Under a Spell

Back in the silent days, Alice Howell was a star--though today she and her comedies are mostly forgotten. There aren't a lot of them available any more--so it's hard to say how representative "Under a Spell" is of her work. As for my opinion, I thought it was pretty lame.

Alice thinks that her husband has been cheating on her when she sees a lady bandit breaking in their home. He is innocent--and the lady is a guy in disguise. But Alice doesn't know that and hires a wacky hypnotist to get him to tell the truth about his affairs. Unfortunately, by mistake one of them now is convinced he's a gorilla--and the results seem a bit lame. And, curiously, the real gorilla in this film is an orangutan. Did people back in 1925 not know the difference? The humor is VERY broad and if you can look past this, it might be worth seeing. I just thought it wasn't very funny. You know it's a bit of a letdown when the funniest thing is Howell's trademark hair.