Topic: Radio Dough (1934) - George Sidney & Charlie Murray

[Paul Pain]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138049/

This one is another "What on earth?!" short.  For background, George Sidney was an actor who specialized in Jewish stereotypes and likewise Charlie Murray specialized in Irish stereotypes, with the pairing being famous in the 1920s and 1930s for the Cohen's and Kelly's series.

I see what made them great, but this isn't.  The opening scene sees an early form of nosebonk as Charlie abuses a belligerent customer.  Then we get an old, pre-Code scene with implied homosexuality, but nothing standout.  The funniest part was George reading the letter and them badly attempting to sing off-key (and not sounding that terrible as a result  ).

The chicken soup gags are delivered mostly flatly, but boy does Charlie Murray make good faces.  Unfortunately, a lot of opportunities were missed here.  Many loose ends, a disjointed plot, shallow jokes, and missed opportunities drag this down.  The ending with them calling thr police is just plain surreal as is the ending.

I see why George and Charlie were famous, and they do great for men in their 60s.  But the short itself is lacking.  Unfortunately, this is their only short that's available to view.

4/10

[metaldams]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138049/

This one is another "What on earth?!" short.  For background, George Sidney was an actor who specialized in Jewish stereotypes and likewise Charlie Murray specialized in Irish stereotypes, with the pairing being famous in the 1920s and 1930s for the Cohen's and Kelly's series.

I see what made them great, but this isn't.  The opening scene sees an early form of nosebonk as Charlie abuses a belligerent customer.  Then we get an old, pre-Code scene with implied homosexuality, but nothing standout.  The funniest part was George reading the letter and them badly attempting to sing off-key (and not sounding that terrible as a result  ).

The chicken soup gags are delivered mostly flatly, but boy does Charlie Murray make good faces.  Unfortunately, a lot of opportunities were missed here.  Many loose ends, a disjointed plot, shallow jokes, and missed opportunities drag this down.  The ending with them calling thr police is just plain surreal as is the ending.

I see why George and Charlie were famous, and they do great for men in their 60s.  But the short itself is lacking.  Unfortunately, this is their only short that's available to view.

4/10

A “What on Earth?” short is right.  The short starts out fine when Charlie Murray works with the drunk and/or discombobulated guy getting on the suit, but once that gag peaks, so does this short.  OK, Charlie Murray’s Ed Wynn impersonation was alright, but the rest is a jumbled plot, lame ethnic jokes (the Irish and Jewish policemen on the phone is a real eye roller), lame soup joke, lame all around.  Between this and WIZARD OF OZ, I’m inclined to think there’s gotta be some old Sennett short I can review someday where Murray can be given some justice.  But AY TANK AY GO may as well be A PLUMBING WE WILL go next to this one.  Hard to offer intelligent commentary when I barely got what I just watched.

[Paul Pain]

A “What on Earth?” short is right.  The short starts out fine when Charlie Murray works with the drunk and/or discombobulated guy getting on the suit, but once that gag peaks, so does this short.  OK, Charlie Murray’s Ed Wynn impersonation was alright, but the rest is a jumbled plot, lame ethnic jokes (the Irish and Jewish policemen on the phone is a real eye roller), lame soup joke, lame all around.  Between this and WIZARD OF OZ, I’m inclined to think there’s gotta be some old Sennett short I can review someday where Murray can be given some justice.  But AY TANK AY GO may as well be A PLUMBING WE WILL go next to this one.  Hard to offer intelligent commentary when I barely got what I just watched.

When you say such things, it really speaks poorly for the short that is being discussed.  So at least one other person feels the same way I do about this one.

This is the Columbia Shorts Department equivalent of "Uncle Albert".

[Umbrella Sam]

Eh...Ok, so I do like a few of the jokes in this one. The beginning with Murray dealing with the drunk was funny, and I do also like their act during the dinner party, especially Murray’s Ed Wynn imitation. Paul Pain makes an excellent point about Murray’s facial expressions; that was the thing that stood out to me the most while watching the film. Overall, Murray actually does a pretty good job. Sidney’s not bad, but he’s a lot harder to understand. The imitation radio gag also goes on for way too long and the whole idea with the soup, while kind of clever at first, just becomes a jumbled mess at the end. Overall, it’s not really a bad short, but there aren’t really enough positives either to say it’s worth seeking out.

5 out of 10