Love at First Fright

When I think of great movie comedians, I would never think of Ed Brendel. Heck, when I think of mediocre movie comedians, I would never think of Ed Brendel. In fact, I wouldn't even consider him a comedian. This actor was mostly a supporting actor--playing bit parts in a wide variety of pictures. I was surprised to learn a few days ago that the actor starred in a string of comedy shorts for Columbia Pictures.

Up until "Love at First Fright", every Brendel short I've recently seen has been lame and unenjoyable. Fortunately, this one is decent and watchable...though hardly a comedy classic!

The film begins with the reading of a will. The heir to the estate in this hillbilly town will be some lucky person, as he'll be inheriting the biggest still in the county...and both the feuding McEwans and Hatracks want that still. But there's a problem...the heir hasn't been seen in years and apparently wandered off as a child. The Hatracks insist that a visitor (Brendel) is the heir...but with his odd Scandinavian-like accent, that does seem silly. What follows is the usual hillbilly feuding humor...hardly sophisticated but overall it did make me smile. Not bad....which is saying a lot for the film!

By the way, oddly, after the funny ending the French word 'fin' appears...as if this is some sort of art house film!