Blue Blackbirds

In the 2020s, it's hard to imagine the popularity and act by Moran & Mack. These comics made a series of short comedies in the early 1930s for Educational Pictures....and their act was in blackface! Combining this and the very stereotypical routine, you can see why folks today pretty much have forgotten the team!

The guys become caretakers for a house while folks are away and they're thrilled to get paid to live there! Not surprisingly, their plans to relax and do nothing end up coming for naught. All sorts of things come up...such as a pair of newlyweds who get caught in the storm and an escaped penguin...yes...a penguin!

I've seen several of the team's shorts and none of them are particularly funny and are practically guaranteed to make some folks' head explode when they watch the act! Because of this, it's far from a must-see film...more an odd curio for the curious or film historians. On the plus side, this one is a bit funnier than usual and a bit less offensive...not that this is a ringing endorsement!!

By the way, if you care, the penguin in called a 'jackass' in the film. This actually is pretty accurate, as the breed is commonly called a jackass penguin due to its braying....which sounds a lot like a donkey. I was fortunate to be able to see a colony of the birds in South Africa...though why this one is in America in films is a puzzler!!