Benny from Panama (1934)
** (out of 4)
This short is part of the "Hal Roach's All-Stars" series and features Jeanette Loff and Eddie Foy, Jr., who play newlyweds that fall into one disaster after another. Just as they get settled into their hotel their friends show up to party until the middle of the night and then things get worse when Benny (James P. Burtis), an old friend of Eddie's shows up for some more partying. This was the first film from the series that I've seen and I must say that I hope the others are much better. This certainly isn't an awful short but there's still not enough laughs to carry its 20-minute running time. I think the best portion of the film happens at the start when the two are married and right off the bat her dress catches fire and she has to strip in the back of the car only to then get pulled over by the police. These sequences are things we've seen in countless earlier Roach films but they're given some new life here and the viewer gets a couple laughs. I think the weakest portion of the final are the final ten-minutes or so once the "friends" come over and destroy everything. The stuff with the party guests simply aren't funny and things don't get any better once Benny shows up. What's even worse is an animated sequence involving a Panama mosquito but the laughs still don't come. Both Foy and Loff are in fine form but one wishes they had more to work with. Spanky from the Our Gang shorts has a quick cameo.
** (out of 4)
This short is part of the "Hal Roach's All-Stars" series and features Jeanette Loff and Eddie Foy, Jr., who play newlyweds that fall into one disaster after another. Just as they get settled into their hotel their friends show up to party until the middle of the night and then things get worse when Benny (James P. Burtis), an old friend of Eddie's shows up for some more partying. This was the first film from the series that I've seen and I must say that I hope the others are much better. This certainly isn't an awful short but there's still not enough laughs to carry its 20-minute running time. I think the best portion of the film happens at the start when the two are married and right off the bat her dress catches fire and she has to strip in the back of the car only to then get pulled over by the police. These sequences are things we've seen in countless earlier Roach films but they're given some new life here and the viewer gets a couple laughs. I think the weakest portion of the final are the final ten-minutes or so once the "friends" come over and destroy everything. The stuff with the party guests simply aren't funny and things don't get any better once Benny shows up. What's even worse is an animated sequence involving a Panama mosquito but the laughs still don't come. Both Foy and Loff are in fine form but one wishes they had more to work with. Spanky from the Our Gang shorts has a quick cameo.