Topic: Artist's Muddles (1933) - Andy Clyde & Vernon Dent

[Paul Pain]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023766/

We return to the vault's of Education Pictures, "The Spice of the Program," for this film starring Andy Clyde and co-starring Vernon Dent in a significant role.  This short is one of the more bizarre shorts, and it smells strongly of pre-code era productions.

Andy Clyde plays a hobo, one of his most common roles, with Vernon Dent as a bipolar French artist bent on committing suicide using a car.  The opening scene that introduces these two characters is absolutely surreal and simultaneously hilarious.  Vernon Dent is just great with both his ability to just stare ahead as well as the way he just points and says "Look!" as the car approaches the cliff.  He was an incredibly talented actor who really excelled as a comic foil.  He also makes some wonderful faces while in the studio talking to Andy and while on the phone.  Sadly, this is about it for Vernon highlights.

Pre-code moment #1 occurs when Mr. Cellini (Louis Alberni) is trying to kiss him, and Vernon Dent can't decide whether it is sexual or violent (see the picture I posted above) before returning to hiding in his room.  That bit is just really off the wall.  This kind of comedy was stifled by the Hayes code.

There is a good deal of physical comedy and muttering from "Sunshine" when he and the monkey are hanging the picture, especially while he's stomping on the piano and the guests in the other room hear it as a magnificent concerto.

Pre-code moment #2 is just a bit strange.  First, the blobbed paint falls of the painting, which while unrealistic leads to a dramatic revealing of the difference between Andy's accidental "masterpiece" and his character's actual lack of talent.  Then, as the monkey jumps on the back of the painting, it causes warping that makes the hourglass-drawn-version of Mrs. Cellini start twerking bouncing in-and-out.  This bit is just completely surreal and deliberately sexualized and really makes you wonder how much opium was smoked during the writing of this script.

A weak supporting cast and several weak effects, typical of Educational, hurt some scattered bits throughout.

After watching FIDDLESTICKS last night, I just had to get a decent short review for Vernon Dent.

9/10

P.S.: never hitch a car ride with someone who's going west.

[metaldams]

First off, the director of this one is Harry Edwards.

I just watched this for the first time and ARTIST’S MUDDLES is an enjoyable early talkie comedy for sure.  Paul pretty much covered the main selling points.  I’ll just add Luis Alberni (his great great grandson has posted on Moronika recently) and Vernon Dent both are more than able support for Clyde, sometimes overshadowing Clyde.  I’m noticing Clyde to be a good reaction comic and man of a thousand faces type the more films I see him in.  Yes, the “twerk” was not invented by J-Lo. 

Fun short, and a trip seeing Vernon in Bobby Clark glasses hamming it up in a foreign accent like this.  The beginning is a bit surreal for sure.

[Umbrella Sam]

Well, I wouldn’t have expected a short dealing with art to get so crazy. But, at the same time, that actually is a big part of the short’s appeal. Andy kind of just gets thrown into a ridiculous situation involving him having to hang a painting he accidentally made, and it is kind of amusing, especially when he’s trying to step on the piano and mistakenly plays beautiful music in the process.

Vernon Dent definitely has an interesting role here, although it does become less important as the second half comes around; him shooting at Clyde at the end for ruining his contract does kind of come out of nowhere, but, again, that is kind of the appeal. Everything’s just so crazy that you kind of do have to laugh at how crazy it is.

Overall, I enjoyed it, though I wouldn’t really consider it a prime example of short subject comedy, considering that the comedy comes more from the situations than the character personalities.

8 out of 10