The ice man is a vanished sight in the American scene, along with the milk man and the now-disappearing post man. Before refrigerators came onto the scene, people used ice boxes, insulated cabinets in which melting ice kept the insides cold -- and the brawny young men who earned money in summer delivering the large chunks of ice had reputations for dalliances with the ladies of the houses they delivered their wares to.
This late Sennett silent stars Billy Bevan and Andy Clyde. Two of Sennett's utility comics, they appeared in more than forty movies together, often as the co-stars. In this one, they deliver ice to Madeline Hurlock, carrying their burden up the same steps that Laurel & Hardy used in THE MUSIC BOX -- and the gags for the step sequences bear a very close resemblance.
The second half of this movie also concerns itself with ice, as the scene shifts to an ice rink, where we get to see a sequence that will remind the knowledgeable film fan of Charley Chaplin's THE RINK.
Because of the resemblance of this movie to two other, far better known movies, I can't award this one a particularly high rating. However, you may well prefer the efficiently and professionally performed destruction that Sennett movies above the grace of Chaplin's movie or the byplay of Laurel and Hardy.
This late Sennett silent stars Billy Bevan and Andy Clyde. Two of Sennett's utility comics, they appeared in more than forty movies together, often as the co-stars. In this one, they deliver ice to Madeline Hurlock, carrying their burden up the same steps that Laurel & Hardy used in THE MUSIC BOX -- and the gags for the step sequences bear a very close resemblance.
The second half of this movie also concerns itself with ice, as the scene shifts to an ice rink, where we get to see a sequence that will remind the knowledgeable film fan of Charley Chaplin's THE RINK.
Because of the resemblance of this movie to two other, far better known movies, I can't award this one a particularly high rating. However, you may well prefer the efficiently and professionally performed destruction that Sennett movies above the grace of Chaplin's movie or the byplay of Laurel and Hardy.
