Un grullo in bicicletta

This is a funny movie. It's good for kids too because it's all good natured fun. I usually don't watch movies this old, but it was on one afternoon and it had me laughing a lot. it's better than a lot of modern comedies. Give it a shot if you like silly movies. In a way it reminds me of Jim Carey movie. It's also fun to watch a movie like this from the 30's to see some of our country's history. Such as clothes worn, and cars, and just artifacts of everyday life. Some of the old fashioned slang is funny too. The star Joe E. Brown was more famous for his role in Some Like It Hot. I guess you'd say this film is filled with a lot of gags and silly situations.

"6 Day Bike Rider" stars Joe E. Brown. Interestingly enough, of the hundreds of movies I've watched from the early-30's, I'd never seen a Joe E. Brown movie, and he was pumping out films as early as 1927. I can't say I'm terribly impressed with him, but he's no worse a comedian than Jimmy Durante.

He plays Wilfred 'Mildew' Simpson, an avid bike rider who is a cross between the Absent-Minded Professor and Ernest from Ernest Goes to Camp. The entire premise of the movie is that Wilfred is trying to win a six-day bike race with his partner, Clinton Hemmings (Frank McHugh). They're up against a big time cheater named Harry St. Clair (Gordon Westcott). Before the race began there was bad blood between Harry and Wilfred because Harry almost took Wilfred's girl, Phyllis (Maxine Doyle).

The movie is pretty dumb, but harmlessly so. I'd say it's more for kids due to the wacky nature of it and the interesting choices of words Wilfred uses instead of more harsh language. I didn't love the movie and I didn't hate it.

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Six Day Bike Rider is a standard Joe E. Brown comedy featuring the big mouth as a clueless braggart postal inspector who has his girl (Colleen Doyle) stolen in front of eyes by a traveling trick cyclist (Gordon Westcott). Determined to get her back he enters a marathon against his foe but runs into a lot of obstacles just trying to get to the velodrome.

As a kid I found Joe E Brown quite amusing in small doses whether in KIx commercials or supporting roles. His sad sack demeanor and trade mark yapper made him a living caricature and a very popular star in the early and mid 30s with Fireman Save my Child and Alibi Ike both baseball films that were tailor made for the former semi - professional ball player. In Six Day he does display some of his athletic prowess but he fares much better with a bat in his hand than a bike under him and and Bike Rider goes flat early.

While Joe E. Brown was a very popular comedian in films during the 1930s, today he's not nearly as popular. I wonder if some of it might just be the sorts of characters he often played. Too often, he played really obnoxious sorts--narcissistic jerks who thought they knew everything. "6 Day Bike Rider" is yet another one of these films...with Wilfred (Brown) being an incredible braggart. Because of this, it's hard to really care about what happens to the guy.

The film begins in the small town of Mildew. Wilfred has been dating Phyllis (Maxine Doyle) for years but takes her for granted. When a traveling show arrives and she is smitten with a guy who does tricks on his bike, Wilfred insists he can do even better....and makes a fool of himself in the process. Eventually, he behaves so badly that Phyllis breaks it off with Wilfred...and Wilfred heads to the big city to make a name for himself and win her back. His plan is to enter a team bike race. But this boob ends up getting himself arrested and cannot make the start of the race--and his new nemesis will be riding there as well and you know he MUST make that race. What's to happen to Wilfred and his big plans?

This film is at best a time-passer and not much more. In addition to making Wilfred a jerk, the film also loses a few points for the big bike race. Cheating is obvious by the baddies (and never noticed by anyone but the audience watching the film) and at one point Wilfred is also cheating by tossing bananas onto the track and another he unintentionally drugs his opponents with Chloroform! Apparently there are no judges watching the race...or they are legally blind! Add to that a few really BAD rear-projected scenes and the film certainly has a few strikes against it. Had the film made him Brown's character sympathetic and the jokes a bit funnier, it sure would have worked better.

Nothing is going right for simple clerk Wilfred Simpson (Joe E. Brown). Harry St. Clair has his eyes on Wilfred's girlfriend Phyllis Jenkins (Maxine Doyle). Wilfred gets the town riled up and everybody blames him for the chaos. Phyllis is frustrated. Wilfred decides to enter a 6-day bike race to compete against Harry and impress Phyllis.

In the modern sense, Wilfred is not an appealing boyfriend. He's petty and jealous and rather angry. It's the olden days and allowances must be given. I do like some of his idiocy, not all of it. He's better as an innocent. In this, he's an annoying jerk and that doesn't make him funny.