Gymnasium Jim

Billy Bevan is a mechanic and he's in love with Mildred June. However, Bevan's partner has just learned that Billy has been given $10,000 for his new 'noiseless car horn' and wants to cheat him out of it. So, he arranges for a boxing match between Billy and Kid Ryan and tells Billy to bet heavily as the fight is fixed and Ryan will let him win. In reality, Ryan is a maniac who will wipe the floor with the guy. What is Billy to do?

I should point out that the folks at Keystone must have been 100% insane when they made this short. This isn't a bad thing--it's just that the comedy is so bizarre, it's more like a weird Looney Tunes cartoon than what you'd expect from a slapstick comedy. It's filled with one bizarrely innovative stunt or prop after another--such as the weird hat, the strange limo, the gun gag, the flood and many more. They come one after another and you can barely catch your breath between them! You just have to see this one to see what I mean. Just remember--it's pretty weird (and pretty funny).

This is an enjoyable little short that my dad has on 8mm film. (yeah, that celluloid stuff, and not the Super-8 of the mid-70's, either). Typical of the b&w shorts of the time, it concerns Jim who has to

-defend his sweetheart- from the villain, who is intent on stealing not only her, but Jim's commission for inventing the "Noiseless Auto Horn."

Actually, it had no credits on the print so this is the only place I can find even mentioning it.

Gymnasium Jim (1922)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Jim (Billy Bevan) owns an auto garage and wants to marry the girl who works next door in the diner but she doesn't want him. That is until he gets paid $10,000 for creating a noiseless auto horn. Before the two can get married a con man talks Jim into fighting a boxing champion and saying he'll fix the fight so that Jim can double his money but of course this isn't what happens. GYMNASIUM JIM isn't going to be considered a classic by anyone but it's certainly on par with the majority of Mack Sennett's films from this era. I thought Bevan was decent in the lead role but I must admit that the performance didn't completely win me over. For the most part I thought he played a likable character and you can tell that he had a certain physical style that managed to work. Some of the best moments in the film take place in the gym when Jim is getting ready for his boxing match. This includes him bouncing himself off a large ball and taking a rather violent fall onto his back. Another funny scene has him hitting the ball up against the wall, which in the other room is a man trying to get to sleep. The boxing ring appears to be taking place on a trampoline and this adds some nice touches to the sequence. While none of the laughs are large ones, there are enough to make this worth sitting through.

I grew up with this film because my dad had a copy of it in 8mm film since the late 30's or early 40's. For some reason, the comedy in it doesn't get old. The scene of Gymnasium Jim getting ready to go to bed makes me laugh each time I see it. When I was a kid, the scene of the car going into the small building never ceased to amaze me and I loved the scene of the bike rider. It must have been something for them to make some of those train scenes in those days. I would love to have a couple of copies of this film on DVD so that my brother and sister can have a copy and stop trying to 'steal' the original that I have! Since this was the very first film I ever saw, it holds a special spot in my heart. I wish there was a way to know more about the little dog who belonged to Gymnasium Jim's girlfriend.