5/10
amiable but not particularly distinguished early sound comedy
26 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This is an odd little comedy short. Perhaps the oddest thing about it is that Franklin Pangborn was one of the stars. I never would have imagined him being a comedian--instead, throughout the 1930s and 40s, he always seemed to play bit parts in movies as "the annoyed manager of the hotel" or some other annoyed and officious type of person. Here, he's more of a regular guy.

Since there's so little info on this film on IMDb, I'll give a brief summary. There are several guys in the US military who are stationed in the Orient. The tough sergeant, the two buddies and practically everyone else in the film is in love with the same girl. And, as a result a lot of fighting and complications result. In the end, the four guys decide to pretend to kill each other and the one who the girl runs to is the one she truly loves and that's the others will let him have her. But, after the fake shooting is staged, in pops Ben Turpin (who you have not seen all during the film) to claim her. The plot was pretty thin and Turpin said and did very little,...but just seeing his goofy face in the end made me laugh.

Only adequate production values and laughs make this a pretty ordinary and forgettable old film.
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