This was a very interesting mix of live-action and animation, showing animator and writer Max Fleischer drawing a cartoon of a clown. The problem is a real-life fly is on the paper Max is using and the fly is a pest to both Max and the clown, both of whom try to get the insect. This is pretty clever material, especially when you consider this silent cartoon is almost 90 years old.
This is a tough cartoon to watch because you want to swat the fly yourself as the bug is in the clown's eyes, mouth, nose, etc. It also gives you the creeps watching this. (The clown isn't happy, either!)
This really gets clever when Max tries to swat the fly, knocks the animated clown temporarily out and then the clown asks for Max's pen with an idea how HE can get eliminate the fly. He winds up squirting his "creator" in the face with ink, and other gags ensue.
All of this - and there are several more "bits" with the clown and the artist - are a credit to the ingenuity of Fleischer. You have to see this cartoon to believe it. It was part of the Popeye The Sailor 1933-1938 DVD Package
