A Fool and His Honey

Another Jules White knockabout-fest where Eddie and Wally take great delight running around with other women (since Wally is already married with a nagging wife), but eventually Wally comes to the conclusion that Eddie is out to steal her. From then on, a wild chase occur, but at the end, Wally eventually learns the truth that Eddie was actually talking about another woman. A rather standard (plot-wise) short written by Felix Adler and featuring Jean Willes, Frank Sully, and Emil Sitka in a bit role.

From the Colombia team that gave you the 3 Stooges shorts, these are fun shorts that are difficult to find. For whatever reason, they don't air on TV channels like MEtv. Youtube has several in poor quality. Jean Willes and Christina McIntyre were regular players. As one reviewer noted, very violent.

This is the first film I've seen from Wally Vernon and Eddie Quiallan, whom Columbia Pictures cast as a comedy team to star in a series of latter-day short subjects for them in the 1950s. Unfortunately this entry didn't seem particularly funny to me, although it's not outrageously bad either. The two comics work fine together but don't seem to have a huge amount of natural comedy chemistry that needs to be exploited. Their characters aren't really too well defined either, apart from the general suggestion that Wally is supposed to be more of a troublemaker.

This series is known for having been incredibly violent, and while this short does have some rather painful looking gags (Eddie getting crushed by a mattress, some spills that should cause bad burns, &c), it's not the orgy of abuse one might expect from a series considered atypically violent for Jules White. Instead there are a combination of some situations, a few plays on works, and a couple gags that are just bizarre. Some, like the alcohol causing a fish to jump from his tank, are fun, but seem timed a little off and don't generate the same laughs.

The premise is that due to an offhand comment at a party and a not that flies in through the window lead Wally to think his wife has been cheating on him with Eddie -- but these situation and the old jokes ("You should be on the stage. There's one leaving town...") just feel a bit tired. A bunch of the gags seem based on people doing this that don;t make sense and aren't explained in terms of character (Wally pouring hot coffee on his hand to get the hot oatmeal off, Eddie singing along with the tune Wally's wife sings to disguise his presence), and so aren't so funny. There are also a couple of sequences -- in which characters at a party just dance, or the two comics randomly decide to to some acrobatics in a gym mid-chase -- which seem to go on a bit without much happening.

These two could be funny, I think, if they had some better material than this, and in a film that was made with a subtler sense of comedy timing.

This is a mid funny short. I found this short on YouTube. Wally thinks his wife is cheating with Eddie. The beginning is really strange, a dance party. You can also see that Eddie his look is beginning to look different. This short has also really good slapstick, especially when Wally is chasing Eddie through the apartment. I found that Jules White his directing must be win an Oscar. Jean Willes does also a pretty good job as the wife of Wally.

Frank Sully is the worst part of the movie as the man who knocks Eddie cold. The short is the best short of the "Wally Vernon and Eddie Quillan" series.

Wally Vernon and Eddie Quillan dancing with some hot tomatoes at the beinning--too much

While The Three Stooges were by far the biggest stars working for Columbia Pictures' shorts department, they were by no means the least. During the time the Stooges were there, quite a few comedians found work there. Harry Langdon, Buster Keaton and Charley Chase had all once been top comics who found a home at Columbia when their careers had stagnated. In addition, many others made shorts there, such as Andy Clyde, Una Merkel, George Sidney and many others also tried their hands at Columbia...and in "A Fool and His Honey", two already well established actors, Wally Vernon and Eddie Quillan, tried their hands at Columbia comedy. And, like so many of these folks, their film was directed by Jules White.

When the film begins, the pair are dancing about with some hot tomatoes as well as dancing on their own. This scene is way too long and overdone and must have been done because Vernon and Quillan were excellent dancers...though none of this was particularly funny. Eventually, Eddie tells Wally that he doesn't understand why Wally loves to run around with women, as he has a lovely wife at home. Wally explains that it's okay for men to fool around...but not for their wives! What follows is a domestic comedy involving Wally and his wife (Jean Willes)....and eventually Wally thinks that Eddie is out to steal his wife.

So is it funny? Not especially. Often, instead of genuine laughs, the film resorts to action and violence. In the end, I could see why the pair never clicked with audiences.