Uppercut O'Brien

"Uppercut O'Brien" is a comedy short from the Mack Sennett unit at Educational Films. I should warn you, that if you do find it on YouTube and watch it, you probably will be offended...or should be!

The film begins with Pop Martin* (Andy Clyde) sitting on the boxing ring with his fighter, Uppercut O'Brien (Harry Gribbon). Gribbon had been knocked out long before...and he finally was waking up. The scene cuts to some time in the future. Now Pop Martin has a new boxer and they see Uppercut running a patent medicine show. Soon, Uppercut announces he has a new fighter and he challenges Pop's new fighter to a match. But Uppercut clearly is not averse to a lot of cheating!!

The idea that Uppecut uses to cheat is pretty funny. However, what isn't funny is the guy in black-face and the way the Asians are portrayed in this film. It's not only politically incorrect but unfunny. A mixed bag...with mostly second-and third-rate material.

*While Clyde looks about 60-70 in the film, he was actually in his upper 30!

Andy Clyde dumps palooka boxer Harry Gribbon and starts out with a young fighter, Charles Sullivan, who is pretty good. A year later, Gribbon is back, running a medicine show with a secret Chinese formula, and offering his fighter against anyone, $500 per match. When he ups it to $5,000, Clyde agrees. However, Gribbon uses his Chinese Mandarin robes to conceal another boxer, who alternates with the first one each round.

It's a good gag set-up, but it plays off the "they all look alike" stereotype, which should annoy anyone these days. In addition, among Gribbon's entourage is blackface comic Bert Swor, who occasionally stood in for one of the comics in the awful 'Mack and Moran' act.