Film & Shorts Discussions > Random Comedy Reviews
Odor in the Court (1934) - Clark and McCullough
Umbrella Sam:
Outside of this website, the only place where I’d really heard of Clark and McCullough was on a list where the classic comedy teams were ranked...and Clark and McCullough were near the bottom. So I was never really in a rush to ever see any of the works by these guys and figured they weren’t worth checking out. Well, I was wrong, because ODOR IN THE COURT was just so much fun to watch.
If I recall correctly, the big complaint that I read about was simply that Clark was annoying, and I can kind of see where that complaint comes from. As far as being a team goes, Clark and McCullough don’t really tend to work off of each other a lot here, as opposed to, say, Wheeler and Woolsey. Clark is definitely the dominant force here. But, in my opinion, he’s a funny dominant force. I especially like when he goes out of his way to trick the judge with his non-objections during the courtroom scenes. There’s something about how fast paced his dialogue is that makes him so funny. It’s kind of like the Ritz Brothers in HOTEL ANCHOVY. I can’t see this kind of fast paced, loudmouthed style working well in a feature, but it does work well in a short, especially one as surreal as this.
Not only do they go all out with the dialogue, but they also go all out with the visual spectacle as well. I too was reminded of DUCK SOUP when it came to the marching band. In fact, I’ll even go as far as saying that I prefer the marching band stuff here to the “We’re Going to War” number in DUCK SOUP. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy that too, but this seemed even more outlandish, especially when they keep cuing the band to play different selections. Probably my favorite gag is when Clark punches Tom Kennedy in the face; it’s a fast paced visual gag that just comes out of nowhere, and it works so well because of how unexpected it is.
McCullough himself didn’t really leave much of an impression on me, but again, that’s probably because Clark is the clear dominant force here. He wasn’t bad or anything, but he doesn’t leave much of an impression since he’s paired with Clark. Geno mentioned McCullough being up to his own mischief in the background during these shorts, so I may go back later and try to focus on what McCullough’s doing there, because it is very difficult to notice given everything else that happens here. Regardless, I still think that this is a very funny short and I’d definitely be up for watching more Clark and McCullough shorts in the future.
10 out of 10
Umbrella Sam:
I just looked at Clark’s IMDB page and it turns out his last two performances were in two different adaptations of ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Clark really must have loved surreality.
Here’s the one where he plays the King of Hearts (I only watched a little bit of it, but he does seem like a decent choice for the role)
metaldams:
This was in the guess the supporting actress thread, but here’s an older Bobby Clark with Sherry O’Neil from Damn Yankees in 1956. She’s the girl all the guys were ogling and following around in Fiddler’s Three.
GenoCuddy:
--- Quote from: metaldams on January 29, 2021, 04:46:41 PM ---
This was in the guess the supporting actress thread, but here’s an older Bobby Clark with Sherry O’Neil from Damn Yankees in 1956. She’s the girl all the guys were ogling and following around in Fiddler’s Three.
--- End quote ---
Can ya blame them? Rowr-Rowr-Rowr-Rowr
metaldams:
--- Quote from: GenoCuddy on January 29, 2021, 06:02:13 PM ---Can ya blame them? Rowr-Rowr-Rowr-Rowr
--- End quote ---
Can’t blame them at all. [cheers]
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