Pure Feud

Back in the 1930s and 40s, Edgar Bergen and his mannequin Charlie McCarthy were a hot item. Not only did they make a few full-length films and shorts, they were very popular on the radio...which is odd for an act involving a ventriloquist and his dummy. But the personality of Charlie McCarthy was so established that folks wanted more and more of him and his antics.

"Pure Feud" finds Edgar Bergan headed to the hills where he wanders into the middle of a Hatfield/McCoy type feud. In this case, it's the Jenkins-McCarthy feud and Charlie spends most of the time hiding instead of shooting.

This is enjoyable and pretty typical of a Bergen-McCarthy film with some bad jokes (they were meant to be) and Charlie being his usual rascally self. Not bad but not the best the team had to offer either.

A VITAPHONE Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Short Subject.

It's a PURE FEUD carried out between the McCarthys and the Jenkins into which city boy Edgar Appleby inadvertently stumbles .

This was one of a series of short films highlighting the remarkable talent of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen. His wisecracking dummy, Charlie McCarthy, effortlessly steals the show. Movie mavens will recognize Shemp Howard as one of the McCarthy kin.

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Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something akin to writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. Economical to produce in terms of both budget & schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material, short subjects were the perfect complement to the Studios' feature films.

However Edgar Bergin and Charlie McCarthy definitely were funnier on radio, but their short movies were not up to much. Especially this one, which even having the great Shemp Howard in it can't save it! Dull, just pure dull!

This Edgar Bergen-Charlie McCarthy short has an early film appearance of Shemp Howard. Shemp plays one of the feuding family members who eat together during dinner when they're not shooting each other! If you're familiar with the banter of Edgar and his dummy, you'll find some of the lines amusing like I did but I didn't find any of those lines hilarious. Still, Pure Fued is worth a look and nothing more.

Pure Feud (1934)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Edgar Appletree (Edgar Bergen) arrives in a small town with his sister. He's there to get some peace and quiet but he soon bumps into Charlie McCarthy who tells him that his family has been feuding with the Jackson's for many years now and things don't appear to be getting any more civil. I've seen nearly ten or so of these Bergen/McCarthy shorts and you never really know what you're going to get with them as some are charming and others are just downright annoying. This here made me laugh quite a few times so needless to say I'd rank this as one of the better ones. I thought the setting was a pretty good one and the screenplay actually manages to get some nice one-liners in as McCarthy tries to explain why this feud is needed. The jokes about shooting one another were actually pretty funny as was the scene where McCarthy tries flirting with the sister.