The Fainting Lover

Back in the last century, in the 1940's, Camel cigarettes had an ad slogan that boasted... "not a cough in a carload." "Fainting Lover" is a comedy from Mack Sennett that doesn't have a laugh in a single frame of the two reels. The three writers, one of which must have noticed the absence of comedy, either thought they were writing "East Lynne" or else were preparing themselves to write television comedy. This Andy Clyde short, in which Andy plays second fiddle to a bad performance by the usually reliable Wade Boteler, finds Boteler (as Bert) courting the daughter of Andy Clyde and Addie McPhail, and Andy reminds him that he shouldn't take her for granted, especially at a gathering where Dr. Dudley Smith, accomplished musician, artist, sportsman, lecturer, world traveler, singer, dancer and worker of cross-word puzzles, is putting heavy moves on Helen, Bert's intended. Bert allows as how he'll do something special for her on her birthday coming up next month. The something special turns out to be attending her wedding to Smith on her birthday. What happens then is pitiful and feeble beyond description. Vernon Dent singing "Honeymoon", and later dancing to it, is worth watching if one fast-forwards to it and stops watching when Dent finishes.