Mister Smarty (1936)

movie

(7)

Country: N/A
Genres: Comedy, Short
Release: 1936-07-15
Director: Jack White
Writers: N/A
Language: English
Stars: Andy Clyde , Bobby Barber , Tommy Bond , Lew Davis , Billy Engle , William Irving , Bud Jamison , Jack ‘Tiny’ Lipson , Henry Manna , Robert McKenzie
Runtime: 19 min
Awards: N/A
AKA: Mister Smarty , Mister Smarty (United States of America)
Plot: This 1936 Columbia short, directed by Jack White under his "Preston Black" pseudonym, is a perfect example of Andy Clyde's comic genius and still holds up well almost 70 years later as violent slapstick at its best. The premise is simple. Andy complains that his wife is not "Efficient" as a homemaker and needs more of a "plan". She tells him that if he doesn't like the way she does things, he should try doing it himself for a day. He does, and you can imagine the results. This is the ultimate bad day and more goes wrong in more different ways than you could ever imagine. The plot also contains a few clever subplots regarding storing things in the garage and the neighbor painting his car that come back to make the situation even more nightmarish. This being a Columbia short, the slapstick is wild, physical, fast-moving, and full of loud sound effects. Clyde stumbles acrobatically through it all with this ease of a comic master. Anyone who has enjoyed the Three Stooges should check out the studio's many other wonderful comedy shorts--start with Andy Clyde and Charley Chase and Harry Langdon and Buster Keaton, and then move on to Vera Vague, Monty Collins, Eddie Quillan and Wally Vernon, Hugh Herbert, etc. Why Columbia/Sony have not realized the goldmine they have in these hundreds if not thousands of non-Stooges comedy shorts, I don't know. They ought to be running on cable TV and available in DVD box sets. Columbia had a wonderfully efficient comedy machine in their comedy short unit from the 30's through the 50's. You know within 10 seconds that you are watching a Columbia comedy short. They are wilder and more anarchic than RKO shorts, and they are much better directed and written than Educational shorts. The production design, sound effects, and pace of direction are uniquely Columbia. Clyde was one of the greats. He began in the silent era and worked well into the 1950s, along the way serving as a fine sidekick to various Western stars, among them William Boyd and Whip Wilson. It's a shame he is not widely remembered today.
IMDB:tt0163104