AM to PM Review - Dumb Silent Fun

If you have ten minutes to spare and love dusty, ancient silent comedies, AM to PM is absolutely worth a look today. Anyone who gets a kick out of old-school physical gag shows will find it charming, but if you can't stand grainy black-and-white footage with zero dialogue, you should probably skip it. 🥱

The whole thing is basically just Harry Bailey trying to survive his daily routine. It is incredibly simple, starting with him waking up late and ending with him collapsing back into bed.

There is this one great bit early on where he tries to pour milk but his hand shakes so much it gets all over his shoes. The look of pure defeat on his face is so funny because it feels so real. 🥛

I love how cheap the set looks. You can literally see the fake walls wobble whenever he slams a door too hard.

It reminds me a bit of the chaotic energy in Mickey's Master Mind, though this one is much more grounded in everyday misery. It doesn't have big sci-fi gadgets, just a guy fighting with his own alarm clock.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of AM to PM (1933) through its definitive frames.

Speaking of the clock, there is some weird edits right after he smashes it. The camera cuts so fast that his shirt suddenly changes colors for like three seconds. It is a hilarious little mistake that they just left in because, well, who cared back then?

The second half gets a bit slower when he goes to his office job. He mostly just shuffles papers and looks bored, which is funny because I started getting a little bored too.

But then a dog wanders into the background of the office. It is clearly not part of the script because a hand literally reaches from off-camera to drag the poor pup away by its tail. 🐶

That kind of sloppy, accidental stuff is why I love these old films. They did not have the time or money to do fifty takes, so you get to see the actual chaos of the set.

It is not a masterpiece, and honestly, the music track on the version I watched was super annoying. But Bailey has a great face for silent comedy, even if his timing is a bit off sometimes.

Give it a spin if you want a quick laugh that doesn't require you to think at all.