Based off of the few non-WIZARD OF OZ films I’ve seen Billie Burke in (MERRILY WE LIVE, ZENOBIA, and at least one other film I can’t recall the name of at this moment), Burke seems to pretty much be doing the same kind of comedy she usually did, and that’s a good thing. She seems to usually play a somewhat eccentric person, yet she’s so sweet that it’s hard to not like her, and if Sitka’s diary entries are to be believed, it seems she was just as nice in real life. And to Columbia’s credit, she does actually have some pretty funny spoken word gags. I especially loved when she asked the nurse, “Am I a grandfather or a grandmother?” instead of “Is it a boy or a girl?”
As far as the rest of the cast goes, they’re more in line with Columbia’s usual style, but they’re still very good at it. Dick Wessel plays the dumb guy and Patsy Moran the mean maid (and again, reading Sitka’s diary entries, I can see why she tended to get those parts). Sitka himself is the real standout, though, and he does do a lot of slapstick. Like metaldams mentioned, it’s very reminiscent of what would later be his role in GENTS IN A JAM. Despite doing almost nothing to anyone, the whole world just seems out to get him, and Sitka is great with delivering reactions.
Overall, I really enjoyed this short.
9 out of 10