Monday, July 2, 2012

The Better 'Ole (1926)

Warner Bros.
Directed by Charles Reisner
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

A small French village in WWI is the backdrop for Syd Chaplin's brand of physical comedy. It's mostly low-brow stuff, derived from vaudeville, but occasionally he hits the bullseye. My favorite bits include the old two-men-in-a-horse-costume routine, which goes on for at least 15 minutes too long, but does end with a barking dog in place of the horse's head; and another gem where he uses an unconscious soldier's legs for his own, leading to some impossible positions. The war occasionally intercedes, but it's mostly good fun. Notable as one of the very first features to use sound: a Vitaphone disc was synched with the picture to provide music and occasional sound effects, but intertitles are still used for the dialogue, so it's in that awkward period between silents and talkies. Nicely restored with the original Vitaphone soundtrack in the Warner Archive Collection.

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