Topic: Come on Seven (1956) - Wally Vernon & Eddie Quillan

[Paul Pain]

Go the 32:30 mark in the that video to watch COME ON SEVEN.

COME ON SEVEN is a remake, with stock footage, of their earlier lost short FUN ON THE RUN, which itself used stock footage from the Collins & Kennedy short FREE RENT.  The stock footage from FREE RENT appears in both productions, although I would have to watch FREE RENT to find out exactly where this is.

This short starts off on one leg and ends on another.  The beginning is full of pathos akin to CASH AND CARRY, with the single mother worrying about paying for her child's life-saving operation, and Wally and Eddie are the two bums down the hall who desperately want to help them.  After that, it's more like EVEN AS IOU as the kid and mother are never seen again.

Now, we get some crazy moments with Eddie and Wally in the domestic situation, particularly gags (and hilarious violence) involving hot irons and boiling water.  Someone correct me... but I have never seen the coffee-in-the-hot-water-bag gag before.  The boiled underwear and ironing the toast are old workhorses, but these guys do a fine job with them.  It's all good old fashioned comfort comedy done well by quality comedians.

The actors and actresses are very confusing as the cast listings for this and FUN ON THE RUN are nearly identical, and I haven't even a guess what's stock footage and what isn't as a result.  The opening scenes appear to be new, but after that I'm lost.  Either this or the original was the final true film appearance of the gorgeous Rebel Randall, and supposedly this was, via the stock footage, the last for Joy Windsor as well.

This is only the second time I have seen the "Goss-low" gag, and we all know the first.  The craps scenes are a bit expected and OK, but nothing overly funny.  Eddie Quillan just doesn't come across as funny with the "money in the pantyhose" joke.  Beyond that, it's all fight scenes and typical Columbia act-like-an-idiot-around-girls stuff.  Again, there's nothing astounding here, but nothing bad either.

7/10

[HomokHarcos]

The plot was so confusing and all over the place that it was hard to follow along. They were at home, then a highway, then a lake, then a casino, then a hotel. I liked the ironing gag, he acted exactly like Moe with the false forgiveness only to attack him after. The part where the women keep slapping each other was funny, and I liked the gratuitious violence throughout. For some reason I also found the go slow sign part very funny.

[metaldams]

I’m sensing a theme in these Vernon and Quillan shorts - lots of female slapstick.  Again, some ladies take a fist to the face and this short ends with Rebel Randall, in a silky nightie, engaged in a cat fight with another lady.  We folks at Moronika always bring you the best in high brow entertainment.

I agree tyat the short starts out with a CASH AND CARRY pathos theme but unlike that Stooge classic, doesn’t develop it very well.  This short plays out as an adventure comedy that moves along at a brisk pace and the single moments tend to work better than the whole, which doesn’t gel very well.  A fun way to spend fifteen minutes.