Rudolph's Revenge (1928) User Reviews

Not one of the better ones...and very familiar material

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 27 November 2021]

Hairbreadth Harry was a popular comic strip created by C. W. Kahles and so it's not terribly surprising they'd bring the character to the screen. In total, they made about a dozen of the short films...though oddly in the later films the entire cast was changed.

In this short, you have MANY familiar story elements. You have a damsel who will soon be in distress, Belinda. You have her father who insists she marry the evil Rudolph. And you have a hero, Harry, who ends up dealing with Rudolph and his band of baddies in order to rescue Belinda. In addition, many jokes are ones I recently saw in other Hairbreadth Harry shorts. So there really are no surprises here...and very few laughs compared to "Sign Them Papers", another one of the films in the series.

Rudolph's Revenge review

[JoeytheBrit · 5/10 · 4 May 2020]

Average comedy built around a villain straight out of a Victorian melodrama. Inoffensive and Instantly forgettable.

Time to hang 'em up

[JohnSeal · 5/10 · 21 May 2018]

Rudolph's Revenge was the last of eleven Hairbreadth Harry comedies, and it's clear that the energy and inventiveness had run out. The film also features a completely new cast in its three lead roles, with only the lovely Wanda Sibald delivering the goods as Beautiful Belinda. Vincent Brownell replaced Earl McCarthy, and brings none of the golly gee whiz insouciance of his predecessor, instead presenting the character as a self-assured hunk, and Jimmy Aubrey is completely inadequate as the villainous Rudolph: whereas previous Rudolph John J. Richardson brought a lanky looseness to the character, Aubrey is simply a chunky lump of malevolence. Nonetheless, there's still sufficient fun here to make this worthwhile for slapstick enthusiasts.

Why Silent Movies Died

[boblipton · 4/10 · 17 August 2023]

Jimmy Aubrey, duded up like a Victorian melodrama villain, is blackmailing Bud Duncan for Duncan's daughter, Wanda Sibbald. She wants to get married to Vincent Brownell.

This late silent short comedy obviously didn't spend much money on anything to do with the production. Aubrey, whose career as a comedian had been in decline since his first screen appearance in 1915, hams it up to little effect. Brownell is the stalwart hero for the third and last time in his movie career. Miss Sibbald gets the best laugh, pulling a funny face as she is choked by a rope, but it's far too little for a 20-minute movie.