Michael's Movie Grade:C+
Review: Entertaining comedy short.
This film was directed and written by Charles Lamount, who also directed quite a few Keystone shorts. This becomes obvious at times as there are some very Keystone-y gags in this film, such as the senator eating a cake like a buzz saw. These jokes are fast and sometimes quite funny. On the downside, sometimes the writing seemed to rely too much on the kids being cute, and there were a few jokes that missed. Also the kids (with the exception of Shirley Temple) were definitely not the best actors (and certainly not on the level of let's say Our Gang). However while this short never reached the level of Our Gang, it was still an entertaining film.
Also this holds interest to classic film buffs as it features a very early appearance by Shirley Temple. The role she plays here may surprise film fans as it is quite different from the roles she is known for. There is also quite a bit of risqué humor for a film with Shirley Temple in it (this was pre-code after all), and no singing or dancing.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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