A Sea Dog's Tale

A Sea Dog's Tale (1926)

*** (out of 4)

Fun Mack Sennett short takes place on a small island where the Princess (Madeline Hurlock) sees a man's picture (Billy Bevan) in a newspaper and decides she wants to marry him. Her chief father (Andy Clyde) sends his servant (Vernon Dent) to bring the man back to the island and this is where things start to get crazy. A SEA DOG'S TALE is far from a classic film but I think there are enough funny moments to make it worth watching for fans of silent comedies. It also doesn't hurt that we're given a terrific cast and it was certainly fun watching Bevan chew up scenery and get some major laughs. One of the running jokes deals with him constantly asking offensive questions to the chief about certain women but not knowing that they're actually the chief's daughters. This here gets a couple good laughs as does another sequence where the chief accidentally gets thrown into a hot tub of water. Bevan is at the top of his game and Clyde also manages to be extremely good in his part. At just over ten-minutes there's not too much going on with the story but it's basically just built around getting laughs for its stars and it certainly does this just fine.

Polynesian princess Madeline Hurlock spots a picture of Billy Bevan in a newspaper, so daddy Andy Clyde sends Vernon Dent to fetch him from the Midwest, pursued by Billy's landlady/fiancée Patsy O'Byrne.

This Sennett short from the late silent era is filled out with gags that place civilized bits in a primitive setting. The natives eat spaghetti; Billy puts out a fire with a modern -- for 1926 -- fire extinguisher and escapes from the deadly fish of the briny deep by opening a tin of sardines.

The proceedings are enlivened by the apposite titles of Al Giebler. By this time the writing of lively titles -- called "art titles" had reached their peak. The men and women who could write them briefly and amusingly were as highly paid as any of the specialists in the field. Giebler, who had begun as a writer of scenarios a dozen years earlier would return to that specialty in the sound era.

Over all, a typically good Sennett film from the era.