Howd' Ya Like That? (1934) User Reviews

Not all that funny....but not terrible either.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 12 March 2017]

George Givot appeared in a few films sporting an outrageously bizarre accent. However, he was actually born in Omaha! In this film he plays a Greek sailor. Charles Judels was born in the Netherlands but, oddly, plays a French sailor in this one. The two want to sneak off their ship with some booze into an American port during Prohibition* and to do so means sneaking past the annoying petty officer at the port (Lionel Stander). Eventually they do succeed by hiding out in a large trunk...and end up accidentally being delivered to a stage actress' changing room. Her jealous partner sees the two men and stomps off...and the pair agree to help fill in and the act goes on...just not all that well.

This is not a hilarious short...nor are most of the Vitaphone comedy shorts. I recently bought several DVDs of these films and with only a few exceptions, they're pretty awful. So, the fact that this one is mediocre and watchable is a major plus!

*This film actually came out AFTER Prohibition ended. It premiered in January, 1934 and Prohibition officially ended in early December, 1933.

Howd' Ya Like That? has as its only asset a brief scene with Shemp Howard

[tavm · 2/10 · 27 June 2019]

The best part of this short is when Shemp Howard tries to sneak on a ship with his liquor and Lionel Stander, as a Navy guard, manages to catch him and throws him (obviously really a dummy) over some port luggage with Shemp's wild hair very much unkempt! Too bad that's Shemp's only scene as the rest of this short has two other sailors managing to pass Stander after having a cat put in their suitcase before switching to the alcohol bottles. Those two also get involved with a male-and-female stage act in which the male part is Tarzan. That part is mostly lame. Anyway, Howd' Ya Like That? wasn't too bad but not too good, either! By the way, the female lead is Dorothy McNulty who was a brunette but gained greater fame as Penny Singleton, a blonde who eventually became the movie version of Blondie.