A new one for me- I'd never seen a Snub Pollard film, I couldn't even have picked him out of a police line-up. 1927 is apparently quite a step into his career, so I couldn't say how representative this is of him and his style of comedy- but I enjoyed it. Another big moustache- a huge moustache actually- and, well what are those? Mock oriental eyebrows? Is this how he looked all the way through his career, or has his appearance been refined somewhat? He seems to have quite an amiable persona- there's certainly something there. I do feel sometimes before watching these, shall we say, second tier comedians, that they are going to be a little bland, a little soulless, but I liked what I saw of him here and- you know what? I think I may even be able to pick him out of a police line-up now. He works particularly well with the little kidnapped kid- the hugs and affection seemed spontaneous rather than forced and that hints at depths to the character that may or may not be justified when I get to see further films of his. This is from the 'Weiss-o-rama' DVD set and I know there's a couple more Snubs on there, so I'm looking forward to those.
He plays a- no surprise- bum here, who becomes entangled with a convict and his iron ball thingy. In a surprising twist the convict is actually rather grateful to Snub for his inadvertent assistance in helping him escape, and becomes a pal to him, helping him out when he needs it. The two of them come across a kidnapped kid, and the story writes itself from there. There's some high-wire action with one of those washing line contraptions that apparently used to run between apartment buildings (do they still have those? were these a uniquely American affair?) that drags on a little too long, but mostly this is quick-moving and very likeable.
No comments:
Post a Comment