So You Want to Be in Pictures

Of the McDoakes shorts I have seen thus far, I thought this one especially good. This time around Joe is an aspiring actor who practices being an actor by listening to records of Ronald Colman and Charles Boyer impersonations ("If I were king," and "Hedy, Hedy come with me to the Casbah"). Joe gets a call from the studio telling him he has a small part (one line) in a World War I drama. Arriving at the studio he first asks Jack Carter for directions and then asks the actor who plays McDoakes, George O'Hanlon. A number of young Warner's contract players are introduced and they wave at the camera. After meeting the director (named Anguish) Joe delivers his one line - first in a crummy Boyer accent and then in a crummy Coleman accent. The director storms out and the assistant director takes over and after 88 takes he shows Anguish the final takes. How the assistant director handles Joe and his one line was hilarious - worth watching the whole short just for that. The final scene was also good. This McDoakes entertains from beginning to end.