Although somewhat plain overall, this Charley Bowers/Mutt and Jeff feature has a number of interesting features. Bowers and Bud Fisher worked together on a great many animated features in this series, but almost nothing remains of them, making this a rare chance to see what the series was like. There are also at least a couple of good gags in this one that are interesting as previews of the material in some of Bowers's later movies.
All of the action takes place in a restaurant in which Jeff is the cook and Mutt is the waiter - and it is not long at all before things get out of hand. Some of the animated slapstick is a but routine, but a couple of things stand out. At least a couple of the gags involve the kind of gadgetry that Bowers later used to great effect in some of his own films, and in particular there are one or two specific gags that he used in a more elaborate form in "He Done His Best".
The gag with the woman's pancakes is also of interest, because it shows, in a simpler way, the kind of unexpected transformation that Bowers would later perfect and use as part of some of his best visual effects.
All of these features make this otherwise unexceptional little movie worth seeing, at least for those who enjoy Bowers's later, marvelously inventive features.
All of the action takes place in a restaurant in which Jeff is the cook and Mutt is the waiter - and it is not long at all before things get out of hand. Some of the animated slapstick is a but routine, but a couple of things stand out. At least a couple of the gags involve the kind of gadgetry that Bowers later used to great effect in some of his own films, and in particular there are one or two specific gags that he used in a more elaborate form in "He Done His Best".
The gag with the woman's pancakes is also of interest, because it shows, in a simpler way, the kind of unexpected transformation that Bowers would later perfect and use as part of some of his best visual effects.
All of these features make this otherwise unexceptional little movie worth seeing, at least for those who enjoy Bowers's later, marvelously inventive features.