Sappy Birthday

Columbia's Andy Clyde series ran from 1934 to 1956 and followed behind The 3 Stooges as the longest running comedy series for the studio. This little outing was advertised as "A Columbia Domestic Comedy" and continued a series of stories that, similar to Edgar Kennedy's RKO series, had Clyde pitted against his brother-in-law. Early in the series, the part of Andy's brother-in-law was played by Shemp Howard. Shemp brought a lot of laughs to films like "Home On The Rage" and "Boobs In The Woods", and he would have been right at home repeating the role in this film. Instead, Matt McHugh portrays Andy's brother-in-law, who ruins Andy's birthday from the moment the day begins. Eventually, Andy reluctantly agrees to spend the day fishing but they can't even get the car out of the driveway. While there are still plenty of laughs and some pretty good gags, one can only wish Shemp had stepped back into the role of the in-law. Shemp was a terrific ad-libber and many times you can see his co-stars trying to hold back their laughs (Just take a look at The Glove Slingers comedy "Pleased To Mitt You" for proof).

A few years later, Dick Wessel would join the series as Clyde's brother-in-law fora handful of entertaining shorts. As with all of Columbia's non-3 Stooges shorts, this title is pretty obscure, but worth a look if a copy can be found.

This film, which I saw courtesy of the Internet Archive, was my second Andy Clyde short, and where "Lodge Night" had been farce, "Sappy Birthday" is a bona fide comedy of frustration. It shows the versatility of Andy Clyde's pleasant comedy character -- I could see him being the victim of almost any kind of situation. The scenario here -- with the attempt to go on a family picnic that never gets past the driveway, reminds me strongly of Laurel and Hardy's classic short from 1929, "Perfect Day," and this comedy even repeats a gag (involving a jacked tire) from its predecessor.

While it's not as great as "Perfect Day," this short does offer plenty of laughs as frustration mounts of Andy's inability to go golfing, the neighbor's inability to get to sleep, &c. Some of the slapstick seems a little bit forced and random, but Clyde plays it all very well. Some of the highlights are simply his dumbfounded and delayed reactions to what is going on around him, such as his response to finally being told he's been sold a cemetery.

On the whole a successful two-reel comedy but not necessarily an indispensable one.