User Reviews

Leon Errol had a long and successful series of two-reel comedies for RKO that ran from the thirties to the fifties, and then had an afterlife in television. This is the first of his films that I've seen, though, and I was impressed enough to plan on watching more.

By reputation he traded in marital farces, and this is indeed a neat, funny little farce in twenty minutes, beginning with Leon filling in for a marriage counseling program at his radio station and getting a letter from his wife meant to teat whether the show is a fake. Well-timed confusions-on-confusions follow, and it's good for a bunch of laughs in combination with well-conceived jokes that row from the situations.

I wasn't so much prepared by reputation for what Mr Errol himself would be like. I found his fast-talking and energetic but befuddled character quite amusing on its own. He's frustrated and frenetic, and seems to have a lot of energy but as if he doesn't know what's going on well enough to know what to do with it.

This particular short also has the advantage of offering a very entertaining glimpse into (an RKO vision of) local radio circa 1943, with live write-in programs being filled in six minutes before broadcast, and transmitting from the same room as a pile of live sounds effects equipment.

In "Radio Runaround", Leon Errol uses his standard comic formula of marital stresses and complicated predicaments to good effect. This time, Leon is working as a manager at a radio station, while his wife is seething because Leon has forgotten their anniversary. When they try to outsmart each other, the capers begin, drawing in several of their friends as well. Errol is always pretty entertaining with his somewhat exaggerated responses to life's travails, and the rest of the cast pitches in pretty well too in this one. It's amusing, and worth a look.

Radio Runaround (1943)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Decent short has Leon Errol being the go-go-go type so this makes his forget his wedding anniversary. His wife (Dorothy Christy) decides to make him jealous by going dancing with another man so this here makes Errol try to get even by paying a woman to pretend to be his girlfriend. The story line here isn't the most original out there but there are a few good laughs to be had here. The highlight of the film are the final five-minutes as the entire plan goes into effect but things get out of control with a neighbor coming over and getting in the middle of things. I thought the final was without question the funniest and it gets even more laughs when the woman's real boyfriend shows up. The first half of the short is pretty boring and doesn't contain very many laughs. The entire bit on the radio doesn't work and Errol forgetting at the start of the film doesn't work either. Fans of Errol will certainly want to check this out even though it's not one of his best.