A Wild Roomer

This very enjoyable Charley Bowers comedy has a fine mix of material, with plenty of his usual gadgets and visual tricks, plus some good slapstick, all included in a silly but very entertaining story. There is plenty of creativity, and plenty to see, throughout the film.

The story uses a variation of a fairly familiar premise, in that Charley, as an eccentric inventor, has to meet a short deadline to demonstrate his invention. It creates its own distinctive version of this idea, by working the invention itself into many of the details and scenes of the story. Charley's character is amusing, with a slightly amoral streak but also some real innocence.

There are several good sequences. One especially good one is the sequence with the doll and the squirrel, which combines Bowers's imagination and gimmickry with some very thoughtful ideas. It's really a rather charming little scene, in addition to being quite creative. At other times, the wacky machine is used as part of some very funny slapstick.

Almost any Charley Bowers feature is going to have some fun gadgets and creative visual tricks. But it's the blend of different kinds of good material that makes this one particularly good.