Too Many Highballs

Too Many Highballs (1933)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Mack Sennett produced this two-reeler, which was written by W.C. Fields and was supposed to star him but obviously that ended up not happening. Instead Lloyd Hamilton plays Harold Hobbs, a man who wants to live in peace with his wife but can't because his brother-in-law (Tom Dugan) and mother-in-law (Aggie Herring) have moved in and don't plan on moving out. One day on his way out Harold slips his brother-in-law some Castor oil and soon the police get involved. TOO MANY HIGHBALLS is a pretty weak film and I'm not sure even someone like Fields would have been able to save it. I think a lot of blame has to go towards Hamilton for not making a very interesting character but the screenplay is also quite poor as there's just not enough to keep it moving. There are a few funny moments scattered throughout the picture including one long sequence where Hamilton is trying to drive away but ends up hitting a couple cops and taken for a ride to jail. Everything with the brother-in-law is rather weak and especially the end bit where everyone thinks that Hamilton has poisoned him. These laughs just never work and come across quite forced at times. With a running time of 20-minutes this thing feels twice as long simply because of the lower quality in regards to both the cinematography and pacing. Director Clyde Bruckman certainly knew how to handle this genre but this isn't one of his better films.