Good Night Nurse

Lupino Lane is suffering an attack of the nerves, so nerve specialist Wallace Lupino sends him to his private hospital.... which is no help.

Usually Lane's comedies operated off their settings, but here there's a good deal of thematic cohesion with symbols of restraint, of being tangled up in various things, like watch chains, stethoscope tubes, skeletons and surgical bandages. I don't imagine it started out that way when he was setting up this comedy short, but as he and Wallace worked out the gags, they noticed that association and looked for similar gags.

Funniest movie I've ever seen, although the ending is a little odd. The first half is the funniest. The ensemble work and pantomime is beyond perfect. I suppose it's genetic. (Lupino works with his brother in this.) Certainly proves that you can be hysterically funny without locker- room humour. Today's performers pale in comparison with the silent comedians when they were at their best like this. We really need someone to restore this film and give it a Grade A sound track. But Bob Vaughn is dead... Maybe Robert Israel could record this in front of a live audience for us? (His pre-recorded soundtracks lack the life he gives in live performance.)