Hot Sports

This one-reel Cameo short, distributed by Educational, was the second-to-last silent comedy short directed by Jules White, later of Three Stooges fame (his last silent TICKLISH BUSINESS also starred Collins and Dent). It stars the team of Monte Collins and Vernon Dent (see my review of THOSE TWO BOYS, which resembles this is a number of ways, using the same basic premise, but different routines), who have been described as "the poor man's Laurel and Hardy." Actually, there are a bit different than L & H and much more anarchic. Jules White used both Collins and Dent extensively when he was head of comedy shorts production during the sound era at Columbia. The boys are dressed in tuxedos, headed for the Plumbers' Ball, but they wind up crashing some fancy party instead. As this is only a one-reel short (THOSE TWO BOYS, with a similar plot, was two reels, so it started more gradually), we get right down to the anarchic physical comedy. As expected with a Jules White film, the comedy is physical, lowbrow, and often violent. Much of the humor here is butt-oriented, which shows the lengths the film will go to get a laugh. Pants are ripped, rear ends are hanging out, people sit on things that get stuck to their posteriors, the boys rip a piece of window shade every time someone bends over causing the person to think that he has ripped his trousers in the back, Monte Collins wanders around with the butt ripped out of his pants but doesn't know it, etc. I actually like this kind of lowbrow comedy (I'm a Police Academy and Bowery Boys fan!), so the film was great in my opinion. Those who have never seen a silent Jules White fan will see many of his standard procedures in early form here--this short is even BEFORE his infamous DOGVILLE shorts of 1930 and 1931. The running time here is 11 minutes and 30 seconds, not too long to get tedious.

Vernon Dent are a couple of plumbers on their way to the Plumber's Ball. Instead they goto a high-class party and create havoc.

It's directed by Jules White, so the result is the sort of short subject he would make with the Three Stoofes. However, Dent and Collins are much better slapstick farceurs, and they work well together in this one-reel comedy, with all the standard White gags, including the annoying classical singer, wirework, and split trousers. There's no sign of the clam spitting at them from the bowl of chowder, though.

WHite seems to have gotten on with them, and often hired them when he was producing and directing for Columbia's shorts division. Her,e in the waning day of silent slapstick, the gags still work.

I found "Hot Sports" on YouTube and since I like comedy shorts, I decided to give it a try. Like many shorts in 1929, this one was still silent even though most of Hollywood's output that year was sound or partial sound.

The stars of this film were Monte Collins and Vernon Dent. Dent was famous for playing foils in films for many comedians, such as The Three Stooges. As for Collins, he's more forgotten today...but made a ton of silent comedies and quite a few sound films. The film was directed by Jules White...a director who also made a lot of films with the Three Stooges.

As for the plot, there's not a ton here. Monte and Vernon go to a society party where they behave like jerks. Monte's pants get torn, the butler keeps getting dunked in a punch bowl...that sort of humor. But it's not terrible...just not so good that I see it as a must-see. Mildly enjoyable...and nothing more.