The Good Bad Man

The Educational Pictures short, "The Good Bad Man", seems as if it was made with no script...just a bare outline of one at best. This is because although it's a comedy, it's not particularly funny nor engaging.

The film is set in Mexico. General Pancho is some sort of despot...sort of a Pancho Villa-type. When he arrives in town, some folks are scared...but a local vixen is excited as she thinks violent thugs are hot. Soon after Pancho arrives and shoots a man in the butt for no apparent reason, two singers/dancers, Dolittle and Rosebud, arrive. Rosebud is a hot woman...and General Pancho spends the rest of the time trying to woo her as Dolittle woos the vixen. Soon a couple kidnappers arrive and announce they are going to kidnap the general...which makes no sense at all.

Basically, a lot of nonsense occurs with little in the way of direction nor comedy. I wish I could provide a better description of the plot, but there really isn't much! Very forgettable.

Tom is a small time something-or-other, with a cheap blonde. They get into a Mexican bar and acquire a bandito in full regalia named Pancho. A dark little latin girl joins them and they all go to Pancho's lair, or hideout, or safe house. There, Pancho flirts with Tom's gal and Tom with Pancho's. After some clumsey attempts at making a pass, including promising some pearls, Pancho is rebuffed. Tom's making more progress with the Mexican girl, and show's Pancho his caveman technique. Pancho again tries it on the American girl, this time she (offscreen) throws furniture around. Pancho allows his new pals to walk around and enjoy the unelaborate hacienda. Then, two American "Kidnap Kings" try to abduct Pancho, but he soon, with help from his men, and some bumbling by Tom, outwits them. Tom and the girls leave Pancho quite amiably, the girls revealing that they stole the pearls and other jewels to Tom as they leave, certainly within Pancho's sight, but he doesn't really care. The end.

What a pointless, dull waste of time. It's no wonder that Educational got a bad reputation, with weak minutes of nothing like this.

Bandito Charles Judels is relaxing at his hacienda when Tom Patricola, Frances Upton, and Edna Mears arrive. Judels wants to make love to the ladies, so he shows them all his jewelry, but it takes Patricola to show him how to behave like a he-man.

Judels is amusing as the amiable monster, but Patricola is along for the ride, and he doesn't seem to do much of anything.