User Reviews

Before I go any further, my wife wanted me to point out that Billy Epsom (Billy Dooley) had his navy uniform on backwards during the movie....and that really irritated her.

Billy's ship has just gotten in and he's off to see his sweetie with a gift...a Guinea pig he picked up in New Guinea. Now Guinea pigs come from South America (specifically around Peru) but apparently the writer didn't know that. The Guinea pig, however, is important to the story as apparently some infected one is in the city and everyone is hysterical about it. So, when Billy gets on the trolley and folks see it, panic sets in (and the scene it pretty funny). Later, when he arrives at his sweetie's house, a muscled rival is also there...waiting to beat him up. But one look at the pet and the guy runs away! Is this the end of the film? Hardly...there's plenty more...especially when the rival learns that the infected animal has been located...and it's NOT the one with Billy.

This film is a mixed bag. Some of the jokes work very well, some (such as the bit with the disinfectant spray) don't. Worth seeing if you love silent comedies...otherwise, you could do better.

Not to be confused with the Laurel & Hardy short of the same year, "Sailors, Beware!," this Al Christie comedy starring Billy Dooley, "Sailor Beware," involves a panic over newsprint reports of a guinea pig with deadly germs roaming the streets compounded by Dooley's sailor bringing home such a pet, from New Guinea (hardy har har), for his girlfriend. He's even able to scare off a strongarm rival suitor with the threat of the tiny animal, and the entire farce ends with the "health squad" in gas masks spraying people with some intoxicant.

Not too long ago, I saw another Christie comedy mocking an epidemic, more specifically smallpox in that case, with "Cupid in Quarantine" (1919). Seeing "Sailor Beware" now as part of the Kansas Silent Film Festival, which designed its program to partially reflect this pandemic year of 2021, I wonder how much such films may've been inspired by the Influenza pandemic in their day or any number of other epidemics. Regardless, it's nice to have some humorous relief made of such dire situations. Although the title cards here are overly jokey and the knockabout style isn't exactly sophisticated comedy, I enjoyed it.