The Eyes Have It

This short film, featuring ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his famous character creation Charlie McCarthy, appears on the DVD release of "The Public Enemy." This was my first exposure to this popular comedy "team," and there's just no getting around how incredibly creepy Charlie McCarthy is. Ever since I saw "Magic," ventriloquist dummies have been ruined for me, and scenes of Charlie making suggestive and lewd comments to an optometrist's nurse don't help to sweeten the deal any.

Ahhhh....to think that there was a more innocent time when ventriloquist dummies and clowns did anything more than give people the willies.....

The Eyes Have It (1931)

** (out of 4)

If you're looking for a classic Charlie McCarthy short, well.... Well, I'm not sure you're ever going to find one. This one here has Edgar Bergen playing an eye doctor whose patient just happens to be McCarthy. Story-wise there's certainly nothing ground-breaking here and for the most part there is no story outside of the eye doctor setting. The short was obviously made to just showcase Bergen and his dummy but the act just didn't translate to the screen very well and especially here. I've always felt that the ventriloquist act was rather strange and creepy but I will admit that there was just something about it that made it slightly entertaining even if you weren't laughing at the material. There aren't any laughs to be had here so your level of entertainment will certainly depend on your feelings towards Bergen and McCarthy.

Occasionally, during routines with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, "Charlie" would make comments about how Bergen's mouth would often move during their routines. You can see in this short, why Bergen and McCarthy were better suited for the radio. I would not be too surprised if the director had to take a few takes to get a better angle for filming Bergen to minimize showing his mouth moving during the times when he was voicing Charlie.

This is a cute little short from the early stages of Bergen's career. If you want a better idea why Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy were so popular in the pre-WWII days, you really need to listen to the surviving radio shows from The Chase and Sanborn Hour - particularly from 1937 where W.C. Fields would trade insults (and threats) with Charlie.

A Vitaphone EDGAR BERGEN Short Subject.

An eye specialist must examine a peculiar and most loquacious young fellow.

Master ventriloquist Edgar Bergen found a brief showcase for his talents in THE EYES HAVE IT, a humorous little film which provided some funny lines for wooden gadfly Charlie McCarthy. Unsurprisingly, McCarthy tends to dominate the proceedings. Talking films were the perfect medium for Bergen & McCarthy, although they would have an amazing success on the radio as well.

Christina Graver plays Bergen's pretty nurse.

Optometrist Edgar Bergen has a client in Charlie McCarthy. Charley brings a note form his teacher saying he has been excused from school because of headaches. Can Bergen check whether this is caused by eye troubles? We then get ten minutes of one of their amusing routines.

I join with the people who point out you can see Bergen's mouth moving, and the question of how a ventriloquist became a major radio star is an interesting one. The truth is that the jokes are good. The timing is excellent, and having W. C. Fields as a feuding guest on their show, THE CHASE AND SANBORN HOUR, was a definite plus. Although their fame continued, transferring to TV, where audiences could again see Bergen's lips move, cut down on their appearances.