Dois Compadres

This is a silent film recently restored by UCLA and shown at the Syracuse Cinefest in March 2013. It is the final entry in a series of three Potash and Perlmutter films. Abe Potash (George Sidney) and Mawruss Permutter (Alexander Carr) are two middle class Jewish businessmen who have recently taken on a dealership for the Scheckmann Six automobile - a car "twice as expensive and half as good as a Ford." They take a disastrous and hilarious test drive of the car. Potash gets scammed by his nephew into investing in a new car engine business. When the business fraud is revealed, Potash has angry investors after him and becomes convinced that he will go to jail. He starts to have delusions where he sees cops everywhere and decides to flee the country. There is a lengthy and wacky bit on a bi-plane where Permutter tries to keep Potash from falling off the plane. The ongoing routine of Potash's and Perlmutter's constant arguing is very funny and not irritating as such bickering could be. The mild ethnic humor in the movie - mostly in the title cards - is amusing and never cringe inducing. It is the Potash character that is the most memorable and George Sidney does a wonderful job in the role. It's a movie I would like to see again. Great film and kudos to UCLA for saving it from oblivion.