Radio Runaround

Leon Errol had a long and successful series of two-reel comedies for RKO that ran from the thirties to the fifties, and then had an afterlife in television. This is the first of his films that I've seen, though, and I was impressed enough to plan on watching more.

By reputation he traded in marital farces, and this is indeed a neat, funny little farce in twenty minutes, beginning with Leon filling in for a marriage counseling program at his radio station and getting a letter from his wife meant to teat whether the show is a fake. Well-timed confusions-on-confusions follow, and it's good for a bunch of laughs in combination with well-conceived jokes that row from the situations.

I wasn't so much prepared by reputation for what Mr Errol himself would be like. I found his fast-talking and energetic but befuddled character quite amusing on its own. He's frustrated and frenetic, and seems to have a lot of energy but as if he doesn't know what's going on well enough to know what to do with it.

This particular short also has the advantage of offering a very entertaining glimpse into (an RKO vision of) local radio circa 1943, with live write-in programs being filled in six minutes before broadcast, and transmitting from the same room as a pile of live sounds effects equipment.