Shore Shy

One of a series of Billy Dooley's short comedies from the mid-twenties, this one is a bit lighter on the bone-breaking slapstick and heavier on the physical construction of gags, as Billy, still in his sailor suit, comes home and everyone tries to make him feel at home -- so to speak -- by making things more like they are aboardship -- including gangways to the front door, Vera Steadman using semaphore flags and uncle in a Napoleanic-era admiral's uniform.

If the series -- and, this one -- has any real weakness, it is that there is nothing particularly great about it. Billy has nothing to recommended himself as a character: I feel no particular sense of connection with him and, while the series is competently constructed and the gags well executed, they will neither make nor lose fans for the bygone art of silent comedy. Still, if you are already a fan, you should get some fun out of this one.