User Reviews

Edgar Kennedy on a train trip. You might be wondering, will this be like Laurel and Hardy's Berth Marks? Not exactly. Well, maybe if L&H had annoying family members who tagged along and made their trip a living hell before they could do it to each other. Those familiar with Kennedy's shorts... his comedic shorts, that is, will know that he always has a horrific family that delights in torturing him for no reason other than they are horrible, selfish people who don't respect him or take him seriously. But at the same time, maybe Eddie welcomes a bit of that trouble, don't you think? I mean, he's always losing his temper and screaming at everybody. With a family like that, who could blame him? However, in this short, he doesn't actually do anything to warrant any of the rotten treatment he receives. So our story begins with Edgar on a train to hell... er, Syracuse... well, same thing. Eddie's a passionate salesman for Wellington Firearms, and he's on his way to the Empire State to give a demonstration of their new machine gun to the sheriff. Well, don't shoot him, or the deputy. He's even brought a whole case of his company's guns-yes, this was back when you could carry guns on a train. Edgar gives his little song and dance to an elderly man who just happened to be Mr. Wellington himself! He likes the cut of Edgar's jib and thinks he'd make a good manager, so it seems like this trip won't be so bad after all. Unfortunately, Florence is crying her eyes out because Mother and Brother weren't joining them, but Edgar didn't mind leaving those saps behind. Unfortunately, they're incorrigible saps, as they've managed to catch up to the train--in Edgar's new car! They try to get the train to stop by parking the car on the tracks, and... well, there goes the new car. Mother and Brother manage to board the train without tickets and deliver Edgar an urgent letter: it was concerning his new car, which didn't have insurance. Cue muted trumpets. Well, Edgar's problems persisted into the night, as Florence begged her husband to get Mother a glass of water. He reluctantly agreed and that's when he ran into Mr. Wellington again. The old man decides to promote him to manager and shows him some very expensive plans for their new machine gun. Can't imagine how anything could go wrong.

Edgar's rotten Mother in-law storms into the room and actually throws their bottle of wine out the window! This bout of vandalism was rather uncalled for, and oops, Mr. Wellington's $17,000 plans get sucked out. Totally didn't see that coming. In response, Edgar is demoted. When begrudgingly trying to help a man remove his boots, Edgar accidentally knocks Wellington out the window, making him hold on for dear life. He saves the old miser's life, and as a way of saying thank you, he loses his job. Man, Edgar just can't win. And yes, Brother, now is a perfect time to ask Edgar to get you some water too. He attempts to give his brother in-law a drowning, only he accidentally runs afoul of a large, angry man whose wrath Edgar had inadvertently incurred several times on the trip already. So, when trying to squeeze back into his berth, Edgar accidentally whips out the new Wellington machine gun and unintentionally opens fire. We next see Edgar sitting before a judge as he's being charged with 75 counts of second-degree murder. His defense lawyer moves that he be found not guilty by reason of insanity, and we end on Edgar being committed to an asylum. He's unable to do the slow burn, what with his hands tied behind him in a straightjacket. No, I'm just kidding, but that SHOULD have been the ending. Instead, the misfiring machine gun makes everybody grab Edgar and throw him through the backdoor of the train.

What a horrible family. Between the Brother being a self-righteous moocher, the Mother in-law an overzealous shrew and Florence an annoying, nagging, high-pitched voiced whining, tittering little pipsqueak, it's no wonder Edgar hasn't left them all high and dry. I mean, his family is downright unbearable here, as are the other characters Edgar has to contend with: his boss, that train bully, even the conductor played by Fred Kelsey in a cameo. Everybody was so mean to Edgar and it wasn't even warranted at all. He did NOTHING wrong to deserve the treatment he got. I mean, it would have helped if he showed a little BACKBONE, but he just took everything as it came and didn't stand up for himself. It's like no matter what he did, the odds were against him and he was wrongly maligned. So, do I recommend Quiet Please? If you're an Edgar Kennedy fan, then yes, but please keep in mind it's rather annoying at times and it's very tiresome to watch him suffer abuse at the hands of that awful family. Quiet Please. A sign Florence needs stapled over her mouth.

Edgar Kennedy plays a man put upon by his wife and her super-obnoxious family. In fact, this is the short-coming of this film--these folks are so obnoxious and unlikable that you hate them and they simply aren't the least bit realistic. The bottom line is that they are just too horrible to be funny. Edgar's wife giggles incessantly and seems to excuse any behavior her mother or brother does--any. I just Kennedy to rap her in the mouth! As for the mother and brother, they are jerks who destroy Edgar's brand new car (and almost derail a train in the process), get him fired from his job and treat him like dirt. Had these folks been jerks but not THIS unlikable, I think the film would have worked. And, if the ending had been the least bit funny. As is, it just seemed like the writing was a bit suspect. Yes, it was sometimes quite funny (such as the guy who kept punching Kennedy) but this RKO production just isn't up to the same quality standards as a top film--such as a Laurel & Hardy short. So, despite the direction by a top comedy director (George Stevens--who had made his name directing Laurel & Hardy for Hal Roach Studios), this film comes close to being good but its poor script which lacks subtlety made this one second-rate.

Once again, Edgar Kennedy is a victim of his rotten in-laws and a wife whose laugh (chirping like a spider monkey) could causes dogs to start barking hundreds of miles away. He's a gun salesman who tries to sell weapons to the company's owner, and while his ambition initially impresses the boss, dealing with the family creates nothing but problems on the night train, not his fault, but indirectly getting him into all sorts of trouble. The trip begins with the nasty mother-in-law and idiotic brother-in-law trying to catch the train to give Edgar a special delivery letter that indicates that the car is not insured, and they end up causing the car to be destroyed by the train crashing into it. More problems continue, all involving the boss, and thanks to his ridiculously insipid in-laws (and a wife whose voice alone could drive a calm man to violence), he finds himself quickly in need of a new job. Of course the sample weapons don't help him either which leads to an explosive conclusion. There are plenty of laughs which aids in preventing this from becoming truly obnoxious, although Kennedy's temperament does manage to get him into trouble even though a lot of the situation is beyond his control. Kennedy is very funny of course, and Florence Lake's character is a parody of a Gracie Allen type on speed. Well worth seeing, especially for a nearly 90 year old short.