A Guerra é um Buraco

Syd Chaplin (as "Old Bill" Busby) and Jack Ackroyd (as Little "Alfie") are World War I servicemen; while being bombarded, in a foxhole, Mr. Chaplin tells Mr. Ackroyd, "If you knows of a better 'ole - go to it." This exchange gives the film its peculiar title. The characters are based on the (by now) obscure British cartoon comic "Old Bill", by Bruce Bairnsfather. Seeing the familiar characters brought to the screen might have made the opening scenes delightful, but they no longer entertain. Veterans (of film) Edgar Kennedy (as Austin) and Harold Goodwin (as Bert Chester) help make the early going bearable.

Ackroyd's stabbing of Chaplin as he sleeps under a bale of hay begins some intermittently good scenes. Chaplin's chair lifting ability amazes, and the Chaplin/Ackroyd team becomes funnier as the comedy progresses; they are most delightful as "two-men-in-a-horse".

The production levels offered by Warner Brothers are quite high; "The Better 'Ole" was the second film to make use of the studio's synchronized music and sound effects "Vitaphone" process. With a certain British sibling named "Charlie" experiencing a "Gold Rush" at the box office, it's easy to understand Warner's effort.

***** The Better 'Ole (10/7/26) Charles Reisner ~ Syd Chaplin, Jack Ackroyd, Edgar Kennedy, Harold Goodwin

Fair silent comedy that does not play well to a modern audience -- probably because it is not slapstick enough to be funny today and because the drama appears more of an afterthought to what could have been a pure comedy. The first half of the movie drags but the second half is bearable.

Film opens with our hero, Syd Chaplin, and his pal in the trenches where they are chastised by bully Corporal Austin (Edgar Kennedy) –for singing after having survived a shelling. IMDb credits list Ed Kennedy as Corporal Quint but the actual film credit is quite clear. Film shift to the town of Boucaret where we encounter the traitor Major Russett who is in league with Gaspard, the owner of the Rooster Inn. Long and not particularly interesting sequence where Syd gets breakfast.

Cabaret night is mildly funny as Syd picks up thirteen chairs and a piano to clear the stage. Town transitions from British to German control. Syd and pal get left behind in horse costume. Probably best scenes are where Syd serves German General lunch and then sits on the body of an unconscious German soldier whose legs he arranges to look like his own. Syd and pal manage to fool German guards and eventually break free to help British Intelligence Officer save the British troops that come back into Boucaret. Syd is promoted to Sergeant thus giving him the opportunity to pay back Edgar Kennedy.

In many of these old silent war movies, even if the plot is threadbare, the shots of old war equipment or tactics might be of interest today. This is not one of those movies. Nor was Syd as good as his half-brother Charlie.

Better 'Ole, The (1926)

** (out of 4)

Due to his legendary younger brother people have forgotten the work of Syd Chaplin. Forgotten is that this guy form the comedy genre and pretty much formed his younger brother Charles. This film here is yet another forgotten one but is slightly remembered for being Warner's second feature film to have the Vitaphone sound. The film, based on newspaper cartoon characters, features Syd as 'Old Bill', a legendary figure fighting in WW1 who constantly finds himself battling an uphill fight. This is a rather strange comedy because the film remains highly entertaining even though there's not a single laugh to be found it in. All of the jokes aren't what I'd call funny but they are amusing in some weird way and in the end the film really isn't too bad. The Vitaphone sound includes various sound effects, a couple whispered words and that's about it but I was surprised at how well it all sounded considering this technology was under a year old. Several of the gags are based around these sound effects and there are a couple unique ones including a scene where a bomb goes off in a barn and Syd finds himself covered with hay. There's also a very long sequence dealing with Syd and his buddy getting into a cow outfit and causing all sorts of trouble. I was also surprised at how big the budget was on this thing because the war scenes look top notch and all the costume detail is top notch. Even with that said, the comedy just doesn't come off as funny but for fans of early sound cinema this is worth viewing at least once.

This is my second attempt to watch this totally worthless excuse of a movie. I cannot see any value in it, except maybe as a bad example of a silent movie about The Great War, a movie that is supposed to be funny.

Syd Chaplin, Charlie's older brother, does a lot of mugging the camera, including from inside a costume horse, but none of it was funny.

The other people in the cast of "The Better 'Ole" try as hard as they can, but without any funny material, it's all a waste.

Considering this is rather late in the history of silent movies, it's really hard to understand why there is a lot of knockabout, a lot of falling down, but almost nothing funny.

Apparently Syd Chaplin had some success, was considered a comedic character, but judging by "The Better 'Hole," I cannot see why.

Tonight, 25 Sept 2022, is at least the second time TCM has shown it, There are so many good movies, including good silent movies, I just do not understand why it's being shown again.

There is more about Bairnsfather's films in his biography - IN SEARCH OF THE BETTER OLE published by Pen and Sword Books, Barnsley, UK. His most famous cartoon was the Better Ole but his most famous film was 'Carry on Sergeant' the phrase that gets most Army Officers through wars. The film was made in Canada in 1928 but caused furore in the country when a Canadian soldier was shown going upstairs with a girl in an estaminet. It did not do well mainly because it was a silent film just at the time that the talkies were taking off eg The Jazz Singer. Originally 14 reels long it has been shortened in the modern era and has been shown on Canadian television. Other films by Bairnsfather are The Better Ole 1918, Old Bill through the Ages 1924, The Better Ole 1926, Vitaphone personal appearance 1927 and Old Bill and Son 1941.