Matchmaking Mamma

Mack Sennett's MATCHMAKING MAMMA (1929) is one of the last silent comedy shorts filmed and boasts a fairly good cast and is a pleasant enough time-killer but alas has no real laughs. Pint-sized matron Daphne Pollard, married to her second husband (Johnny Burke), is producing an amateur play in an attempt at social climbing and landing young heir Matty Kemp for her daughter Carole Lombard. Trouble is Burke's daughter Sally Eilers shows up during rehearsals and he falls for her instead, despite initially thinking she was the maid.

This movie has a few brief scenes filmed in the early imperfect Technicolor. Ms. Pollard, something of a cross between Beatrice Lillie and character actress Maude Eburne, works hard to mine what little humor there is in the story. One major problem is Sally Eilers' bland wholesomeness cannot carry the story or be credibly more appealing than beautiful young Carole Lombard (who is fairly wasted here) as her stepsister. Matty Kemp, a Charles Farrell type, is quite handsome as the young male lead and smiles prettily and is appealing in a modest way. Plump young comedienne Madalynne Field, a Sennett staple, has a bit as the heftiest of the chorines.

Matchmaking Mamma (1929)

** (out of 4)

One of the last silents to be produced by Mack Sennett, this two-reeler gathers up a great cast but sadly the end result is rather lame. A mother (Daphne Pollard) decides to hook up her daughter (Carole Lombard) but this plans gets off course when her stepsister (Sally Eilers) shows up unannounced. MATCHMAKING MAMMA really isn't going to appeal to anyone except for those who must see everything Sennett produced or those wanting to see Lombard before she would switch over to sound. Those expecting to see a lot of Lombard will be disappointing because she's given a pretty thankless role that basically has her either standing or sitting around. With that said, she's quite beautiful so her just being here certainly helps keep the film moving. The rest of the cast are pretty good with Pollard doing a fine job as the mother and Eilers manages to be quite cute, although her stealing the man from Lombard seems pretty weird when viewed today. Even Andy Clyde shows up for a quick role. The film's biggest problem is the fact that it really doesn't contain any laughs and it's almost like they didn't even try to do anything funny. Another reason why film buffs might want to watch this is because there's some 2-strip Technicolor footage of Sennett's Bathing Beauties.

A MATCHMAKING MAMMA wants to marry off her daughter, Carole Lomabard. But her stepsister, Sally Eilers, visiting home from the convent school, likes the same guy. Will Poppa help Momma in her schemes, or will he help sweet Sally instead?

Good natured, if not hilarious short subject, is mostly notable for casting Carole Lombard as the gal who does not get the guy (go figure -- she's gorgeous) and some rather dull scenes displaying some bathing beauties in two-color Technicolor. Execept for a well-timed sequence in the kitchen -- this one is a bit short on imaginative slapstick, but does show more simple charm than usual for Sennett. Accordingly, worth the 20 minutes.

Sally Eilers' duck-walk around a kitchen to prevent Matty Kemp from catching a glimpse of her shapely legs is just one example of how she and her co-romantic lead wrestle the big laughs from comic leads Johnny Burke and Daphne Pollard in this enjoyable silent comedy. A young Carol Lombard spends most of the movie on the sidelines. For some reason, two brief scenes are in (now horribly faded) 2-strip Technicolor.