Mr. Smith Wakes Up

"Mr. Smith Wakes Up" is one of the earliest sound films made in the UK. Although sound films came out in 1927 in the States, they were a bit later in other countries...with the first British ones coming out about the same time as this film. And, the film has surprisingly good sound considering this.

The star of this film is a guy I've seen many times before...though he looks nothing like he did in later sound films. Moore Marriott specialized in playing a much older man than he really was and was in quite a few films with the Crazy Gang as well as Will Hay....famous British comics whose work is still enjoyable today. Here, Marriott plays a henpecked husband who has finally had enough!

The plot to this short film is simple. Mrs. Smith and her daughter (Elsa Lanchester) are waiting for Mr. Smith to return home from work. Normally, Mr. Smith is a mouse who is easily dominated by his pushy wife. However, today he's had enough. He's lost his job and he's had enough...and he soon explodes at the nagging wife.

The problem with this film is that it just isn't funny. It's more a historical curio...and not much more.

This is pretty much a stage farce on screen, based around the age-old concept of the worm that turns and the comic potential to be found therein -- perhaps unsurprisingly, it reminds me of the "Rookery Nook" style antics of the pictures directed by Tom Walls. Of note today chiefly for featuring Elsa Lanchester and Moore Marriott, both of who are now remembered for their roles in the talkies during the 1930s but were rising silent film actors at the time.

Not really my sense of humour, so it's hard for me to judge. Interestingly, this was originally a radio play, explaining the extreme talkiness of the characterisation!