of Odd Observations

In her first appearance--originally in "Evil Eye" #1 (1998)--she wore a pair of black shoes, perfectly matched to her little black dress.

There was a time where Peculia wore shoes...

She left those shoes behind halfway through her second appearance appearance--in "Evil Eye" #2 (1998)--and she went barefoot everywhere from then on (which was 10 more issues of "Evil Eye", various pin-ups., and "Peculia and the Groon Grove Vampires" (2005).

... but, once she left them behind, she never wore shoes again.

What does this mean? We have no idea, but we further observed that most female characters that appeared in the Peculia stories were barefoot. (The four panels above were excerpted from the first and second stories in the "Peculia" (2002) collection.)

'Satan Met a Lady' is ruined by weak script

Satan Met a Lady (1936)
Starring: Warren William, Bette Davis, Marie Wilson, Porter Hall, Arthur Treacher, Maynard Holmes, and Alison Skipworth
Director: William Dieterle
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

A womanizing, crooked private eye (William) re-connects with his ex-partner (Hall) in time to start a new scam. Things quickly turn deadly as a woman as corrupt as he is (Davis) draws him into a murderous struggle over an 8th century artifact that legends hold is full of jewels.

"Satan Met a Lady" is one of three adaptations from Warner Bros. of Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon", coming between "The Maltese Falcon" (1931) and "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) and it's both the one that's furthest afield from the source material as well as the weakest. The weaknesses don't arise so much from seemingly arbitrary cosmetic changes (the criminal mastermind is a fat woman instead of a fat man, the treasure-stuff McGuffin is a drinking horn instead of a falcon sculpture, the Sam Spade character is named Ted Shane, and so on), but from the characterizations and even some of the characterizations and the fact that this is either a comedy that's for the most part unfunny, or a mystery that's not terribly engaging..

The biggest problem with "Satan Met a Lady" is its 'hero', Ted Shayne (played by Warren William). Shayne is a man with absolutely no redeeming qualities--he's self-centered, arrogant, lazy, completely untrustworthy, and not half as witty as he thinks he is, and nowhere near as charming and handsome as the script makes all the ladies in the film think he is. Shayne such an unpleasant character that my favorite part of the film is the ending, which I won't comment on, because it'll spoil some of the few truly good minutes of the film.

It's a shame that the script isn't better--with either sharpened comedy or dramatic tension, and with more sensible reactions from most of the female characters, and at least one redeeming quality given to Shayne--because every cast member makes a fine accounting of themselves, given the shoddy material they are working with. William and Bette Davis are especially fun to watch together, since we have two perfectly cast actors, playing two equally vicious characters who recognize each other as the villains they are, and who know that each is just looking for a chance to mess with the other. If the script had been better, I suspect these scenes could have been absolutely brilliant. (William is so good here, in fact, that I am going to add the Perry Mason movies he starred in to my never-dwindling "To Watch" pile. Based on what I see here, he might just be the perfect actor to portray Mason.)

As for "Satan Met a Lady", it's not a terrible film... it's just not very good. It's also not going out of your way for. However, it's included in the three-disc Special Edition of The Maltese Falcon, together with the two good versions. In that case, it's an inoffensive "bonus" feature that you save for that day when you've got nothing else to watch.

'Just Neighbors' is just a lot of fun

Just Neighbors (aka "Neighbors") (1919)
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Harry Pollard, Bebe Daniels, and Margaret Joslin
Directors: Harold Lloyd and Frank Terry
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Fighting breaks out between once-friendly neighbor couples (Lloyd & Daniels and Pollard & Joslin) after escalating damage happens to both homes following a failed attempt at one husband to help the other with a backyard construction project.

If one wanted a cinematic illustration of what "that escalated quickly" means, "Just Neighbors" fits that purpose exactly. From the point where the two husbands (Harold Lloyd and Harry Pollard) run into each other on their way home from work in the city through Lloyd's misbegotten attempt to show off his handyman skills, through to the property destruction and literal slap-fight across the backyard fence, this film is a string of small situations that get out of hand--and hilariously so.

While none of the gags in this film are going to surprise anyone--what we have here is sit-com territory that's been well-trod in the past 100 years--but they're economically delivered by a cast with perfect comedic timing, so the action is constantly moving and not a second of screen-time is wasted.

The only complaint I can mount about the film is that I would have liked to see some more situations where the wives fight with each other was well. Any movie where Bebe Daniels has more to do is a better movie!  (I think the film might have been more interesting if perhaps it had played up and on the class differences between the two couples... but that would have probably resulted in a different and much longer movie.)

But, thanks to YouTube, you can check out "Just Neighbors" right now and see if you agree or disagree with my take on it.

A Mother's Day silent movie

In May of 2012, YouTuber Libby Thomas uploaded a cute and funny short film she made with her siblings that was equal part tribute to the silent films we write about here (like these, for example) and Mother's Day card. Check it out... it's bound to make you smile, and perhaps even laugh!




Oh... and Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there.

Musical Monday with Ylvis

"Life´s a bitch," a wise man said
"No matter what, you´ll end up dead,
"And all that you can wish for is a friend."

The Norwegian duo Ylvis is bringing us an especially touching song on this very special Musical Monday...

Coming Soon: 'Fangs' by Sarah Andersen

Cartoonist and writer Sarah Andersen is best known for her zany "Sarah's Scribbles" strips, which detail a nerdy, introverted young woman trying to make her way through life. However, she has also created "Fangs", a series which is equal parts silly, sweet, and sexy... as well as even a little spooky at times.

"Fangs" tells the story of a vampire and a werewolf who meet and fall in love. It chronicles the ups and downs of their relationship, as they navigate the difficulties of being both the perfect fit for each other, but also very different individuals.

The pacing of the book is among the many reasons I think this is a great piece of work. The sample pages I read felt like the best newspaper strips of the old days, in the sense that each page is a tiny story unto itself that ends with a gag or a smile-inducing touching moment but they all add up to a larger story that unfolds as you read them in order. (This is not surprising, I suppose, since "Fangs" began life as a web-series back in 2019... so Andersen is just solidifying her place among the masters of the comic strip format.)

"Fangs" will be released in hardcover in September of 2020 through Andrews/McMeel Publishing. You can click here to read a little more about it. (Me, I've already pre-ordered by copy from Amazon, so you can expect a full review in these parts when the Halloween Season rolls around.)

Before the Mustache There Was 'Love in Armor'

Love in Armor (1915)
Starring: Mae Busch, Charley Chase, Fritz Schade, Frank Oppermann, Billie Bennett, William Hauber, and Bert Hunn
Directors: Nick Cogley, Francis J. Grandon, Frank Griffin and Mack Sennett
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A conman (Schade) snakes his way into the good graces of a young woman's wealthy parents (Bennett and Oppermann) - but he comes to regret his life's choices when he gets between her (Busch) and her true love (Chase).

I really wanted to like "Love in Armor" more than I do. It has some really cute moments in it, a handful of funny gags, and I don't recall seeing a film with Charley Chase or Mae Busch in which they weren't good. But, despite the presence of these good bits, the bulk of the film borders on tedious. 

As could be expected, the best parts of this film are scenes involving Busch, Chase, or both of them. Busch's parents don't approve of Chase seeing her, so the would-be young couple have to sneak off into the bushes which leads to cute bit of mildly sexy physical humor where Busch is unable to pull down her skirt because it's caught on a branch is a good example of this. Another is where Chase, hidden in a suit of armor, puts the film's villains in their place and ultimately gets the girl with pranks and straight-up violence. There is also a running gag involving the world's most inept and clumsy butler.

But each of these fun parts is either preceded or followed by sequences and gags that are either so poorly motivated or ineptly staged that they never quite reach their potential, or are dragged out to the point where they stop being funny. A sequence where successive characters end up sitting on a cactus embodies all these problems. It's got all sorts of potential--that it almost reaches when Busch and Frank Opperman (as her father) end up with their butts prickled--but its set-up is so weak it taints the entire bit, and it is allowed to go on just a little too long. Meanwhile, the film's climax is a tangled mess of slapstick that's so badly executed and so repeptative that I thought perhaps there was some bad editing in copy I watched and the same moment got repeated twice.

Sloppy writing (or perhaps direction) also hurts the film a bit. There is a great moment between Chase and Busch when he makes it known to her that he is hiding in the suit of armor; it's my favorite part of the whole movie. However, this revelation happens within full view and earshot of Busch's mother who remains oblivious to her daugher's weird interaction with a suit of armor.

Despite my complaining above, "Love in Armor" is entertaining and it's 13-minute runtime speeds by. If you're a fan of Mae Busch or Charley Chase, you'll definitely enjoy yourself. You may find yourself wishing Chase got a little more screen-time, but at least you'll get to see what he looked like before the mustache!

And guess what? You can watch it right here, right now! Just click on the arrow below to start the video!

Musical Monday Bonus with Chris Mann

Comedian Chris Mann has done a parody version of "Vogue" to remind us all to be Social Distancing during this global pandemic AND offer some suggestions as to what we can spend our time on! Enjoy... and stay home!

The Jackson Four go to Mt. Olympus

Another Day on Mt. Olympus (2015)
Starring: Rebekah Jackson, Elisabeth Jackson, Bethany Jackson, and Sharon Jackson
Director: Rebekah Jackson
Rating Six of Ten Stars

1920s party girl Arachne (Rebekah Jackson) stumbles through a dimensional portal to Mt. Olympus where she incurs the wrath of the goddess Athena (Elisabeth Jackson).

Back when I was in college, making silent short films was a typical assignment for film students. If YouTube is any judge, it still is (and it appears that some folks make them just for the hell of it--some even attempt to make them look and feel as if they were made during the silent era.

I don't know if "Another Day on Mt. Olympus" was a student project or just something the Jackson Sisters made for fun, but it's one of the more entertaining of such efforts I've come across. In fact, I like the basics here so much that I found myself wishing a little more effort had been put into mimicking the filming techniques and scene framing used during the silent films--but then I told myself to just relax. Whatever motivated the creation of this silent, 1920s-styled retelling of the myth of Athena and Arachne, it's a glee-filled little movie. The Jackson Sisters are having fun making it (so much fun that they can't keep from cracking up during a highly dramatic scene), which makes the film fun to watch... and I shouldn't leach that fun out of it by putting on my critic cap.

I encourage you to take a look at this fun little movie, in the spirit of April Fool's Day. There are far less entertaining ways you could waste eight minutes!



(Okay, so I will bring up one thing that bugs me. Why does Jackson do random fades in the middle of scenes? THAT I don't get...)

'Half Shot at Sunrise' is more than halfway decent

Half Shot at Sunrise (1930)
Starring: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Dorothy Lee, Leni Stengel, George MacFarlane, Edna May Oliver, and Jack Rutherford, and Edgar DeLange
Director: Paul Sloane
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A couple soldiers (Wheeler and Woolsey) are having the time of their lives AWOL in Paris during WWI, ducking MPs and happily hitting on every woman they see. When one of them  falls in love with the Colonel's teenaged daughter (Lee), and she decides to help his military career, things start to get complicated.

"Half Shot at Sunrise" is a supremely silly movie  that is light on plot but heavy on shenanigans and clever quips and offhanded double-entrendres. You'll hardly notice the lack of plot though, as Wheeler and Woolsey keep the jokes and tricks flowing non-stop, and when Dorothy Lee is added to the mix things get even wilder. If you like madcap military comedies, I think you'll enjoy this film quite a bit.

That said, it's not a perfect movie. The main drawback are the songs/musical numbers--which are . They are not all that good, and they interrupt the film's momentum and stop it dead in its tracks. I did enjoy the goofy dance routines that came with each song, but they were not enough to make up for the lameness of the music. These dragged my rating of this otherwise fun movie down from a low Eight to what was almost a Six on my 0-10 scale.

Another flaw was a serious romantic subplot involving the colonel's oldest daughter and a straight-laced Army lieutenant that ran along side the antics of the three main characters. While it served as a nice counterpoint to the Wheeler/Woolsey/Lee clown show, and brought a little dimension to some of the supporting characters, it really just made me wish for more of the clown show. It wasn't as damaging to the flow of the film as the weak musical numbers, but it didn't really add that much in the final analysis.

"Half Shot at Dawn" is one of nine films included in the Wheeler and Woolsey: RKO Comedy Classics Collection. That collection is a broad sampling of their films for RKO that stretches from the beginning of their contract until its end, and it includes some of their biggest hits.

We've all had mornings like this... right?

It may be 120 years old, but "How He Missed His Train" is as relevant and important as ever. After all, we've all had mornings like the poor fellow in the film, and we've all had to call into work with this exact explanation as to why we were going to be late. We have, haven't we? I can't be the only one...

How He Missed His Train (1900)
Starring: Georges Méliès
Director: Georges Méliès
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

(This is an impressive and hilarious bit of trick photography filmmaking from the father of special effects. It's both simple and complex and it's near-flawless in execution. Even better, I'm sure it's relatable to anyone who's gotten up on the "wrong side of the bed.")

'The Fraidy Cat' is worth knowing

The Fraidy Cat (1924)
Starring: Charley Chase, Beth Darlington, Ed Mohan, Emma Tansey, Joe Cobb, and Mickey Daniels
Director: James Parrot
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A misunderstanding causes a cowardly man (Chase) to finally fight back against all the bullies who've been picking on him. His newfound courage comes in handy when his girlfriend (Darlington) is abducted by one of those bullies (Mohan).

"The Fraidy Cat" is a well-paced, well-acted film that's a little painful to watch for those very reasons. Charley Chase presents such a charming, hapless character that you're going to hate seeing him picked on and abused during the first half of the film, and the when he finally tries to put one of the kids harassing him in their place, the film's biggest bully and closest thing it has to a villain (played with gusto by Ed Mohan) shows up and ruins even that. This film is so well put together that just as Chase's character starts to get just a little too pathetic, we're presented with a goofy motivation for him to finally stand up for himself and take the fight to his tormentors. It's both satisfying and very funny watching Chase getting even with the bullies.

What's more, "The Fraidy Cat" also offers up a spoof of the standard melodrama plot element of the villain kidnapping the love interest. It leads to one of the most amusing chases you're going to come across in a film like this, as well as a heroic rescue worthy of more serious fare. The mix of drama and comedy during the film's climax is perfect, and so is the final confrontation between Chase and the villain also plays out perfectly--including the moment where the audience discovers they have something pretty amusing in common. (I won't say what, because it spoils the joke.)

Watching "The Fraidy Cat" is a fun way to spend 11 minutes of your day, and you can check it out right here in this post, as I've embedded it below. (The film is of even greater interest to fans of the "Our Gang" comedies and The Little Rascals, as is marks their first appearance.)

'His Royal Slyness' at 100 years

His Royal Slyness (1920)
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Gaylord Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Harry Pollard, Marie Mosquini, Noah Young, Gus Leonard, and Helen Gilmore
Director: Hal Roach
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A door-to-door salesman (Harold Lloyd) with an uncanny resemblance to the crown prince of a small European nation (Gaylord Lloyd) is convinced to take his place after the prince decides he'd rather stay in America with his sexy girlfriend (Mosquini) than return home for an arranged marriage with the princess of a neighboring kingdom (Davis).

"His Royal Slyness" is a fun twist on the old "Prince and the Pauper"-type tale, as well as a spoof of the Communist revolution. It's a supremely silly film without a single straight-man in sight. Just about every character is goofy, horny, dimwitted, or some combination of the those. The only character who has the slightest bit of class and integrity in the film is the princess played by Mildred Davis... and that might just be because there wasn't time for her to reveal another side to her.

The film is in many ways a caricature of the peasant/worker revolution that was unfolding in Russia when it was made, with its cartoonish nobles and peasants, but it's also a great vehicle for Lloyd's standard womanizing character. One of the film's funniest running gags involves him taking down phone numbers in his Little Black Book for every woman he meets, including that of the austere queen to whose daughter he is to be married. (On a perhaps purely personal level, borne from my years developing fictional settings for roleplaying games, I was fascinated by the fact that the royal court of Thermosa exclusively employed young women instead of boys as pages. I found myself wondering what the greater society in that nation might be like as a result. Of course, the real reason for why producer/director Hal Roach made this choice was to have plenty of women in short skirts wandering around the scenes... but I still wonder what went on in Thermosa to make it so different from the norm.)

As I post these comments, it's exactly 100 years since "His Royal Slyness" was first seen by audiences in movie theatrers. Considering that, it's obvious to wonder if it's still worth seeing today... and my answer is an emphatic YES! The humor in this fast-paced comedy has held up extremely well, and the political undertones may resonate a little differently than they did in 1920, but they still feel fresh and relevant--which may be a sad commentary on the state of affairs in the 21st Century.

But don't just take my word for it! You can watch the movie below, embedded here in this very post, and make up your own mind.

'The Garage' at 100 years

The Garage (1920)
Starring: Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Harry McCoy, Molly Malone, and Dan Crimmins
Director: Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Fatty and Buster (Arbuckle and Keaton) have a particularly chaotic workday at the combination gas station/firehouse where they work.

I am making this post exactly 100 years after "The Garage" was first released. Is it still worth watching today?

The answer to that question is an emphatic "YES!"

When this film was made, Buster Keaton had been a supporting player in short films directed by and starring Roscoe "Fatty Arbuckle" for three years; Arbuckle had given Keaton his break in film, and the two had become close friends. It was clear to both that it was time for Keaton to strike out on his own, and with this film, viewers got a taste of what Keaton would soon deliver once he struck out on his own. Keaton is the co-star of this film with Arbuckle, and he even gets some of the funnier solo bits and he is the driver of a couple of the better routines.

Story-wise, the film also holds together nicely, with the gags and stunts feeding smoothly into each other, as well as arising from, or prompting, plot-furthering character interaction. The presence of a female character who is both very much her own master and not the love interest or would-be love interest of either of the main characters also enhances the film, because it is a nice change from the common pattern in so many of these short films.

This fast-paced film can literally be described as provide a laugh-a-minute... but don't just take my word for it. I encourage you to take a little less than half an hour out of your day to enjoy a comedy that had stood the test of 100 years, and which will still amuse 100 years from now: it's embedded below via YouTube.

The Epic Tales of Buster & Sybil!

Looking for something a little different to build a couple "movie nights" or "watch parties" out of? Permit us to suggest watching the five films that Buster Keaton and Sybil Seely made together between 1920 and 1922. Don't watch them in the order they were made, but but the order in which they combine to form two different story arcs that relate The Epic Tales of Buster & Sybil!

TALE #1

Buster is an up-and-coming man of business, Sybil is the daughter of a prison warden, and they are in love. Upon getting married, they are gifted with an empty lot build-it-yourself house as a wedding present, and its construction proves to be the first test of their marriage. Several years and two sons later, Buster builds a boat in the garage and then sets out to take the family on a cruise.

   This epic is told in three parts. Click on the links to each film, as well as my comments.
   Convict 13 (1920)
   One Week (1920)
   The Boat (1921)

TALE #2

Buster woos a farmer's daughter. After being wed on the run, the two move to Alaska to make a new life. But Buster's dark side emerges, and this marriage is not a happy one...

   This epic consists of the book-end films from Keaton's and Seely's collaborations: The very first film they made together, and the very last.
   The Scarecrow (1920)
   The Frozen North (1922)


All five films can be found online (as is obvious from the posts linked to above), or, in DVD or Blu-Ray collections like the one that we've linked to below. The ones found on disc are generally sourced from better quality--and there's no risk of the link I provide in the posts becoming invalid.

'An All-American Toothache' is agreeable nonsense

An All American Toothache (1936)
Starring: Thelma Todd, Patsy Kelly, Mickey Daniels, Johnny Arthur, and Duke York
Director: Gus Meins
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Thelma (Todd) tricks her co-worker Patsy (Kelly) into having her wisdom tooth pulled by an incompetent dental student (Daniels) who also happens to be the star player of the local college football team--but who will be barred from the big game if he doesn't show himself proficient in his field of study.

"An All-American Toothache" is one of the better films that Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly made together. It's not the funniest, it's not the sweetest, nor is it the cleverest... but it is perhaps the best-structured and tone-consistent of them all. It delivers a complete story--with a beginning, a middle, and end--and while that story is complete nonsense, it is steeped in the nonsense from beginning to end, embraces the nonsense, and the characters even say "yeah, this makes no sense, but let's go with it!"

The main cast all have their moment in the spotlight, and they all play well with and off each other. Thelma Todd is once again relegated mostly to the role of "straight man" while Patsy Kelly gets to play the fool, but there isn't the sense of underlying contempt from Todd toward Kelly's character that tainted other films. This picture also benefits from the fact that instead of featuring several ill-conceived, badly rehearsed slapstick routines--something that plagued the Todd-headlined films even when she was teamed with ZaSu Pitts in the early stages of the series. Instead, it contains one single all-out brawl between dental students and the football team, with Thelma, Patsy, and a professor caught up in the melee.

"An All-American Toothache" would be the last film Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly would make together. Todd's life was tragically cut short in December of 1935, and it wasn't released until after her demise. It's also the very last film Todd can be considered appearing in. She had a large role in the Laurel & Hardy feature film "The Bohemian Girl", but producer Roach had her scenes cut and reshot because of her death. (If he had been able to foresee the morbid obsession with Todd's mysterious passing that continues to the very day, he might have left the film as it was.)

It's Friday the 13th...

... and that means our old pal Jason is stopping by for a visit!

Visit Bryan Baugh's website here.

Dawn of the Photobomber

Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914)
Starring: Charlie Chaplin and Henry Lehrman
Director: Henry Lehrman
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

An attention-loving jerk (Chaplin) ruins the day of a film crew trying to document a boxcar race in Venice Beach.

"Kid Auto Races at Venice" is one of those films that show the more things change, the more they stay the same. Anyone who's been part of a crew trying to film or take photos when members of the public are around, has had to deal with "photobombers"--and even if you haven't had to deal with them directly, you've probably seen their handiwork in photographs and evening news stand-up sequences. Even as early as 1914, attention-whoring photobombers were common enough that Charlie Chaplin lampooned them in a delightful, mostly improved, short film.

This was Charlie Chaplin's second screen appearance, as well as the beginnings of his "Little Tramp" signature character, so those Chaplin fans who have yet to see this little film will find that checking it out below will be six, well-spent, enjoyable minutes. Everyone with an interest in filmmaking, or who has worked as a photographer, should also get a kick out of it. (The proceedings become even funnier when you realize that there are real photobombers photobombing in the background while Chaplin and Lehrman are making a film the film that's lampooning them.)

The Last Pairing of Chase & Todd

The Nickel Nurser (1932)
Starring: Charley Chase, Thelma Todd, Geraldine Dvorak, Estelle Etterre, Hazel Howell, and Billy Gilbert
Director: Warren Doane
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A socially awkward efficiency expert (Chase) is hired to teach a millionaire's daughters (Todd, Etterre and Howell) the importance of being frugal with money. The young women endeavor to make his time with the a living Hell, partly by one of them switching places with their Swedish maid to he thinks he has an ally among the servants.

While Thelma Todd and Charley Chase were absolute comedy gold on-screen, "The Nickel Nurser" was the last film in which they would appear together. Todd had already been assigned to headlining her own own comedy series at the Hal Roach Studio, and she was also being "lent out" by boss Roach to other studios for parts in feature films. But, thankfully, she was also "lent" to Chase's production unit, so we got to enjoy Todd and Chase together one last time.

While "The Nickel Nurser" isn't the best film in which they appeared together--or even close to it--the scenes they share once again clearly display how they brought out the best in each other when performing together, and they are among the funniest and most focused in this otherwise chaotic picture.

The scenes where Chase and Todd play off each other--both of which revolve around the "trading places" game that the spoiled rich girls are playing--earned a full star by themselves, bringing this picture from a Low Six to a Low Seven rating. The problem here is mostly that the characters and their actions feel mostly unmotivated by anything we learn about them, and that the gags are mostly disconnected from any logic or thought-processes that a human being might have.

For example, why does Charley assume that he going to the household to teach small children about financial matters--and, more importantly why didn't the girls' father tell him he was going to be dealing with young women? And why is the butler so rude to Charley when he first arrives? There are funny bits related to these, but they are badly motivated. And the film opens with a truly mindless and pointless bit that has Charley crash though a door because he sat on a mouse trap. This sloppiness  in story-telling and illogic is not typical of the Charley Chase-helmed comedies I've seen so far.

Fortunately, things get better in the second half of the film, which also contains the scenes where Todd and Chase treat the audience to their fabulous on-screen chemistry. Charley gets locked out of his room, but needs to talk to Todd. She refuses to see him, because he is wearing only a night shirt... so of course he puts on a suit of armor that's on display in the hall. This is the sort of "logic" that is working in many of Chase's comedies--it makes sense as a solution to a problem, even if it's not the most practical one. The suit of armor is also one-half of the fuel for the film's insane climax--the other being a shotgun-wielding butler--and the way the action and gags build on each other in a tightly planned way is more like other Chase films than the first half of this picture, and it brings "The Nickel Nurser" to a close on a high note. (The climactic minutes of "The Nickel Nurser" feel like complete, unbridled chaos to the viewer, but that's only because the sequences are so carefully constructed and choreographed. In fact, given that Chase had co-writing credit on this film, and he would soon also be directing himself in his Roach pictures, I wonder if he stepped in and took control of this film to save it?)

While "The Nickel Nurser" isn't the best of Chase's films, nor the best he made with Thelma Todd, it's always good to see them together, and it makes this a highlight among the 15 films included in the two-disc DVD set Charley Chase at Hal Roach: The Talkies Volume Two, 1932-1933.