Down on the Farm

Down on the Farm (1920)

*** (out of 4)

This Mack Sennett produced comedy clocks in at 50-minutes and it's basically five one-reelers thrown together. Just about every story development takes place in a ten-minute window but the basic story has Louise Fazenda playing a farmer's daughter. When her father can't pay rent, the evil land owner (James Finlayson) asks for his daughter's hand in marriage. The father agrees not realizing that the girl is in love with a simple man (Harry Gribbon) who works on the farm. I really wasn't sure what to expect from DOWN ON THE FARM but it's actually a very funny little film but as it moves along it turns more into melodrama. I was surprised at how effective the first ten-minutes were in regards to laughs because there are plenty of them. The first section of the film shows us around the farm where we see various animals doing various things but they're all extremely funny. One very impressive sequence has a dog leading a cow to a certain part of the land and then the dog goes over and gets him a bucket of water. This entire sequence is really a lot of fun and it's certainly the highlight of the picture. As the film moves along I think it loses some of its steam but I'll at least give the directors credit for keeping it moving at a very fast pace so you never really have time to get bored. The cast are all extremely good with Finlayson really stealing the picture in the role of the villain. The supporting cast also features a nice bit for Ben Turpin and Marie Prevost plays his wife.

"Down on the Farm" is a very odd film. It's like two separate films which have been spliced together! One story involves a wonderful dog, Teddy, who practically runs the farm. Seeing him doing so many chores around the farm is wonderful to watch, as he's an AMAZINGLY well trained animal. Additoinally, later in the film, a small child nearly dies and Teddy does some AMAZING stunts to save the kid. You really have to wonder how they did such stunts without severely endangering the kid's life--and looking at the film, I really think they DID put the kid's life in danger for these shots! The other plot involves a young lady (Louise Fazenda) who is the farmer's daughter. Their farmhand loves her but the father would rather see her marry their landlord (James Finlayson). But the landlord is a MAJOR creep--and you know by the end of the film his evil ways will be revealed and poor Louise will get the man she deserves.

All in all, it's hard to imagine that this is a Mack Sennett film. First, it's not a short film like most of the rest of his productions. Second, while it has some funny moments, it's really more a melodrama--and a delightful one at that. In fact, I had a wonderful time watching this well made film--even with its parallel plots. Exciting, clever and cute--this is a nice little film.

This is the best feature that Mack Sennett produced. In it he combines most of the standard tropes of the melodrama turned on their heads -- the faithful wife, the vile landlord who will forgive the mortgage in return for the pretty daughter's hand, the strong-thewed husband -- played by the always unlikely Ben Turpin -- the Mysterious Stranger, the baby rescued from the raging river and so forth, punctuated with straight comedy gags. It combines them with bits rooted firmly in realistic situations -- the cat that eats the pie, Marie Prevost trying to get a pie out of the oven onto a cooling rack when it is tangled up in her skirts.

The movie works brilliantly, because Sennett made use of some great talent in front of the camera and behind it, particularly in the editing department -- always his strength throughout the silent era. The focus goes back and forth between rustic comedy, and melodramatic excess at a speed that should keep every viewer pleased.

The rip-roaring melodrama was a dying form by this time, but still popular in rural America, and this was the audience that Sennett aimed this comedy at. It turned into a financial problem because Sennett was involved at the time in getting his own releasing organization set up and it never really worked properly -- distributors required a steady stream of product to operate efficiently. Nonetheless, this comedy survives, and in very good condition too, so you can see it in all its glory. Good hunting.