Adam's Eve (1928) Review: Johnny Arthur is the King of Drunk Acting

If you have twenty minutes to kill and want to see a man struggle with a door handle like it’s a math equation, this is for you.

It’s a short from 1928, and it’s actually pretty funny if you’re in the right mood. Johnny Arthur is the star here, and he’s playing a guy who just had his bachelor party.

He is completely wasted. 🍺

He’s supposed to stay at his best man's place to sleep it off, but he ends up in the wrong apartment. Two women live there, and they are understandably not thrilled to find a random guy stumbling around.

If you hate old-school slapstick where a guy just falls over furniture, you will probably hate this. But if you like seeing the physical comedy of the silent era, it’s a gem.

Johnny Arthur has this face that looks like a startled rabbit. His eyes are huge and they sort of dart around like he’s constantly worried the floor is going to disappear. 😨

The movie doesn't waste any time. We don't even see the party, we just see the aftermath of the bad decisions.

I noticed early on that the set design is very 'stagey,' like they just put three walls together in a studio. But it works for this kind of comedy because it keeps the focus on Johnny’s wobbling legs.

The way he tries to take off his hat and fails is genunely funny. He manages to get one arm out of his coat and then just gives up for a second.

It reminds me a bit of That's My Wife, where the mix-up is the whole point of the story. These 'wrong room' plots were everywhere back then, I guess because nobody ever locked their front doors in the 20s?

Seriously, he just walks right in. 🚪

The two women, Geneva Mitchell and Adrienne Dore, have to do a lot of the 'scandalized' acting. They spend a lot of time clutching their robes and looking horrified while Johnny tries to make himself at home.

There is this one bit where he thinks a floor lamp is a person. He keeps trying to apologize to it, and it’s one of those jokes that goes on a little too long but then becomes funny again because of his commitment.

It's not as clever as something like Heebee Jeebees, but it has a certain charm. It’s very fast-paced once the ladies realize he’s there.

The Best Man is Useless

Paul Powell plays the best man, and he’s mostly just there to look confused. He doesn't have much to do until the very end, which feels like a bit of a waste of a character.

The writing credits are actually interesting. Florence Ryerson helped write this, and she later worked on The Wizard of Oz.

You can see the seeds of good comedic timing here. Even if the plot is paper-thin, the way the scenes are structured keeps you watching.

The movie gets way better once the chase starts. When the women try to get him out and he thinks he’s being attacked by ghosts or something, his reactions are top-tier.

I did find myself wondering why the 'best man' didn't just walk him to the door. Friends were different in 1928, I guess. 🤷‍♂️

There’s a moment where he tries to climb into bed and his shoes are still on, and you can almost feel the frustration of the women in the scene. It’s that awkward, cringey humor that still works today.

It’s definitely better than The Humdinger, which felt like it was trying too hard to be wacky. Adam's Eve feels more natural in its silliness.

The film print I saw was a bit grainy, but you can still see the sweat on Johnny’s forehead. He really put a lot of physical effort into looking that drunk.

One reaction shot of Geneva Mitchell lingers for about five seconds too long. She’s just standing there with her mouth open, and it starts to look like the film froze.

I also liked the weird little details in the apartment. There’s a very ugly vase on a pedestal that I was 100% sure was going to get broken, but it never did.

That’s a missed opportunity for a good crash sound effect.

Overall, it’s a fun slice of history. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a good example of why Johnny Arthur was a reliable comedy lead back in the day.

If you enjoy this, you might also like Scrambled Wives or maybe At the Ringside if you want more of that era's energy.

It’s short, it’s sweet, and it makes me glad I don't drink enough to walk into the wrong house. Most of the time, anyway.

The ending is a bit of a shrug, though. It just kind of stops when the confusion is resolved, without a big punchline.

But hey, for 1928, it’s a solid twenty minutes of entertainment. 🎞️