The Awful Sleuth

True-Crime-Magazine-obsessed drugstore clerk Bert Wheeler doesn't recognize safecracker Ben Welden when he pays for a 35-cent sundae with a $25 check, and suggests his apartment building for a hide-out.... I mean a place to live while Welden is doing busines in the city. But when he goes to get cash lest he lose his job, he falls afoul of Welden, who has robbed the drugstore, with Wheeler wanted as an accessory.

Wheeler is best remembered for his partnership with Robert Woolsey in movies like RIO RITA and others. After Woosley died, Wheeler went back to his successful Broadway career, with only occasional forays into the movies. This was his last.

After the death of his partner, Robert Woolsey, Bert Wheeler starred in two comedy features. After that, he was unable to get any screen roles. In 1950, Jules White, of Columbia pictures, offered Wheeler a deal for two-reel comedies. Bert appeared in two of these, first "Innocently Guilty", directed by Jules White, and then this opus, a very early directorial effort of Richard Quine. I guess after this film, White had no further use for Wheeler. In this remake of Charley Chase's "The Big Squirt", Bert is a soda jerk obsessed with crime magazines. If one forgets that Wheeler was in his mid 50s at this time, the short can be enjoyed. Wheeler is still the man-child that he portrayed in his earlier films, but he is now middle aged, living with his young wife and mother-in-law, and working in a dead end job. There is some sadness in this. However, once we suspend this fact, the short is a typical Columbia exercise in slapstick. You can see that Quine is more artistic in his direction, as opposed to White and Ed Bernds. However, they were more comfortable in slapstick comedy and had greater experience in producing the Columbia product. Quine directed two other short comedies, one starring Eddie Foy, Jr. and the other featuring Hugh Herbert, who would not work with Ed Bernds. He was then promoted to Columbia features where he honed his unique, mannered style. I would have loved to see a Three Stooges film directed by Quine. "The Awful Sleuth" is a fascinating film and required viewing for Wheeler, Quine and Columbia short fans.

During the 1930s, Bert Wheeler was half of the very successful but mostly forgotten comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey. However, his partner died unexpectedly and Wheeler's career was never the same. In the early 1950s, Bert made a couple comedy shorts for Columbia Pictures. Of the two, "The Awful Sleuth" is by far the best.

Bert is a soda jerk who accepts a check from a customer but the check ends up being no good. What he also doesn't know is that the man is also a wanted crook.

When he arrives home at his apartment building, Bert recognizes the man and asks if he can exchange the bad check for cash and Bert is told to go upstairs and the man's friends will be happy to do this. However, the friends end up being other crooks and soon Bert stupidly says this once he realizes who they are....and the trio try to kill poor Bert to keep him from talking.

Most Columbia shorts of the era are pretty limp with few laughs. However, this one is cute and made me and my aunt laugh several times. Well worth seeing and fun...even though it is a remake of "The Big Squirt" and not a wholly original short film.