Midnight Blunders

Dumb bell investigators Tom Kennedy and Monte Collins go in search of the Chinese man with a wooden leg who has kidnapped Wilfred Lucas. They discover a Fu-Manchu-like mastermind, and a Frankenstein-like monster in this funny Columbia comedy short.

With a script -- and gags, of course -- by Jack White, Collins, and Harry McCoy, there are lots of low-brow laughs in this short film under the direction of Del Lord. Producer Jules White was busy with the Three Stooges and expanding the number of comics at his division, so he tended to leave the people alone, so long as they came in on budget. Lots of laughs, lots of thrills.

Tom Kennedy and Monty Collins made a good team. They appeared in 11 two-reel comedies for Columbia from 1935 until 1938, and "Midnight Blunders" is perhaps the best of their films. In this short, Collins and Kennedy, as bank guards, are searching for a Chinese man with a wooden leg who has kidnapped a prominent scientist. Their search takes them through the eerie dark streets of Chinatown. Although a bit strange at times, the short provides some pretty good, though standard, "scare" situations mixed with Columbia's brand of slapstick. There are some pretty funny gags throughout the short, but unfortunately, many are politically incorrect by today's standards. That said, it's still a fun little two-reeler that is sadly not easy to view. This film was later reworked by Columbia in 1941 as "Sweet Spirits Of Nighter" with El Brendel and Tom Kennedy.

UPDATE: This short has been released as an bonus on the Sam Katzman DVD Collection. It's nice to see Sony finally digging into their non-Stooge Columbia shorts holdings!