Animali pazzi

Unfortunately, the director and writers were lacking. A lot of screen time was wasted on childish animal jokes instead of more valuable character development.

It's still very interesting to see a young and talented Totò working his craft. He used many of his signature moves and was spry enough to really nail them.

I have to say that while Totò kept a constant smile on my face, I did most most of my laughing because of Bianca Stagno Bellincioni who played Aunt Elisa.

Toto was one of the funniest screen comics so even a lesser early vehicle like this one (only his second film) carries a certain amount of kooky humor and charm. Here he seizes the opportunity of a dual role, a starving man about to kill himself who is paid to substitute for his look alike, a baron unable to extricate himself from a clinging mistress, in preparations for a wedding. (If the baron doesn't appear at the wedding in time, an inheritance goes instead to a hospital for animals with psychological problems!) The comedy is often clumsy because of crude direction, with shots awkwardly edited together. But it moves briskly with a running time of just over an hour, and the resulting programmer,if frivolous, must have amused audiences of the time in an Italy getting ready for WWII.