Larry Semon is a government man who has volunteered to get the goods on Notorious Nora, the smokin hot amazon running the rackets in town. Will he get fair lady to scream "O WHAT A MAN" when he subjects her to his thrill comedy variety of daring do? Or will the male gangsters kill them all?
This is late in Semon's career, when the critics and the audiences had begun to realize that he was repeating himself. And, so, he repeats himself again. Let's do the checklist.
Is there an embarrassing moment of egregious racial humor? Yep. And its really bad, too.
Does the first reel have some promising comedy that suggests that if Semon had just stopped with the spectacular stuff, he might have been a funnier minor comic? Yes.
Is there a tough woman to share Larry's adventures with him, and is she given the chance to steel the movie from him? Yes, this most appealing feature of the Semon filmography is very much in evidence here, and the lady lead makes good use of the opportunity. She also gets some funny gags in reel one.
Is the spectacular second reel spectacular? No -- looks like the budget for that sort of thing has been cut. If you've seen more than a couple Semon movies, you've seen the type of stunting recycled here. Semon really is an action director miscast as an comedy director and, had he lived into the sound era, he might have made a transition into Republic thrill a minute serials.
Is there any humor involving ink or mud? Surprisingly, no.
Does Semon pointlessly play a second role in stupid makeup? Thankfully, no.
So, not the worst Semon, but probably not the best introduction to him. His best work has Oliver Hardy, a large budget, and planes, trains, cars and motorcycles doing breathtaking (if not necessarily funny) things.
This is late in Semon's career, when the critics and the audiences had begun to realize that he was repeating himself. And, so, he repeats himself again. Let's do the checklist.
Is there an embarrassing moment of egregious racial humor? Yep. And its really bad, too.
Does the first reel have some promising comedy that suggests that if Semon had just stopped with the spectacular stuff, he might have been a funnier minor comic? Yes.
Is there a tough woman to share Larry's adventures with him, and is she given the chance to steel the movie from him? Yes, this most appealing feature of the Semon filmography is very much in evidence here, and the lady lead makes good use of the opportunity. She also gets some funny gags in reel one.
Is the spectacular second reel spectacular? No -- looks like the budget for that sort of thing has been cut. If you've seen more than a couple Semon movies, you've seen the type of stunting recycled here. Semon really is an action director miscast as an comedy director and, had he lived into the sound era, he might have made a transition into Republic thrill a minute serials.
Is there any humor involving ink or mud? Surprisingly, no.
Does Semon pointlessly play a second role in stupid makeup? Thankfully, no.
So, not the worst Semon, but probably not the best introduction to him. His best work has Oliver Hardy, a large budget, and planes, trains, cars and motorcycles doing breathtaking (if not necessarily funny) things.
