The decade of the 1930s sure had its share of ups and downs. We saw the rise of the National Socialist German Workers' Party ('Nazi' for short). The Nazi leader, Schickelgruber (aka Adolph Hitler) ascended the position of Chancellor in the Cabinet of 84 year old, failing of health and senile President Paul von Hindenburg. In the Far East, we saw the early stages in the implementation of "the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere; with Imperial Japan's invasion and conquest of Manchuria, renaming it "Manchukuo". On the home front, the spectre of the Great Depression rose and cast its shadow across the land and, indeed, the whole World.
If there was any good news to be found, it was in Hollywood; where the "Golden Age" was extending its run on the "Silver Screen" to include the whole decade. The number of fine "Masterpiece" films as well as the overall quality of the entire 'Tinsel Town' output was remarkably high. That high standards level included Features (CITY LIGHTS, KING KONG, THE INFORMER, GONE WITH THE WIND), Cliff Hanger-Serials (FLASH GORDON, HAWK OF THE WILDERNESS, THE SPIDER'S WEB, ZORRO'S FIGHTING LEGION) and even The 2 Reeler Shorts (BELOW ZERO, THE FATAL GLASS OF BEER, OUR WIFE, MEN IN BLACK).
That's right boys and girls, even the Comedy Shorts were generally better than the normal. Oddly enough, that field, though being greatly diminished by the proliferation Theatrical Cartoons, was now dominated by two Studios;those being Hal Roach Studios and Columbia Pictures Short Subjects Department. Roach, with Laurel & Hardy as the lead series, bowed out in 1935. Mr. Roach had curtailed any short subjects production; opting to go exclusively with Features and "Streamliners." That left Columbia, Producer Jules White and our heroes, the 3 Stooges out front, in the shorts' spotlight.
MUTTS TO YOU certainly is a good example which falls into this category. It was a sort of under-appreciated film for some time, at least by this writer. And it was not because we hadn't seen it back in our family abode; for we actually did. Perhaps having the 4:30 P.M. showings cut up by so many "messages of interest and importance" broke any sort of necessary continuity to me then pre-adolescent grey-matter. That and its being a less than loudly outrageous "classics" like PUNCH DRUNKS, RESTLESS KNIGHTS and the above mentioned MEN IN BLACK. By comparison to these others, MUTTS seems almost "subtle", almost.
Having had the good fortune today to view the film on the syndicated "Stooge-a-palooza" TV show; I must confess to moving MUTTS TO YOU up in the Stooge Film League Standings' up to the 1st Division, even.* As a very short capsule version of this very short film, we find that a rather well-to-do couple with a young baby boy , Lane Chandler & Bess Flowers, get into a quarrelsome mood over an impending trip to Palm Springs and their taking the family Dalmation Doggie, or not. As the spotted pup had been earlier dropped off at the new dog grooming emporium run by you know who! While hubby Mr. Chandler, goes in to get Spot (get it?), Miss Flowers splits with Junior. Leaving him on their own doorstep while searching for her keys, the little one is found by the Stooges, who believing him to be lost, take him home. After going through a litany of gags, the kid is reunited, the Stooges are exonerated and the film neatly bundled up back at the Doggie Emporium; with the Boy's getting an automated bath.
This film is a cut above the average for several reasons. First off, we see a comedy veteran cast with the previously mentioned Lane Chandler & Bess Flowers joined by silent screen comedians Vernon Dent, Bud Jamison and others. Secondly, we found that it is surprisingly slow and meticulously paced. Gags aren't just thrown out and heaped on top of each other, sort of randomly done in a shotgun manner. All of this was not occurring by accident.
The high grade Comedy's strong resemblance to the great One & Two reels of fun in the Silent Era is surely due to the craftsmanship of its Director, Charley Chase. Mr. Chase, who had a long film career at Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios, with an even longer hitch with Hal Roach, is considered today to be a giant among Screen Comedians; being numbered right alongside names like: Chaplin, Keaton, Langdon and Lloyd.
At one point, when Roach ix-nayed the Shorts, Mr. Chase jumped over to Columbia to both work in front and behind the camera lens. Unfortunately, he cashed in his chips in 1940 at 47 years of age.
NOTER: * "1st Division" is a reference to the days when both the National League and the American League each had 8 teams. All teams finishing in the 1-4th places got players' shares of the World Series loot; hence the "1st Division Designation."
