I have seen a few references to this short subject having been nominated for an Academy Award, but I've been unable to substantiate this in any actual lists of films nominated for Academy Awards. In my view it certainly doesn't DESERVE to have been nominated for an Academy Award, but that's not usually the only determining factor.
It's an extremely forgettable wartime short subject starring El Brendel, a supposed comedian with no sense of comic timing who got what laughs he did by delivering his lines (stiffly) and the occasional malapropism in a bad Swedish accent. Here, El's overall stiffness seems to have infected everything else in the film despite reliable comedy director Del Lord, so that even bits of basic slapstick that should get minor laughs automatically feel forced and fall flat.
The idea is that El, a Swedish lawn-raker (apparently), is drafted into the American army and... things happen. That's really it. For some reason the army is just the place for a routine about El trying to avoid being blamed for stealing a pig (so of course, in comedy cliché style, he hides in it is jacket and implausibly pretends to be sick, etc.). The whole thing is topped off by El dangling dangerously in the courtesy of embarrassingly bad back projection.
It seems like nobody put any effort into making this comedy funny or good -- there's no story holding the random collection of worn-out gags together, or saving the film from the handicap of a lead comic who just isn't very funny.
It's an extremely forgettable wartime short subject starring El Brendel, a supposed comedian with no sense of comic timing who got what laughs he did by delivering his lines (stiffly) and the occasional malapropism in a bad Swedish accent. Here, El's overall stiffness seems to have infected everything else in the film despite reliable comedy director Del Lord, so that even bits of basic slapstick that should get minor laughs automatically feel forced and fall flat.
The idea is that El, a Swedish lawn-raker (apparently), is drafted into the American army and... things happen. That's really it. For some reason the army is just the place for a routine about El trying to avoid being blamed for stealing a pig (so of course, in comedy cliché style, he hides in it is jacket and implausibly pretends to be sick, etc.). The whole thing is topped off by El dangling dangerously in the courtesy of embarrassingly bad back projection.
It seems like nobody put any effort into making this comedy funny or good -- there's no story holding the random collection of worn-out gags together, or saving the film from the handicap of a lead comic who just isn't very funny.
