midgets, chaos, bad jokes, rapid-fire gags, songs, dog act, unicycle juggler, drag act, nominally detectives in haunted house like Laugh-in or Marx Brothers 'vaguest of plots
Unless you are old enough to have seen and remembered Vaudeville or "Fireball Fun-For-All" when it originally aired, it is almost certain that you've never seen anything like this! The old-time comics, Olsen and Johnson seem to have been given free rein in this Dumont TV show from 1949. The style sure will come as a big surprise, as it's so very, very unconventional. For much of the film, it's a LONG series of corny jokes and literally come one after the other. Literally, cast members come on one after another after another and drop these silly jokes on Olsen and Johnson and vice-versa. And, after you are exhausted from the jokes, on come a wide variety of acts--ranging from singers to a juggler on a unicycle to a great dog act to a drag act!! In addition, there are lots of midgets (for no particular reason). The total picture comes off like a tornado and it leaves you exhausted! But, the effect is also quite nice, as there are so many jokes that even when they fall flat, a good one is sure to soon follow. A truly unique and bizarre experience watching it. Too bad it was soon canceled and, as far as I know, only one Kinescope (available for free at archive.org) exists and I saw it. If you know of any more episodes which are available, let me know--it was a lot of fun.
