Just in Time

I first must note special interest: I do not like 'comedies' in which animals are mistreated for the audience's amusement: Jules White & Zion Meyers' DOGVILLE series for MGM fills me with horror. But chimpanzees are human enough and social enough that using them as performers does not disturb me and I have some fond members of the Marquis Chimps on television when I was a child.

In this one, Snooky is the chauffeur for a family -- the family's children are played by the unknown child actors of A TRAY FULL OF TROUBLE. He is fired for smoking on the job and heads off, where he succors some scampish children who have fallen afoul of a gypsy.

The Snooky starring vehicles are essentially novelty acts. Snooky dresses in clothes, has conversations with people via titles and even has a sidekick in this one -- a small dog that looks to be part toy poodle. But the humor is very primitive, suitable for very young children with no discrimination, the plot is melodramatic and the titles are enlivened only by low puns. I don't care for them. How about you?

The child actors are perfectly well known. They are Ida Mae McKenzie and Eunice Fay McKenzie (later better known just as Fay McKenzie). There was a third sister, Ella and the mother is Eva McKenzie and they were well-known vaudevillians besides their film careers (over 150 films for Eva according to her obituary). Fay McKenzie went on to partner cowboy Gene Autrey and, at the time of writing, is still alive (aged 100 this year).