Hold Your Temper

In the 1930s and 40s, Edgar Kennedy made quite a few short domestic comedies for RKO. I used to think that Florence Lake starred in all of them, but have since seen several other actresses play Mrs. Kennedy--including Vivian Oakland and Sally Payne. Well, imagine my surprise when I saw another film tonight--and it co-starred Irene Ryan (Granny from "The Beverly Hillbillies") as his wife. And, oddly, the in-laws that usually are Florence Lake's (the mother and brother) are now Ryan's! It's all a bit confusing to say the least, but at least Ryan does not laugh or talk in the very high-pitched voice like Lake did!

"Hold Your Temper" begins with Edgar coming home from a three week business trip only to find his wife (Ryan) is moving and planning to divorce him! She is tired of his foul temper, though if you lived with her mother and brother, you can sure understand his point of view. Edgar manages to convince his wife to stay--saying he CAN control his anger. However, the evil mother and brother conspire to do anything--yes anything--to make him blow his top. Some of their stunts are pretty funny--and very cruel.

The film is very good but not great, but as I said above, Ryan was far superior to Lake--who happened to be the most annoying actress of the 1930s and 40s (if you can think of a better candidate AND have seen Lake's films, drop me a line). Worth seeing--especially if you want to see wife #4!

The Edgar Kennedy series, also known as "The Average Man," was a perfect example of a great film comedian overcoming weak material. Many of the films do not hold up well due to a lack of logic. Here, Edgar's lazy brother in law and meddlesome mother in law try to get his wife to divorce him. The problem with the film is, Edgar is their bread and butter, without him they would have noone to sponge off of.

Edgar comes home from a business trip to discover that his wife — Irene Ryan in this outing — is leaving him because he socked Jack Rice in the jaw. He promises never to lose his temper again. So, for the rest of this funny two-reel comedy, the audience gets to watch Rice and Dot Farley try to get him to do so.

Miss Ryan is best remembered from a quarter century later, when she played Granny on THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, but she is fine here. Edgar is his usual, funny, slow-burning Common Man; he had been the star of this series of short comedies at RKO since 1933,and would remain s, between supporting roles in features, until his death in 1948. Here, besides his usual tormentors, there are a couple of malicious clocks that refuse to strike the correct number of hours.