Smile, Buttercup, Smile

Thelma Hill and Bud Duncan get into an argument about whether San Diego is to the north or to the south. The next thing, they're in divorce court, with Miss Hill making up whoppers about Duncan mistreating her, while Duncan's lawyer makes things worse by cutting out paper dolls and asking if his client beat his wife for pleasure, or only when she needed it.

It's one of a series of "Toots and Casper" shorts made by Larry Darmour. It was based on Jimmy Murphy's long-running (1918-1956) and popular comic strip. The script seems to be based on a Charley Chase short called NOW I'LL TELL ONE.

While Miss Hill is excellent, as is the unnamed actor player Duncan's lawyer (played in the Chase short by Stan Laurel), Duncan is one of my least favorite comic actors, first paired with Lloyd Hamilton in a terrible series of shorts about two obnoxious tramps, and later in sound films as Snuffy Smith. He's not funny to me, but simply obnoxious, and one of those performers that make you wonder how they sustained a long career.