Crazy House

Just watched this two-strip Technicolor short as an extra on The Champ DVD (the version with Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper). Benny Rubin plays a character stuck in an asylum. Seeing him react to some crazy characters brought some interest but, otherwise, there was nothing that I thought was remotely funny. There was one pretty entertaining scene involving an African-American dancer named Earl "Snake Hips" Tucker that was fascinating to watch what with his slinking up and down or side to side to some jazz music. How the short ends was also interesting but, like I said, there wasn't anything that I thought made me laugh, just think, "So this is what they thought of?" So on that note, Crazy House was fascinating to watch, just not very entertaining.

Not much to add beyond what a previous reviewer stated, except for that the print currently airing on TCM is missing a four minute musical segment featuring the Albertina Rasch Ballet dancers, who remain credited in the opening titles. More than likely, this sequence was "lifted" from the abandoned 1930 revue "The March of Time," which makes its absence from this print all the more frustrating.

Up until recently, I had never heard of Benny Rubin. However, I was able to download several of his RKO comedy shorts for free at archive.org--and wasn't all that impressed with his very ethnic humor. I was surprised to see only a week later that Turner Classic Movies showed one of his films--a very early color comedy from MGM. Because of my other experiences with Rubin, I set my expectations very low! Benny shows up at a sanitarium where he meets with the doctor (Vernon Dent). Lots of typical Rubin verbal humor ensues. Then, one of the doctor's assistants shows Rubin around the place. Inexplicably, the place has a radio program (????) and everyone around the place WAY overplays their crazy routines. In the middle of this goofiness, a black man does a very strange dance routines that has NOTHING to do with the film nor does the subsequent musical number--both of which are, apparently, part of the radio program.

Like the other Rubin films I saw, I just didn't like this one. Rubin's verbal schtick just didn't appeal to me as it didn't seem funny. The only things that made me laugh all happened in the final scene (which was pretty cute). Not recommended unless you adore Borscht-Belt comedy.

By the way, the color appears to be a two-color process where an orange-red strip and a green-blue strip are overlapped on a black & white strip. Cinecolor and Two-Strip Technicolor used this process and the film used the primitive Technicolor print.

Crazy House (1930)

** (out of 4)

This MGM short isn't known today but it's certainly a unique little thing even if its quality is quite low. The film has Benny Rubin going to the "Lame Brain Sanitarium" where he wants to do some research but he soon realizes that there's not a single normal person there. This MGM short has one major bonus and that's the fact that it was shot in 2-strip Technicolor, which certainly makes it stand out from other shorts made around this time. I've always loved the look of these early Technicolor shorts and this one here is great to look at but sadly that's about all the film offers. The film certainly is a strange one as the style of comedy just seems so off that you can't help but be fascinated by it even though it's not making you laugh. The ending is just as bizarre but I won't spoil it for you. How this thing plays out is just a head scratcher and you have to wonder if the filmmakers actually thought it would be funny. Rubin seems very nervous in the picture but I guess this was just part of the character. Familiar character actor Vernon Dent steals the film as the nutty doctor. Polly Moran, Cliff Edwards, Gus Shy and Karl Dane also appear.

An MGM Colortone Novelty Short.

A prospective patient takes a tour of the Lame Brain Sanitarium. It only takes a few minutes in the CRAZY HOUSE to show him that everyone, staff included, is insane.

A completely inane little film, with jokes so bad it becomes quite funny. During his short stroll, Benny Rubin meets Karl Dane, Cliff Edwards & the ubiquitous Polly Moran. Dancer Snake Hips performs a remarkable routine which proves he has no bones in his body whatsoever. And ending the film with four murders is supposed to be the biggest joke of all.

It's rough to see actor Karl Dane be subjected to humiliation & ridicule, even in fun. A comic star in silent films, his thick Danish accent would soon sabotage his talkie career and within a few years he would die a suicide.