Like in most of his adventures, Edgar Kennedy is going to be learning a very expensive lesson. If you're familiar with the man he played in his RKO Average Man series, you'll know that he's a cheapskate who likes to save a few pennies wherever he can. Though there's a different between being frugal and just plain careless. In Edgar's case here, he doesn't have insurance on his automobile, and as most people can attest it's seldom ever needed, but when it is, it's a darn good thing you had it. Edgar will sure wish he had it after a certain chain of events unfolded that brought his whole world crashing down around him. It all began early one morning at 4:30 when Brother phoned him from somewhere downtown, saying he borrowed Edgar's car but can't get it started. Since the Kennedys only have one car, I'm not sure what he expected Edgar to do about it. Could he not get a cab? As Edgar berates his irresponsible brother in-law, he awakens the nextdoor neighbors-slash-landlords, the Hinkledorfers. Of course, if it's not the cops, it's usually a landlord Edgar crosses swords with. So, realizing a good night's sleep was now out the window and due to pressuring from Florence, Edgar gets up and goes over to Hinkledorfer's to borrow his car. The man reluctantly lends Edgar his newly repainted and overhauled car and warns him to be careful with it... oh, I'm sure he will be. So after Edgar backs the car out of the garage, he gets out to shut the door, but unfortunately the dummy forgot to set the parking brake and it goes rolling down the driveway and out into the street, where it inexplicably takes off under its own power and crashes into a yard, as if the car itself was trying to commit suicide. They reused this shot for Noisy Neighbors the following year, and it was a horrible instance of recycled footage. Anyway, Hinkledorfer is none too pleased that his car had just been totaled and he demands Edgar buy him a new one.
Now it's off to Miracle Sam's, a shady used car dealership with a very pushy salesman. Edgar set his sights on a modestly priced job, despite it having detatchable headlights and a glassless windshield. Oh, I love how when he tells the salesman he's only paying and that the car is really for Hinkledorfer, the salesman shoves Edgar aside and starts kissing up to him. That's not really how it works, they always suck up to the one with the money, but I guess because it's Edgar, it has to be the opposite. The salesman gives the old "elderly couple" routine with the car, and we get a bad joke: "that's something you gotta be awfully care about, the stroke." "Oh yes, my poor old father died from one." Not funny. So, Hinkledorfer decides to go with a coupe similar to his old one, so they all go into the office and discuss payment. Edgar tries to find a discount or some form of money saving scheme in there any way he can. Anyone who has ever bought a car will recognize how true-to-life, though slightly exaggerated this scene can be. Right now, Edgar's looking at 1,500 clams for that coupe, and since that was in 1945, that would be roughly $25,000 today, ballpark. But he only had $500 on him, which the men say they'll take as a deposit and adjust the monthly payments, so at this point Edgar throws caution (and common sense) to the wind and says no to the insurance, even boasting how he didn't take any out on his own car this year and saved $15... that is sure gonna cost him a lot more later on. Despite the car dealers' protests, Edgar stands firm about no insurance. They even have a doctor come in and do a routine checkup on him. Not sure why, considering the car isn't even FOR Edgar, he's only paying, so it's baffling why he's being considered the customer. If anything, Hinkledorfer is the one who should be worrying about the insurance, but then, it's Edgar's picture and not his. But before he can pay and call it a day, the men apparently want to know each and every thing about Edgar, not just address and Social Security number, but his net worth, his bank, stocks, bonds, friends, relatives... well, then again these were the days before credit cards and credit scores and whatnot. All the while, Edgar silently curses his brother in-law for getting him into all this bother. Ironically, at that very moment, a cop came by Brother's car where the big oaf had fallen asleep waiting for Edgar. He's ordered to move, and even helps get the car started. So now he's finally on his way, just as Edgar and Hinkledorfer are driving off the lot in the new car, with the salesman pressing one more time about insurance. But the stubborn bald man refuses, and off they go... not even off the lot and they have an accident! Hinkledorfer's new car is totaled, and as if that weren't already heavily expected, guess who was driving the other car? Yep, it's Brother, so it looks like Edgar's going to have a much larger bill than $1,500 to contend with, but luckily slow burns are always free.
This is one of my favorite Kennedy shorts, even if it is predictable as hell. While it can be said the whole fiasco was mainly Brother's fault, Edgar can actually share some of the blame this time, because the Hinkledorfers' car being destroyed was entirely on him. They didn't say anything about a faulty parking brake, so it's only logical that Edgar didn't set it or he put the car in neutral when he got out. People who have purchased cars will see it as familiar territory, as the process of buying cars hasn't changed in the last 75 years, though it does seem to entail MUCH more paperwork. Like I said earlier, the shot of the coupe going down the driveway was refused in Noisy Neighbors, and I wrote a whole review complaining on how poorly that worked. To this day, I still can't believe they did that. Not to mention, the shot of the car taking off on its own and driving into the yard, it seemed really phony, like you can tell there was someone driving the car during that scene. Regardless, You Drive Me Crazy is still fun and entertaining. I do recommend it, both for Kennedy fans and car fans. Check it out, and hope that you're insured.
Now it's off to Miracle Sam's, a shady used car dealership with a very pushy salesman. Edgar set his sights on a modestly priced job, despite it having detatchable headlights and a glassless windshield. Oh, I love how when he tells the salesman he's only paying and that the car is really for Hinkledorfer, the salesman shoves Edgar aside and starts kissing up to him. That's not really how it works, they always suck up to the one with the money, but I guess because it's Edgar, it has to be the opposite. The salesman gives the old "elderly couple" routine with the car, and we get a bad joke: "that's something you gotta be awfully care about, the stroke." "Oh yes, my poor old father died from one." Not funny. So, Hinkledorfer decides to go with a coupe similar to his old one, so they all go into the office and discuss payment. Edgar tries to find a discount or some form of money saving scheme in there any way he can. Anyone who has ever bought a car will recognize how true-to-life, though slightly exaggerated this scene can be. Right now, Edgar's looking at 1,500 clams for that coupe, and since that was in 1945, that would be roughly $25,000 today, ballpark. But he only had $500 on him, which the men say they'll take as a deposit and adjust the monthly payments, so at this point Edgar throws caution (and common sense) to the wind and says no to the insurance, even boasting how he didn't take any out on his own car this year and saved $15... that is sure gonna cost him a lot more later on. Despite the car dealers' protests, Edgar stands firm about no insurance. They even have a doctor come in and do a routine checkup on him. Not sure why, considering the car isn't even FOR Edgar, he's only paying, so it's baffling why he's being considered the customer. If anything, Hinkledorfer is the one who should be worrying about the insurance, but then, it's Edgar's picture and not his. But before he can pay and call it a day, the men apparently want to know each and every thing about Edgar, not just address and Social Security number, but his net worth, his bank, stocks, bonds, friends, relatives... well, then again these were the days before credit cards and credit scores and whatnot. All the while, Edgar silently curses his brother in-law for getting him into all this bother. Ironically, at that very moment, a cop came by Brother's car where the big oaf had fallen asleep waiting for Edgar. He's ordered to move, and even helps get the car started. So now he's finally on his way, just as Edgar and Hinkledorfer are driving off the lot in the new car, with the salesman pressing one more time about insurance. But the stubborn bald man refuses, and off they go... not even off the lot and they have an accident! Hinkledorfer's new car is totaled, and as if that weren't already heavily expected, guess who was driving the other car? Yep, it's Brother, so it looks like Edgar's going to have a much larger bill than $1,500 to contend with, but luckily slow burns are always free.
This is one of my favorite Kennedy shorts, even if it is predictable as hell. While it can be said the whole fiasco was mainly Brother's fault, Edgar can actually share some of the blame this time, because the Hinkledorfers' car being destroyed was entirely on him. They didn't say anything about a faulty parking brake, so it's only logical that Edgar didn't set it or he put the car in neutral when he got out. People who have purchased cars will see it as familiar territory, as the process of buying cars hasn't changed in the last 75 years, though it does seem to entail MUCH more paperwork. Like I said earlier, the shot of the coupe going down the driveway was refused in Noisy Neighbors, and I wrote a whole review complaining on how poorly that worked. To this day, I still can't believe they did that. Not to mention, the shot of the car taking off on its own and driving into the yard, it seemed really phony, like you can tell there was someone driving the car during that scene. Regardless, You Drive Me Crazy is still fun and entertaining. I do recommend it, both for Kennedy fans and car fans. Check it out, and hope that you're insured.
