I suppose these films existed in every country at one time: quickly and cheaply made star-vehicles for a local comedian or two, made for a domestic market, panned by critics, beloved by audiences.
In Belgium, Edith Kiel was the undisputed queen of such films, whose early successes in the genre afforded her her very own film-studio (although apparently a small one, as all the sets have no more than two walls). Between 1952 and 1960, she churned out no less than 12 of these films, until the rising popularity of television finally did her in.
In De Duivel Te Slim (Too Clever For Words), two men, after a fight with their wives (battle-axes both, obviously), decide to skip town and enlist on a river barge. As it turns out, the captain of the barge is involved in a smuggling ring and they soon become unwitting accomplices.
The stars of the show, Gaston Bergmans and Jef Cassiers, are competent comedians and do their best with what little material they get. In fact, it's surprising how little they do get to work with. The film has all the outward appearances of a comedy, but is very stingy when it comes to delivering jokes, gags or witty dialogue. For instance, there is a sequence where the the two men (for no apparent reason) dress up as women, but rather than see this as an opportunity to create comedy, the film seems to think this is funny in and of itself.
On the plus side, I was never bored, as Edith Kiel keeps the pace going steadily, and I can see how it may have been popular at one time, but today, it is little more than an old-fashioned curiosity.
