Note: This review is based on viewing the version that David Glass posted to Youtube. David assembled/restored this version from three cut-down versions.
Bobby Dunn arose to some prominence as a star of short comedies in the late Teens. He was a Chaplin imitator and through the end of his starring career retained the toothbrush mustache and occasional bowler hat. At the time this short was made, he was working with and under the direction of Eddie Lyons for release via the States Rights circuit. This meant that his comedies lacked large budgets.
This could have worked out well if the creators were inventive. Unhappily, these were apparently produced too quickly and the result is a movie that might have been very good half a dozen years earlier, with its large number of gags. Now it was simply old-fashioned. The characters are all types that suggest Keystone comedies of the mid-teens. There is even a bit with a round bomb towards the end. While the large number of gags helps keep things moving along, their large number does not permit much ornamentation to make ether their handling or the characters to stand out. The result is a watchable if unmemorable short comedy of the type that any fan of silent comedy will have seen several times from better-remembered comics.
Bobby Dunn arose to some prominence as a star of short comedies in the late Teens. He was a Chaplin imitator and through the end of his starring career retained the toothbrush mustache and occasional bowler hat. At the time this short was made, he was working with and under the direction of Eddie Lyons for release via the States Rights circuit. This meant that his comedies lacked large budgets.
This could have worked out well if the creators were inventive. Unhappily, these were apparently produced too quickly and the result is a movie that might have been very good half a dozen years earlier, with its large number of gags. Now it was simply old-fashioned. The characters are all types that suggest Keystone comedies of the mid-teens. There is even a bit with a round bomb towards the end. While the large number of gags helps keep things moving along, their large number does not permit much ornamentation to make ether their handling or the characters to stand out. The result is a watchable if unmemorable short comedy of the type that any fan of silent comedy will have seen several times from better-remembered comics.
