Topic: Hiss and Yell (1946) - Vera Vague with Barton Yarborough

[Paul Pain]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038602/

http://www.emilsitka.com/hissandyell1946.html

Jules White was nominated for an Academy Award for this short.  In addition, it's the screen debut of the legendary Emil Sitka.  And it's an entirely unique short for sure.  It's also nice to see real outdoor scenes in so much of this,

This short is best appreciated in the knowledge that Barton Yarborough was Vera Vague's ex-husband.  This explains their amazing dynamic together on screen.

If there was ever a Columbia short that had an idée fixe, it's this one.  I never thought a gag could be milked so far, but Jules White's department outdid itself in this one.  This short is bizarre and fun.

Vera does well in this one and even in a couple spots clearly does her own "stunt work," although such moments are minor indeed.  She truly is a top-notch comedienne, and it's a shame we can't review all of these at this time.

Barton Yarborough serves the childish jokes with relish.  He was an accomplished actor who sadly died of a heart attack in 1951, just 46 years old.  This role calls for a dead pan delivery of jokes concerning murder (particularly decapitation), blood and guts, and lust.  Especially good is when he is offering sandwiches to Vera, and completely oblivious to her reactions.

The dummy head is a character all of its own.  I mentioned recently how few objects bring the comedic value of the piano in Laurel & Hardy's THE MUSIC BOX; well, the dummy head here comes close.  The timing of the appearances of that dummy was perfect and served to amazingly drive the short forward toward its conclusion.

Now, the jokes are crude and stale even if delivered perfectly.  Along the way, we get some lousy acting from the support, and certain plot elements require too much suspension of disbelief.  This is a classic case of "some mature explanation of matters could resolve everything."  However, Heinie Conklin again is the perfect victim of Vera's character and representative of the overall quality of the short.  Emil Sitka does solid in his debut, and I encourage you to read his diary notes.

9/10

[metaldams]

Really an excellent and well written short.  Vera Vague continues to impress with her timing and delivery - she’s a delightful screen presence.  I really loved the part when Bluebeard was talking about all the sandwiches with various body parts in the name, her ill reactions were great.

Yes, a short but sweet screen debut of Emil Sitka.  If you take a look at the written ad or paper at the beginning of the film, you’ll notice the same booking agency ethnic joke with three Jewish guys followed by an O’Brien used in A PAIN IN THE PULLMAN, as well as SHOW BUSINESS.

The confusion concerning the head and suitcase was really excellent.  Harry Langdon would have done wonders with a script like this and I even think Shemp could have done a good job with it as well - a tinkering of the romance angle, of course.  As it stands though, great for Vera Vague and she continues to impress the more I see her.

[Umbrella Sam]

A pretty funny short overall, and it actually feels quite unique for a Columbia short. Even when the Columbia shorts do usually have original stories, there still is a certain familiarity to them, as though elements of them could be found in other Columbia stories. However, because the subject of this one is so dark, I think it ended up being hard for them to really reuse many elements of them. The closest I can think of is when the officer gives Vera back her case. The ways that Vera gets the case back are handled well (especially the moment with Emil Sitka) and I like that they even throw in a small chase simply for a fun, small gag as opposed to making it a huge element of the short.

Vera’s line delivery and reactions are once again great. Barton Yarborough himself was a pretty accomplished radio actor, probably best remembered for playing Joe Friday’s partner in the radio version of DRAGNET (he even reprised the role on the TV version, but died very early in production). He works well in this role, especially during those scenes Paul mentions where he has to act oblivious to Vera’s reactions while also naturally say these things in a way that makes Vera freak out. Fred Kelsey also is really funny in his few scenes as a slightly bumbling police officer.

The part where Vera drops everything over Barton feels a bit slow and tedious, but otherwise this is a pretty well-paced short.

9 out of 10

[Paul Pain]

Vera’s line delivery and reactions are once again great. Barton Yarborough himself was a pretty accomplished radio actor, probably best remembered for playing Joe Friday’s partner in the radio version of DRAGNET (he even reprised the role on the TV version, but died very early in production). He works well in this role, especially during those scenes Paul mentions where he has to act oblivious to Vera’s reactions while also naturally say these things in a way that makes Vera freak out. Fred Kelsey also is really funny in his few scenes as a slightly bumbling police officer.

Yes, I read up on Barton Yarborough before posting this thread, and he had a very fulfilling career before his sudden death.  And thankfully for us (1) he lent his talents to Columbia studios for some shorts and (2) he and Vera, despite being previously married, must have still gotten along well.