Blonde and Groom

Harry Langdon had starred in his own series of comedy shorts for Columbia from 1934 until his sudden death in 1944 after filming had ended on the rather poor western-themed short Pistol Packin' Nitwits co-starring El Brendel. Langdon was a popular silent-screen comedian in the 1920s, on par with both Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, but by the 1930s, Langdon was now considered a has-been in the industry and was reduced to making comedy two-reelers for Educational Pictures and later Columbia.

Langdon was also given a chance to write this entry and Harry Edwards is the director, whose alcoholism and sloppy approach was what he was most notorious for. The rather basic plot has Harry's wife going out of town and is forced to "babysit" his army buddy's girlfriend while he tends to work commitments. In the midst of the dilemma, they also must run afoul of an odd killer (Stanley Blystone). The most surreal gag comes when the girlfriend poses as a nurse to Langdon's suspicious wife and drains all the blood from his body. Completely turning him white and eventually reduced to a mound of powder.

Harry's new wife, Gwen Kenyon, is jealous of all the beautiful women he used to date -- this is during the Second World War, so bear in mind that there wasn't much choice for the ladies -- so when old friend Eddie Chandler asks him to host his fiancee, Barbara Pepper overnight, Harry refuses, but is quickly worn down.

Harry's style of slapstick, which often took place in his eyes and nowhere else, would seem ill-suited for the heavy-handed style at Jules White's Columbia shorts department, and there are times when his presence here seems a waste of time, a role that could be played by any of a hundred less idiosyncratic comics. Still, he and director Harry Edwards get in a few good gags among the oversized needles and collapsing furniture.