In the early 1930s, Paramount made a very smart discovery--they lured Bing Crosby away from the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in order to make a string of very successful short comedies. And, these led to a long and successful career in picture. At about the same time, Paramount also tried to take another singer and make him a star as well...with far, far less spectacular results. Harry Barris just didn't have the same appeal as Crosby and most of the shorts featuring Barris that I've seen are pretty weak, though "Now's the Time" is probably the best of them.
In this short, Mary Carlisle is in love with Harry and they have a fight and she storms off. At the same time, Mary's father (Edgar Kennedy) has recently remarried and he's sick of his wife talking about how great Harry Barris is! And, on top of that, when Edgar meets Harry it ends very badly for Edgar!
Later, Harry and Mary patch things up but her father arrives at home and she hides Harry. Through a misunderstanding, Edgar thinks Harry is making time with his wife and he begins chasing Harry about with a shotgun. Will it end badly or will Edgar shoot Harry?
There are a few funny story elements here and there...though the overall short is only fair. Some of this is because of the writing but a lot also is because Harry has little in the way of charisma or screen presence in the short. Not bad and worth watching but also not especially distinguished either.
