https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0174643/Wally Vernon & Eddie Quillan were one of Columbia's last teams to be dissolved, lasting through 1956. They were a favorite of Jules White because the two were able to do stunts and take pratfalls that the other Columbia teams couldn't take. In short, they were known as some of the most violent shorts Columbia shorts ever produced, with the lost short DOGGIE IN THE BEDROOM being considered by some to be some of Columbia Shorts's most violent content. I don't see this in their available shorts. They only made 16 shorts in total (6 of which were stock jobs of earlier efforts), and of those only 5 exist to this day.
Wally Vernon was best known for his dancing skills and never really had any major roles in pictures. He sadly was run over and killed in Hollywood in 1970.
Eddie Quillan was a workhorse whose career started with Sennett silent shorts in 1922, when he was just 15 years old! Like Vernon, Quillan was best known for his dancing skills and made frequent appearances as a secondary or tertiary character in some significant films, often as comic relief or where some talented feet were needed. Eddie was a frequent TV guest actor (usually in small roles) and continued making appearances until 1987. He died of cancer in 1990.
A FOOL AND HIS HONEY is a simple enough premise: guy thinks his wife is fooling with his best friend. The results are expected with a wild chase, slapstick, and a hasty explanation at the end that resolves everything. This is all well and good, but it is what happens along the way that's interesting.
We get to see Vernon & Quillan's excellent dance skills... and they really are excellent! Really, most of the first reel is just to let them dance and do some verbal jabber, and we even see what happens when you spike the fish bowl! During the bedroom scenes, we get some good shorts of Quillan getting crushed by the mattress and doing the usual routines associated with the man hiding from the jealous husband by crawling under his bed.
But that chase scene is something else! Either it's really Vernon and Quillan doing those acrobatics (given their background, it may be), or it is some astounding choreography and camera work. It's hard to tell with the poor quality. The scene isn't too funny really, but it's fun to watch regardless.
Yes, we get some cringe worthy moments, including the previously mentioned mattress scene (including that mattress falling with Wally still on it multiple times). Wally gets mad and puts his hand in a bowl of hot oatmeal, so he washes it off by pouring hot coffee over it. Likewise, the closing bit with the weight room is another moment where some might wince. We even get to see some naughty lobster butt pinching.
The supporting cast is all good, but the highlight has to be none other than Johnny Kascier. Johnny reprises his most famous role here: the waiter who, while bearing a silver tray full of ceramics, keeps getting run down during the chase scene. What makes this so funny is not just how well Johnny takes it yet again, but how he breaks the fourth-wall in complaining about how this always happens to him and therefore finally smashing the dishes himself. Green Canaries, this scene is for you.
Another flawed short that provides some fascinating yucks if only because of the skills and talents of those involved.
8/10
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