A silly, lighthearted comedy made nearly unwatchable by the sustained level of shouting from start to finish. In an effort to hammer home the whole "Italian immigrant" flavor of the story, every character seems to have been given instructions to shout/yell/holler their lines three inches from each other's faces, while stomping and gesticulating wildly. I had a headache about 10 minutes in, and a full blown migraine by the end.
Leo Carillo plays the lead as Joe. He has some funny lines, punctuated by some charming facial expressions - a glimmer of what this comedy could have been. Try as he might, he can't contain the mess, as Luis Alberni (as cousin Tony) boils over and then proceeds to scorch the pot dry with his obnoxious, high-volume clowning. Not to be outdone or upstaged, virtually ever other actor follows suit.
Not surprisingly, Ted Healy brought an antagonistic, sour note to the cacophony. Louise Fazenda's quirky talents were unused, somewhat sadly.
Get your aspirin and earplugs ready for this one.
Leo Carillo plays the lead as Joe. He has some funny lines, punctuated by some charming facial expressions - a glimmer of what this comedy could have been. Try as he might, he can't contain the mess, as Luis Alberni (as cousin Tony) boils over and then proceeds to scorch the pot dry with his obnoxious, high-volume clowning. Not to be outdone or upstaged, virtually ever other actor follows suit.
Not surprisingly, Ted Healy brought an antagonistic, sour note to the cacophony. Louise Fazenda's quirky talents were unused, somewhat sadly.
Get your aspirin and earplugs ready for this one.