What Price Taxi

What Price Taxi (1932)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Decent entry in Hal Roach's "Taxi Boys" series has Clyde Cook and Franklin Pangborn playing what else but cab drivers who spend the entire film trying to stay away from another cab driver (Billy Gilbert) who wants them dead. Clyde is at risk of having his cab knocked over by the bully while Franklin runs the risk of a punch in the nose after the man caught him in the apartment with his wife. WHAT PRICE TAXI isn't going to be mistaken for any type of masterpiece but there are enough pleasant laughs to make it worth sitting through. There are some very annoying moments here and that includes what appears to be silent film footage added into this. This effect doesn't work for a couple reasons with one being that the speeds are different so it's easy to tell when we're watching something else. Another problem is that it makes the film look cheap and especially when the footage doesn't match up too well like one case where mud keeps getting thrown on Gilbert and a chase follows but it's clear different taxi cabs are being used. Both Cook, Pangborn and Gilbert are quite fun here as they certainly make for some memorable characters. Gevena Mitchell is also pretty good in the role of the wife. The highlight comes towards the end of the film when a ladder is standing up on two cars as stuntmen dangle back and forth between the two. Even if you hate the comedy I think you'll enjoy seeing these men risk their lives doing this very dangerous stunt that offers up some pretty wild tricks.

This is one of the funniest of all the "taxi" movies I've seen with BILLY GILBERT fuming and fussing over what he imagines is his wife's dalliance with another man--FRANKLIN PANGBORN.

Pangborn merely stops by briefly to help Gilbert's wife and Gilbert is her jealous husband who returns home to find Pangborn and his wife together as Pangborn is about to leave. From then on, the laughs pile up as Pangborn and another unlucky individual find that they have to stay clear of hot-tempered Gilbert whenever he's within range, especially after he's thrown Pangborn out the window.

A wild ride through L.A.'s streets with a ladder stuck atop a car provides some wild stunts that are incredible to watch and involve lots of split timing in the best early comedy tradition.

Guaranteed to provide guffaws of laughter, it's well worth watching for Franklin Pangborn alone, who never had such a funny role in these kind of film shorts. And Gilbert gets his share of laughs too.

Although I am a huge fan of Hal Roach shorts, I had never heard of his Taxi Boys series before seeing this one--and it certainly was an obscure series. Franklin Pangborn and Clyde Cook play the boys. Pangborn is playing a different character from his usually fastidious and rather effete character. As for Cook, he made a name for himself in silent film days playing in many comedy shorts--and it was nice to see him here in a talkie.

One thing to note about this film. While IMDb does not indicate this, I think the studio took clips from a silent film similar to "What Price Taxi" or perhaps a silent version of it (which is what I suspect) and inserted them throughout the film. That's because some of the scenes run too fast--which is what occurs when silent stock (filmed at between 16-22 frames per second) are used along with sound stock (which always runs at 24 frames per second). It doesn't severely impact the film but it is odd and easy to notice if you look for it.

Clyde and Franklin work as cab drivers. However, a rather hot-tempered drive from another company keeps trying to beat them up or run them off the road. Well, I guess that's one way to take care of your competition! Some of it's pretty funny--such as the scene where Pangborn is tossed out a window. Later, in scenes reminiscent of some of the Laurel & Hardy films (such as "Blockheads"--which ALSO starred Gilbert as the angry man), Clyde innocently gets stuck in the room with Gilbert's wife and he is ready to kill Clyde when he discovers them together. Can out two heroes survive the onslaught? Tune in and see.

Overall, not a bad film and it has several funny moments (I loved the telephone and ladder bits) but I wish they hadn't pieced the film together the way they did--it's just too obvious.