Clark and McCullough were a Vaudeville comedy team that made a string of short comedies for RKO. They never really hit the big time in films and today they are mostly forgotten. However, considering their high energy, I sure would have loved to have seen them on stage!
I have to be up front about this one...."Jitters the Butler" really makes no sense at all...none. So as far as the plot goes, this isn't one of the team's better outings. It is enjoyable in a mindless sort of way...so if you patient you might enjoy it.
When the film begins, the two are street cleaners...and very poor ones at that. When they find a bag of fireworks in the road, they do what any street cleaner would do--they begin shooting them off indiscriminately--in open windows as well as in a car. The one in the car explodes and the guy inside (James Finlayson) just happens to be their boss and he fires them.
Moments later, the boss' wife plows down the street--smacking into a car and knocking Clark & McCullough to the street. They are okay but more than happy to follow the lady home when she offers to take care of them. Now, from this moment on, the film begins to make far, far less sense. It involves a lot of butt-kicking, ripping of men's coats (why???) and a whole lotta slapstick...mindless slapstick. And then, the boss returns home to find these idiots at his party.
Mindless fun and mayhem....that's all you get with this one. Passable but far from the team's best. A great film for anyone who finds the Marx Brothers too cerebral!