Ben Turpin took a year off from the movies to nurse his dying wife and by the time he returned to the screen, his appeal had faded. He was in his mid-fifties by the time he made this movie, which put him in a sailor suit in China. His boss, Mack Sennett, was distributing through Pathe, which was also handling Hal Roach -- and Roach would jump the next year to the better-financed MGM. The Christies were flourishing, Fox, Paramount and Universal has short subject departments.... so, while Sennett was certainly turning out comedies as good as ever, the competition, with the expense of sound on the horizon, was heating up -- and Sennett's once-a-decade star, Harry Langdon had just left to go independent.
Nor is this a bad comedy short. There is some lovely cinematography -- the opening shot set in Shanghai is quite an achievement -- and the editing is as good as ever. However, the modern audience may well be put off by some of the eye-dialect language and stereotypes. The story told in flashback is full of typically good Sennett gags and the payoff joke is a good one -- to anyone familiar with the conventions of 19th century stage comedy. I'd save this one for later in your viewing, after you're thoroughly enamored of Turpin's work at the Sennett studio.
Nor is this a bad comedy short. There is some lovely cinematography -- the opening shot set in Shanghai is quite an achievement -- and the editing is as good as ever. However, the modern audience may well be put off by some of the eye-dialect language and stereotypes. The story told in flashback is full of typically good Sennett gags and the payoff joke is a good one -- to anyone familiar with the conventions of 19th century stage comedy. I'd save this one for later in your viewing, after you're thoroughly enamored of Turpin's work at the Sennett studio.
