Boy Oh Boy! is exactly the kind of mess you’d expect

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, only if you're a completist for these types of old slapstick shorts or you just really, really love roller-skating mishaps. If you don't have a soft spot for 1930s comedy pacing, this will probably feel like a long ten minutes. It’s light, it’s frantic, and it doesn't try to be anything other than a quick distraction.

Andy Clyde is doing his usual thing here. He’s got that face that looks like it’s perpetually ready to be hit by a stray object. The plot is barely there—just a thin excuse to get everyone on skates and see who falls over first. Spoiler: everyone falls over.

There’s a moment near the middle where the skating rink floor seems to have been polished with actual grease. People are sliding around like they’re on an ice rink in the middle of a fever dream. It’s weirdly hypnotic watching them struggle to stay upright. The sound design is just one long screech of metal wheels on wood. It gets to you after a while.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Boy Oh Boy! (1932) through its definitive frames.

James Finlayson shows up, and you know you're in for some intense squinting. He’s always the best part of these things, just by existing. He’s got that look like he’s judging the entire concept of the movie from inside the frame. I kept waiting for him to just walk off, but he stuck around to get into the mess.

If you enjoyed the chaotic energy of The Stork Market, this sits in a similar neighborhood of frantic, low-stakes bumbling. It’s not quite as sharp, but it has that same desperate need to make you laugh every five seconds. Sometimes it hits, sometimes it just makes you wince.

The pacing is a bit of a disaster, honestly. It starts fast, stays fast, and then just stops. No real payoff, no big lesson learned, just a lot of people covered in floor wax. It feels like someone just turned the camera off mid-skate.

• The extras in the background look like they’re genuinely terrified of the main cast.
• I’m pretty sure someone loses a hat three separate times in the same scene.
• The lighting makes the skating rink look like a dungeon.
• Nobody actually knows how to skate, which makes the falling look way more painful than intended. ⛸️

It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s fine. Don't go looking for deep meaning here. Just enjoy the sound of people hitting the floor. Sometimes that’s enough.