A TON OF FUN were a comedy team, that, according to Wikipedia, made 36 short films between 1925 - 1928. The team got their name because they consisted of three fat guys. Huge fat guys, I don’t think Curly Howard would be big enough and I’m not joking. Derita would be. Kewpie Ross, Hilliard “Fat” Karr and the immortal Frank “Fatty” Alexander. The latter we saw taking a ton of bumps recently with Larry Semon in THE SAWMILL and sure enough, he was a Semon regular. The series was done at FBO studios and the producer here is a man named Joe Rock. Rock started out as a comedian but became a producer and is perhaps best known for producing twelve solo Stan Laurel shorts in the mid twenties when Laurel was between stints at Roach. The previously reviewed DR. PYCKLE AND MR. PRYDE is one of the Rock shorts.
If you’re looking for Chaplinesque pathos, biting social commentary, slow and subtle Langdon movements or gags that will surprise you, turn away. HEAVY LOVE, like THE SAWMILL, is simply a very enjoyable giant in your face gag fest. One big difference is that Semon attempts to throw in something called a plot - and fails miserably. Here, whatever plot there is remains simple, it’s just there to set up the comedy. Nothing confusing here. Just three fat guys as carpenters taking giant falls. I mean, the first shot of the film? A long shot of a house outdoors, showing the three comics falling out of the house from the highest floor onto the ground. Fantastic opener and it tells you right away this film is no holds barred.
The gags themselves are crazy, but the fact the three comics are so big give each fall maximum impact. There is one gag where he’s painting himself into a corner. Standing on a board trying not to stand on the wet paint, he grabs onto a crooked window to keep his balance. The window breaks and with the fall, the whole room shakes! Like I said, maximum impact.
There is a bit of telegraphing, but not quite as extreme as Semon. One gag where Alexander is taking a wheelbarrow across a thin board. With his weight, we all know darn well what’s about to happen. Still, we get a title card from the leading lady saying, “Be careful. That might break.” Well, duh! Of course, it does break and Alexander takes a huge fall. Even though I know it’s coming, I get enjoyment from the pure execution of it all.
The great gag in this short involves Alexander stuck in a chimney. The chimney, very high in the air, is slowly tilting and the people below are pushing it back up. Eventually, Alexander falls down multiple floors and lands through a hole all the way to the bottom outdoors. The amount of floors broken and the set up is quite amazing.
We get some very familiar comic tropes that I like to call comfort food gags. The aforementioned comic painting themselves into a corner, the bad wallpaper job, laying down linoleum on one side of the room and having it chase the comic to the other side - we’ve seen The Three Stooges do this stuff. The running gag with the steps that turn flat and the comic falls? THE HAUNTED HOUSE from Keaton. The house being built on the wrong lot? ONE WEEK. The moving of the house leads to the house being destroyed and causing tons of damage. Another amazing jaw dropper of a shot.
With the crazy gags, the crazy falls, the real location setting and the pace of it all, HEAVY LOVE is, on a basic and primal level, the kind of film that’s the reason why I like silent comedy. Yes, the more sophisticated stuff is great, but sometimes, one just wants to eat chocolate cake.
