The Bride's Bereavement; or, The Snake in the Grass

The Masquers Club was formed as an actors' club in Hollywood. In the 1930s they produced several short comedies featuring many of their members, spoofing popular genres, with the profits going to charity. This spoof of old-time melodramas was one of them.

Full-blood melodramas were dying out and this spoof is, judging by the scripts of real melodramas, as well as the filmed versions of several starring Tod Slaughter is, believe it or not, staged and performed straight. Actually comedy bits rely on some advanced editing techniques and absurd sound effects.

Fans of old movies will take some pleasure in the long list of veteran movie actors who appear on screen, led by Charles Ray and Aileen Pringle. Alan Mowbray, whose credits include straight roles, exhibits a lot of strength as a farceur.