Review of Love and Onions

LOVE AND ONIONS is one of the last comedy shorts from Educational Pictures, and one of the last from the team of Timberg and Rooney (see my review of THAT'S THE SPIRIT). In this one (which lacks a title card on the circulating video), the first segment (these seem to have an "establishing" scene of about 5-7 minutes, then a "plot resolution" section which takes up the final 10-12 minutes) is an anarchic scene in a small neighborhood market where the boys are working. It's noisy and jerky and doesn't really capture the boys' natural grace of movement. As with THAT'S THE SPIRIT, the rest of the film takes place in someone's home where a tall "old maid" type who whistles when she talks is trying to get hitched with a man, and the boys help get it together for them. Johnny Johnson's Orchestra, who appear in other Educational shorts of the period, happen to be around and perform a swing number, while novelty organist "Milton Herth" kills a few minutes with a song. After that, Rose King, who plays the above-mentioned old maid, does a semi-operatic number in character, which breaks down a few times into swing. Finally, Timberg and Rooney get to do a dance routine, their specialty, and of course the plot (oh, we forgot about that!) is resolved to everyone's satisfaction. The print used her ends a bit early, with no closing credits. A nice entry from a talented team, unfortunately little-known today.