User Reviews

John T. Murray and his real-life wife, Vivien Oakland, appear in this short for Vitaphone, a thoroughly amusing and nonsensical one-reel production, Technically, it is not a satire, whics is politically motivated comedy, but a burlesque. Or you can shrug and say "whatever". Either way, it's funny.

The Murrays were married about 1917. MMiss Oakland evolved from a Ziegfeld showgirl to an accomplished movie farceur. Her best movie may well be Charley Chase's MIGHTY LIKE A MOOSE, but she suported Laurel & Hardy and played the screen wives of Leon Erroll and Edgar Kennedy -- although not in the same movie. Murray died in 1957. Miss Oakland the next year.

Here's an amusing Vitaphone short that would make an ideal lead-in to The Bat Whispers, Dracula, or any number of haunted house mysteries from the early talkie days. 'Satires' features comedian John T. Murray and his wife Vivien Oakland, assisted by actor Ernest Young. Oakland is best remembered by film buffs for her appearances in many Hal Roach-produced comedies, particularly those of Laurel & Hardy. She's quite funny in this short, and reveals a pleasant singing voice in the finale.

Mr. Young introduces the sketch in an appropriately melodramatic fashion, wearing an opera cape and a glowering expression. He recites a bit of doggerel about the current popularity of mystery plays ("full of thrills and sighing moans, slamming doors and ringing phones") and then slinks away. Eerie music, thunder, and sinister lighting set the scene. Vivien enters, frightened, and then John, ditto. They tiptoe about, and exchange ridiculous quips about how terrible it all is. Young staggers in, groaning, and slumps into a chair. Vivien screams, and dashes away. When John bumps into the corpse and excuses himself, the corpse comes to life long enough to say "That's all right" before falling dead again.

It's all very much like a Tex Avery cartoon performed by live actors. The script is on the level of something you might see in a high school talent show, but it's cute and funny, and the performers seem to be enjoying themselves. For the finale, Oakland & Murray drop the horror show satire and perform a song called "Excelsior" in the old-fashioned style of the 1880s. This too is amusing, although it's strange to think that the period in question was still within living memory of some of the older viewers who saw this short when it was new.

And that's 'Satires,' short and sweet, a Vitaphone comedy sketch that doesn't wear out its welcome and is still entertaining today. Show this with a period cartoon and a newsreel, and then you're primed for Bela Lugosi.