Film & Shorts Discussions > Random Comedy Reviews

High Blood Pleasure (1945) - Schilling & Lane

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HomokHarcos:
This feels quite different from the other Columbia comedies. Strange, since it was directed by Jules White. It's actually not very violent, and feels more like a Hal Roach or RKO comedy short for me. The story is strong, especially the beginning when they go to the car and he starts speeding. They recognize him as a doctor, but also think he might be a criminal. He certainly acts like a criminal, he is even willing to go as far as doing a life threatening operation just to get out of trouble!

Umbrella Sam:
This seems more like a better representation of what the appeal to the Schilling-Lane team was than PARDON MY TERROR, which was basically just a Three Stooges short reworked at the last minute. I do think the beginning is a bit slow and lacking of any truly funny gags, but it really picks up its pace during the second half. Lane and Vernon Dent both have fun moments going crazy; I particularly like when Lane thinks Schilling is a large piece of meat and keeps asking the nurse what she wants him to do with it, mostly for Schilling’s response: “For goodness sake lady, tell him you want fish!” The chase is fun as well, especially when they keep crashing into the one guy in the hall. Yeah, we’ve seen that gag done to death both with the Stooges and other Columbia comedians, but this one has a nice, almost self-referential twist in which the officers get mad at the guy for always being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Top it off with an ending gag lifted from Harry Langdon’s I DON’T REMEMBER, and you get a delightfully fast-paced comedy...well, half of one. Again, I think the set up could have been a bit better; they do some verbal jokes, but none of them are particularly memorable. Still, for what it is, it does do its job by making me laugh, even if it took a while to do that.

7 out of 10

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