So You Want to Build a House

So You Want to Build a House (1948)

** (out of 4)

Joe McDoakes (George O'Hanlon) is about to be evicted from his apartment because he can't pay rent so he decides to get a loan and build a house. Of course nothing goes as planned as soon one issue after another comes up. MGM made sixty-two of these shorts but this one here is a lesser entry in the series. The biggest issue is that there really aren't too many laughs as the screenplay really felt rushed as if someone thought of decent ideas but never tried to make them funny. O'Hanlon is his usual, goofy self and narrator Art Gilmore was always a nice addition.

A short about a couple trying to get a place of their own. The husband searches out loans from shady or idiotic characters. Never mind there were no horse-laughs among all the over-acting. I didn't even smile at any of the scenes. Doubt if you will either. Don't be afraid of missing anything here - skip it

Painfully unfunny is this attempt to get humor out of the troubles one experiences and the pitfalls you have to watch out for when buying a house.

Everything is overdone, every attempt at humor is driven home with a sledgehammer and GEORGE O'HANLON is unable to mug his way out of a very poor script.

Story has him facing eviction during a housing shortage and his wife threatens him with the fact that they'll have to move in with his mother-in-law if they can't find a place.

This sets him into motion getting appraisals and loans and ending up in a fabricated house--all in a series of skits that fail to amuse and are overplayed to the nth degree.

Skip it.

Any time I watch Joe McDoakes, it gets me thinking about Edgar Kennedy, who also had a long series of comedy films, beginning in the 1930s. Kennedy was from the school of Laurel and Hardy, slapstick and hard knocks -- however -- the theme was the same. The little guy getting CRUNCHED. Likely, producer and director Richard L. Bare took some notes.

I agree, this classic short came out during the post war housing boom and bust. Too many folks looking for apartments and houses all at once. Yes, Joe and Alice fit squarely in that category, in fact, about to be kicked out of their apartment for NOT paying the rent.

So what to do? This time it's Alice who has the master plan. All Joe has to do is go to the bank, get a loan and BUILD his own pre-fab house. Prefabricated homes were quite popular at the time, where you could basically build a home by yourself?

Joe McDoakes style?

One problem, maybe two or three... Poor Joe has to go through lots of expensive red tape... First, a loan manager at the bank, then someone else, then another someone else, and what about the dreaded building inspector when his castle(?) is finally constructed? LOTS to cram into 11 minutes, but this is silly fun, and George O'Hanlon is a laugh out loud victim o' circumstances, just like Edgar Kennedy.

PS; Keep an eye on Mr. McGoon(?) and Happy Jack?

Witty script and direction by Richard L. Bare, who became famous directing GREEN ACRES. Art Gilmore (known for HIGHWAY PATROL) lends that "professional" voice.

Remastered on Warner Brothers dvd, featuring the entire series. Thanks much to TCM for bringing these oldies back.

Facing eviction, George O'Hanlon is persuaded to build his own house which, the advertisement says, requires no money down. Of course there are lots of papers to fill out first, and plenty of fees to pay with them, and Donald Kerr to help him.... which is, of course, no help.

Richard Bare wrote and directed sixty-seven of these very silly Joe McDoakes short subjects for Warner Brothers from 1942 through 1956, with O'Hanlon, They ended because the format was basically a situation comedy, and TV took those over.