The Acid Test

George Shelton asks Tom Howard to help him impress his girl as a he-man. Howard is to insult him, and then Shelton comes up and punches out Howard. The gag works, so Howard tries to use the same gag, recruiting Donald MacBride as his foil.

It's a ten-minute burlesque skit, and it operates at a high speed, despite Howard's stammering delivery -- all a put-on of course. It's an example of the sort of sketch that has vanished.

Break in golfing girls want he-men--wants elmer to be a cad so he can be he-man savior oscar \

Tom Howard and George Shelton were a stage comedy team that ended up making a few comedy shorts for Educational Pictures in the early 1930s. I'd never heard of the pair until I recently discovered several of their comedies on YouTube...and I am very glad I did.

In "The Acid Test", Elmer (Howard) and Oscar (Shelton) are taking a break from their golf game to talk. It seems that Shelton is upset that his girlfriend wants a he-man, not the scrawny Oscar. So he concocts a plan...Elmer will meet the girlfriend and insult her...behaving like a real cad. Then, Oscar will arrive and slap Elmer around...convincing her that he is indeed a he-man. Well, the plan works great. But when Elmer decides to do the same to impress his girlfriend, that's when the fun begins!

This is an incredibly funny film due to the finale...which caught me by surprise. I like to be surprised...and this cute comedy fits the bill.