First off, bad print quality, but it’s all we have. Emil Sitka is the first parallel parking police officer and Symona Boniface is in front of the ticket line at one point. The only way I could tell is their voices. They’re faces are blurred beyond recognition.
Indeed a remake of THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE, which in itself is a remake of Fields own silent film, RUNNING WILD (which has nothing to do with the Judas Priest song or the German pirate metal band). The Fields feature is indeed a classic, but the problem with this film is they try to condense an entire feature film into a two reel comedy and it just doesn’t work. The characters and gags in the Fields films breathe, here everything feels rushed. The shaving mirror gag is from IT’S A GIFT. When Fields does it, hysterical. It’s comic ballet. Here? Edited to pieces, rushed, no room for Andy.
One point of fascination is Andy’s wife, Geneva Mitchell. Yes, the same one from RESTLESS KNIGHTS and HOI POLLOI. If IMDb is accurate, this is her first role in ten years and would be her last. She was dead three years later at age 41. I bet the back story of her getting this role is an interesting one.
