A Rented Riot

"A Rented Riot" is a Leon Errol short from RKO and like nearly all the Errol shorts, Leon is scheming and trying to stay out of trouble...rather unsuccessfully.

Around the same time Leon's mother-in-law is leaving to go on an extended trip, a bookie comes to threaten Leon to pay up...or else! Soon he meets a jerk (Jack Carson) in need of renting an apartment and Leon sees a chance to weasel out of his predicament. So, he rents the place...not realizing two things...the renter is a jerk AND his mother ends up returning early! What's next?

This is a pleasant and undemanding short film. Not among Errol's best...but still quite good and with a decent number of laughs.

While wife Lorraine McLane and everyone's mother-in-law Dot Farley are aware on vacation, Leon Erroll rents the apartment to Jack Carson to pay off a debt. Soon the police are coming because of the racket, and everyone leaves except for Carson's wife, Marjorie Beebe, just as Misses MccLane and Farley return.

It's a typically enjoyable episode of Errol's long-running series of short comedies for RKO. He does some nice rubber-legged antics, Miss Beebe show she can be funny when not tethered to Mack Sennett, and Carson picks up another paycheck from the studio. He's still playing bits at this stage, but does well with it.