Call Again

Edward Everett Horton is scheduled to go on a date with Duane Thompson. She, being only 25, is a schoolgirl at Aileen Manning's girl's school. As is typical with this sort of comedy, Horton is trapped in the school, trying to avoid headmistress and cops

Its one of eight two-reel comedies starring Horton and produced by Harold Lloyd for Paramount. It was a means of keeping his staff paid and busy and the money coming in while Lloyd worked on his next starring feature. The gags are well executed, the production values are excellent, and Horton offers a typically funny performance, even if we never get to hear his voice or see one of his famous triple takes.

Saw this last weekend at Capitolfest, Rome, N.Y., and I just recently stopped laughing. "Call Again" is a screamingly funny short starring Edward Everett Horton, the bumbling dimwit of countless movies of the 30's and 40's, especially some of the Astaire/ Rogers RKO pictures. Here he is a young suitor trying to visit his girlfriend who resides at a strict girls school - she is not allowed out and must study for exams. Of course, he tries to spring her for an afternoon. I could say that the fun starts here, but the fun already started immediately after the credits.

"Call Again" is a broad slapstick short with non-stop laughs. I would go so far as to say it is funnier than any silent I have seen starring Laurel & Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, or Buster Keaton because the humor is sustained throughout the picture without a let up. It is hard to believe this film hasn't been reviewed, and hardly seen by the general public. It could be it was lost or out of circulation as the print I saw was a 35mm recently restored by the Library of Congress.