When you look at the characters of Edgar, Florence, Mother and Brother, you just know that it would never be a good idea to throw a small child into the mix, let alone a baby. But as expected, the stork does deliver them a little surprise...in a manner of speaking. So you might be wondering how on earth would Edgar's family ever come into possession of a poor, innocent child? Well, funnily enough, what gets the ball rolling is when Florence, that tittering motor-mouthed dingbat sees a catalog ad featuring an adorable infant, she and Mother think it's just precious, then the latter suggests to Edgar that they adopt a baby. Yeah, she wants it 'cause she saw it in a catalog. Florence and Brother are all for the idea, but Edgar is deadset against it. Why on earth would these people want a baby anyway? Fortunately, no adoption agency in its right mind would ever consider these folks, even though adopting was probably a lot easier back in those days than it is today. Why, Laurel and Hardy were able to go out and bring home a healthy baby almost instantly, and in their case, it made sense: Stan suggested to Ollie that he adopts an infant in order to save his marriage, but naturally things don't go quite as planned. But I digress. So determined was Florence to get Edgar interested in babies, she devises a plan. She manages to talk her neighbor, who happens to have an infant child, into letting them watch it for a day. Then they tuck the poor kid into a basket, along with a fake note and leave it on Edgar's doorstep. Classic play, though something tells me this won't end well. Edgar brings in the basket, thinking it's laundry, but it isn't long until he hears a faint high-pitched babbling noise coming from inside the linen. Sure enough, he looks in and finds the baby! Well, sir, Edgar wasted no time in phoning the police to come and get it. But it's then that something really sweet happens: the baby latches on to his fingers, and the next thing he knew, Edgar was on the floor playing and laughing with the infant. The family, including the baby's mother, watch through the windows, finding the whole display adorable... though what happens next isn't so adorable: a lady from Child Welfare shows up to collect the baby. Fortunately, having a change of heart, Edgar manages to convince her there was a mistake and there was no baby there. Well, that was close! It's as this point I think the mother should have stopped the charade and took her child back. I mean, it almost got taken away! But instead, they continue watching through the window as Edgar gives the baby a bath. He even bathes it with its diaper on... well, it is a family show, and I guess in the '30s showing any type of nudity was a no-no.
Being ever resourceful, Edgar fashions a nightgown out of a bedsheet. Reminds me of the time the Three Stooges had a doorstep baby of their own and made pants out of a tablecloth. It's at this point Florence assures the baby's mother she'll take good care of him and sends her on her way. Just the fact she actually trusts these clowns with her baby shows what an irresponsible mother she probably is, I mean they weren't taking such good care when that welfare lady showed up and almost took the baby away. That should have been the deal breaker right there. But because nobody in this film is capable of rational thought, she leaves her defenseless infant in the care of Edgar and his sideshow of a family, though to be fair, Edgar is the only one of them I would trust with a baby. The family sneaks in to find Edgar asleep aside the infant and they play dumb, allowing him to tell them the whole story. That night, while Edgar and Florence are trying to sleep and Brother practices a dramatic reading...poorly, the baby starts crying and Mother orders Edgar to get up and feed it. Florence starts yammering like an idiot and a groggy Edgar goes to the kitchen. On his first attempt, the milk bottle was too cold and he's sent to heat it up. In the process, he breaks the baby bottle and has to substitute it with a gin bottle. Hey, whatever works. But the next morning, Edgar awakens to find the baby gone! He frantically looks everywhere, unbeknownst to him, the baby was given back to its mother that morning. I really think Florence should have told him the truth the day before, that they were only borrowing it to soften him up to the idea of adopting, otherwise how would they think Edgar would react when he woke up the next morning to find the baby gone? His family is SO selfish! The whole thing is finally laid out for him, and he realizes that, as usual, his family played him for a sap, and their irresponsible mother neighbor was in on it. In response, Edgar uproots a tree and swings it around at them, making everybody head for the hills, then he gets down on all fours to crawl alongside his little buddy one more time.
There you have it, folks, the mandatory "baby" episode, starring Edgar Kennedy. It's a very good short for what it is, even if all logic and common sense is completely tossed out the window. It's your very basic, standard premise: guy doesn't like babies, one lands in his care, he grows to love it, and is sad to see it go. It's age-old, but it works every time. Edgar steps into the role of surrogate father very easily, and it's interesting that even though the family were the ones who wanted a baby, they pretty much ignore it and expect Edgar to do all the work. Just goes to show what kinds of people they are, and as stated before, no adoption agency would ever trust them with an infant. Now, as interesting as it is, there was a short in which there was a child in the family. In addition to Mother and Brother, there was also Nephew. Not to mention, in one very bizarre Kennedy short, they have a plotline about Florence becoming pregnant. It's called South Seasickness, and for some reason, there was never a sequel where the baby was born. So, what can I say about A Blasted Event? It's a very good film, standard plot, a bit predictable here and there, but it's entertaining. Like I said, the formula is very basic, and I'm sure the Hays Code was why there couldn't be any of the usual lowbrow jokes that come with baby stories, like changing diapers and the like. This was also the first Kennedy short in which Jack Rice took over the role of Brother, and I think he's a much better comic foil for Kennedy than Billy Eugene was. Their chemistry just seems to fit much better. So, yes, I do recommend A Blasted Event, whether you love babies or you love grown adults who act far less mature than babies.
Being ever resourceful, Edgar fashions a nightgown out of a bedsheet. Reminds me of the time the Three Stooges had a doorstep baby of their own and made pants out of a tablecloth. It's at this point Florence assures the baby's mother she'll take good care of him and sends her on her way. Just the fact she actually trusts these clowns with her baby shows what an irresponsible mother she probably is, I mean they weren't taking such good care when that welfare lady showed up and almost took the baby away. That should have been the deal breaker right there. But because nobody in this film is capable of rational thought, she leaves her defenseless infant in the care of Edgar and his sideshow of a family, though to be fair, Edgar is the only one of them I would trust with a baby. The family sneaks in to find Edgar asleep aside the infant and they play dumb, allowing him to tell them the whole story. That night, while Edgar and Florence are trying to sleep and Brother practices a dramatic reading...poorly, the baby starts crying and Mother orders Edgar to get up and feed it. Florence starts yammering like an idiot and a groggy Edgar goes to the kitchen. On his first attempt, the milk bottle was too cold and he's sent to heat it up. In the process, he breaks the baby bottle and has to substitute it with a gin bottle. Hey, whatever works. But the next morning, Edgar awakens to find the baby gone! He frantically looks everywhere, unbeknownst to him, the baby was given back to its mother that morning. I really think Florence should have told him the truth the day before, that they were only borrowing it to soften him up to the idea of adopting, otherwise how would they think Edgar would react when he woke up the next morning to find the baby gone? His family is SO selfish! The whole thing is finally laid out for him, and he realizes that, as usual, his family played him for a sap, and their irresponsible mother neighbor was in on it. In response, Edgar uproots a tree and swings it around at them, making everybody head for the hills, then he gets down on all fours to crawl alongside his little buddy one more time.
There you have it, folks, the mandatory "baby" episode, starring Edgar Kennedy. It's a very good short for what it is, even if all logic and common sense is completely tossed out the window. It's your very basic, standard premise: guy doesn't like babies, one lands in his care, he grows to love it, and is sad to see it go. It's age-old, but it works every time. Edgar steps into the role of surrogate father very easily, and it's interesting that even though the family were the ones who wanted a baby, they pretty much ignore it and expect Edgar to do all the work. Just goes to show what kinds of people they are, and as stated before, no adoption agency would ever trust them with an infant. Now, as interesting as it is, there was a short in which there was a child in the family. In addition to Mother and Brother, there was also Nephew. Not to mention, in one very bizarre Kennedy short, they have a plotline about Florence becoming pregnant. It's called South Seasickness, and for some reason, there was never a sequel where the baby was born. So, what can I say about A Blasted Event? It's a very good film, standard plot, a bit predictable here and there, but it's entertaining. Like I said, the formula is very basic, and I'm sure the Hays Code was why there couldn't be any of the usual lowbrow jokes that come with baby stories, like changing diapers and the like. This was also the first Kennedy short in which Jack Rice took over the role of Brother, and I think he's a much better comic foil for Kennedy than Billy Eugene was. Their chemistry just seems to fit much better. So, yes, I do recommend A Blasted Event, whether you love babies or you love grown adults who act far less mature than babies.