Hoboken to Hollywood

Hoboken to Hollywood (1926)

*** (out of 4)

Very funny two-reeler from Mack Sennett has Billy Judkins (Billy Bevan) taking his wife and mother-in-law from NJ to Hollywood. Along the way they run into another couple (Vernon Dent, Thelma Hill) on their way out there so they decide to team up on the road trip, which leads to one disaster after another. HOBOKEN TO Hollywood has a pretty simple story but director Del Lord gets everything out of it that he possibly can and this is great for the viewer because we get one laugh after another. I think the greatest sequences are in the first fifteen-minutes as we see Bevan and Dent really getting to go after another one. A lot of this deals with physical humor including a wonderfully funny sequence involving Indians, turkeys and a servant driver. Some of the humor aimed at the servant is racially insensitive like him getting scared and turning white but there's also some very funny stuff including a scene where his eyes pop out of his head. There's no question that Bevan and Dent were having a great time working off one another and it clearly shows with all the laughs.

Hoboken To Hollywood is fun Mack Sennett comedy directed by Del Lord. The movie starts with Billy Bevan, his wife, and his mother planning to drive to California for his new job. They run into a pair of newlyweds (Vernon Dent and Thelma Hill) who are having car trouble. Since they are all going to California Billy suggest they go together. There are plenty of gags with the cars including a sequence where they try and fail to go up a steep hill. When they stumble on some bones in the desert they mistakenly think they are under an Indian attack. The group finally reaches California but they get drenched by a rain storm and their car gets stuck in the mud. Billy Bevan gives a wonderful comedic performance - he does a lot of running, gets shot with arrows, and falls into the mud. Thelma Hill also gives a terrific animated performance. She gets angry and scared and doesn't mind getting dirty. Thelma is a great actress and it's a shame that she didn't become a bigger star. Hoboken To Hollywood is one of my favorite Sennett shorts. There are lots of laughs and some fabulous performances.

A typical late silent Sennet programmer starring Billy Bevan and Vernon Dent, each moving to California with his wife and finding their greatest obstacles in their ways to be each other.

Bevan was one of the now-forgotten silent screen comedians with a large mustache and no hesitation in doing something stupid, like offering his rear to an angry bull, or standing around while an enraged Vernon Dent -- who went to Columbia and the Three Stooges -- swings an axe. Australia seems to have produced a bumper crop of them and many were exported to Hollywood. Bevan's individual shtick seems to have been a hearty manner and nervous laugh in the face of troubles.

Bevan worked steadily up until the 1950s and was still listed in the credits when he retired, unlike some. Although he would not be on anyone's Top Comics list until you got fairly far down, he was pretty good nonetheless. Although he never quite made the grade as a lead comic, he is in a number of good comedies paired off with Andy Clyde (CIRCUS TODAY, SUPER-HOOPER-DYNE LIZZIES).

And this one too. Del Lord knew how to direct a Sennett comedy -- he had been one of the original Keystone Kops, and he, too went to Columbia and the Three Stooges in the sound era. In the meantime, he was still with a prosperous Sennett, producing a solid comedy.

When the film begins, Billy (Billy Bevan) is told to drive to their California office. Now Hoboken to California is a HUGE drive today...but back in 1926 there weren't many roads and the drive could have taken a month or more (now you can do it in 4-6 days). Soon, Billy and the family are in his jalopy headed west. Unfortunately for another couple, they meet up with Billy and follow them along as they are going to California as well. However, Billy annoys the life out of the man (Vernon Dent)--but his thoughtless and stupid behaviors as well as his continually laughing at everything. By the end, however, Vernon is able to have the last laugh...and the final scene is a crowd pleaser.

Overall, like all the other Billy Bevan/Mack Sennett films I've seen, it's funny and well made. Not his best....but still very good.

By the way, like many comedies of the day, there is an insulting joke involving a black man. It's creepy and nasty...and something you'll just have to look past if you see this one.