Going Wild

I'm inclined to agree with the positive reviewers about this film. After reading the most negative review, and then actually watching the film itself, I wonder what some of you expect from a comedy. Certainly, this is not a Marx Brothers film and Joe E. Brown is not Groucho Marx. So what? It is a LIGHT comedy, a screwy comedy, and a character story. What's wrong with that? I can't watch Three Stooges ALL the time! As it is, I agree with those who thought that this is a very funny movie; the exposition in particular had me practically clucking in pleasure at Brown's outrageous characterization.

It does greatly help to see Joe E. movies in first-rate condition on a big screen. I saw the new DVD release from the Warner Brothers Archives, apparently struck right off the original negative or a safety negative, watched it on a 55" flat screen, and it came across very nicely. There are a lot of things to look at in such a pristine print of a film this old and this well made. The actual filmstock was different back then, a little more grainy but very clear, immediately giving the movie that ancient 'vintage' quality, which I find engaging (I associate it with my favorite films of my childhood black-and-white TV viewing). The styles of hair, dress, and architecture are very clear and interesting (the "heart test machine" is particularly quaint). The painted backgrounds are beautiful and perfect, and the rear projection during the rather hair-raising finale is EXCELLENTLY done (as is the rear projection in the train). This is a very high-quality, high-production-value film with loads of extras and great care taken of all the cinematic details.

The flying bed and the unexpectedly bizarre physical exam are two highlights and both are very funny. No wonder there are no consequences for the main characters' charade—they are obviously not the only frauds in this story! AND, for those of us who want to see more of Brown's specialty acts, he DOES get a funny song!

It's not a great film like a Chaplin film, or 'Duck Soup' or a wildly inventive W.C. Fields movie, but it is a COMPLETELY enjoyable Sunday-afternoon film, done up in perfect 1930s style, which I will rate 8 stars out 10. Not a film I'll look at over and over, but definitely a Keeper.