Nut Guilty

Judge Edgar Bergen gives ventriloquist's dummy Charlie McCarthy a chance to preside in Traffic Court. While Charlie wreaks havoc with the legal process, his fellow students wreak havoc in the court room.

Of course you can see Bergen's mouth moving while McCarthy is speaking, but you wouldn't notice it if you were listening to their enormously popular radio show. Part of the appeal of the act was the suggestive jokes that are told, with McCarthy staring at the legs of every lady witness. Bergen appeared in about ten of these shorts for Warner Brothers, and his career extended into television. He died in 1978 at the age of 75.

Nut Guilty (1936)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

MGM short has Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy given the right to be judges for a day where they must look over three cases. One involving a girl driving without a license plate, the next a sexy woman doing naughty things and the third dealing with a violent criminal. Needless to say, this short was made to get laughs and it actually delivers in a few spots. Your tolerance level of Bergen and McCarthy will certainly play into things but they've always been hit and miss with me. This short here is probably one of the more entertaining I've seen from the duo because it's a lot more adult in nature and I was surprised to see that this was released after the Pre-Code era because there are a few scenes where the sexual innuendo is quite obviously and in your face as McCarthy goes after a couple sexy women. None of the three "cases" are that interesting but they each manage a few small laughs.

When this short film begins, children from town are getting to serve at City Hall for the day. Charlie is teamed with Judge Bergen and spends the day sexually harassing the female defendants--such as sentencing them to spend their Saturdays with him as punishment. While this might seem pretty creepy (especially since Charlie is a ventriloquist dummy), it's pretty much what you'd expect from the character, as he OFTEN spent his time in films and on the radio chasing the ladies. Overall, mildly entertaining and occasionally funny...but hardly the best from this team.