Ship Ahoy

Pat West was a stage and screen actor with a lot of credits and ability. In this one he shows up, deals with a couple of stooges, then goes into his sailor-suited act in which he sings a couple of songs and tells a bunch of jokes about his family. You can see the talent here, but this film doesn't really work more than as a record of a good stage act -- which is worth a lot in and of itself.

The issue is that this act is staged, modulated and shot as if Mr. West is in a vaudeville house and that is a big venue with a different sort of intimacy than a movie screen. This act, which might easily have been shot straight had Mr. West pitched it differently, or if it had been shot with more background action -- an audience, say. But as it is, it just doesn't quite work.