Dream Stuff (1933) User Reviews

He Hates Vanilla

[boblipton · 6/10 · 24 December 2010]

This late Mack Sennett short subject is fairly unremarkable in terms of composition, although by this stage his productions had settled down, losing the erratic nature of his early sound films, in which one was very funny and the next a rather boring retread of one of his standard scripts.

In this one, Emerson Treacy and Franklin Pangborn are competing for the charms of Joyce Compton, with Treacy a rather timid young man, and Pangborn a he-man -- he shoots, he rides and he punches out Treacy. The real fun of this short is provided by a dream sequence, but mostly by the ever-funny Walter Catlett, in overwhelming mode, as he instructs Treacy in how to win Miss Compton's affections. Catlett had a long career on Broadway and later in the movies and one can see why. So enjoy this one.

Good sample of Mack Sennett comedy

[SimonJack · 7/10 · 8 April 2017]

This 20-minute Mack Sennett short was an extra for theater features in 1933. And, it's a very good warm-up, especially for comedy and/or romance films that might follow. It was distributed by Paramount and came on a DVD I purchased of "Perfect Understanding," a 1933 United Artists release.

The plot is very simple. Cousin Walter (Walter Catlett) tries to teach young Clarence (Emerson Treacy) how to woo the girl he wants to wed. When he isn't able to instill some gumption in Clarence, Walter takes events into his own hands to get results. He gets results, all right, with lots of comedy. An early Hollywood supporting actor of usually demeaning or disliked characters actually is made out to be a hero of sorts in this film. Franklin Pangborn plays Gordon; but anyone who has seen him in the myriad other supporting roles he played, will have a hard time believing his character in this short. He adds to the humor, though.

This little film has doses of slapstick and versions of pratfalls. But, most of the humor is in the dialog – most of which is delivered by Catlett. It gets wacky in places with a couple of totally unrelated scenarios thrown into the pot. It's fun and a look at some work of one of the great early comedy producers of Hollywood. Mack Sennett, for a time, was the king of the comedies in silent films. For samples of the funny dialog, see the Quotes section in this IMDb Web page of the film.

Walter Catlett Takes the Girl from Frankin Pangborn

[alonzoiii-1 · 7/10 · 7 March 2011]

Walter Catlett is the cousin to some squeaky voiced Dagwood Bumstead type who can't get a girl. Can he browbeat his cousin into swiping pretty girl from accomplished gunman, boxer, and horseman Franklin Pangborn (!?), or is that just DREAM STUFF?

Right before his studio crashed and burned with the coming of the double feature and the phasing out of the two-reel comedy, Mack Sennett finally seemed to figure out sound comedy, with a series of shorts starring Bing Crosby, and an awesome quartet of shorts featuring W.C. Fields. This one, featuring character actor Walter Catlett, is certainly not of the level of the Fields shorts, but holds up fairly well. Why? Because Catlett in this one is a force of nature as he manufactures plots well calculated to get his somewhat doofy cousin the girl (and guaranteed to fluster the doofy cousin). The gags here are mostly funny. Pangborn make a great foil. And Catlett is truly wonderful as a benevolent despot, who, despite his wise scheming, can't avoid being the target for a couple of gooey pastries.

Worth seeing, as a vehicle for a fine comic actor who is usually seen in TCM movies in a supporting role. Makes one wonder what a starring feature with this actor would have looked like.