Item: Clunked on the Corner
Rating: 6.1
Author: Archivist John

If you have twenty minutes to kill and you don't mind a movie that feels like it was filmed during a lunch break, then Clunked on the Corner is fine. It is mostly for people who think watching a middle-aged man with a giant mustache get confused is the height of comedy. 🤡

If you want a plot that makes actual sense or characters with more than one brain cell, you will probably hate this. It is loud, it is messy, and Andy Clyde spends a lot of time looking like he just forgot why he walked into the room.

So, the whole thing starts on a street corner. Andy is playing his "Handy Andy" character, which is basically just a guy who is way too confident for someone so incompetent.

He meets Carmelita Geraghty. She plays the beautiful crook, and honestly, she is way too good at looking suspicious. You can tell she is up to no good because she keeps glancing at the camera like she’s checking her hair.

She uses Andy to help her steal a pearl necklace. The way she convinces him is hilarious because he just turns into a puddle of mush the second she smiles. 🫠

There is this one moment where Andy is trying to be stealthy, but he’s about as quiet as a falling piano. He keeps bumping into things that shouldn't even be in his way.

The pacing is a bit weird. Some scenes feel like they were edited with a pair of garden shears. ✂️

One minute he’s talking to Carmelita, and the next, he’s suddenly in the middle of a heist. I think I missed a transition, or maybe the film reel just gave up.

The pearls themselves look like they’re made of painted ping-pong balls. When they finally appear, the camera stays on them for a very long time, like we’re supposed to be impressed by the prop department's budget.

I found myself wondering if this was better or worse than The Humdinger. That one had a bit more energy, but Andy’s face in this one is more expressive in a "I'm very worried about my life choices" kind of way.

Johnny Burke shows up too. He has this way of standing that makes him look like he's constantly waiting for a bus that’s three hours late.

The physical comedy is hit or miss. There is a bit with a ladder that goes on for about thirty seconds too long. It stops being funny, becomes annoying, and then somehow becomes funny again right at the end. 🪜

I noticed that the background extras look incredibly bored. In the street scenes, there’s a guy in a hat just staring at the production crew in the reflection of a window.

It reminds me a bit of the vibe in At the Ringside, where the sets feel like they might fall over if someone sneezes too hard.

Thelma Hill is in this, but she doesn't get nearly enough to do. She’s mostly there to react to the chaos Andy is causing.

The ending is... abrupt. It just kind of stops. I guess they ran out of film or the actors had somewhere better to be. 🏃‍♂️

I wouldn't call this a masterpiece. It isn't even the best thing Andy Clyde did that year. If you want something with a bit more bite, maybe check out That's My Wife instead.

But there is something charming about how unprofessional it feels. It feels like a group of friends decided to make a movie on a Saturday afternoon because they were bored.

The lighting in the indoor scenes is pretty harsh. It makes everyone look like they haven't slept in three days. Maybe they hadn't? The 1920s seemed tiring. 😴

Carmelita Geraghty really carries the whole thing. She has this sparkle that makes you understand why Andy would be dumb enough to steal for her.

If you’ve seen Heebee Jeebees, you know the kind of frantic energy these shorts have. This one is a bit slower than that, but it has the same DNA of "let's just see what happens if we fall down."

Is it worth a watch? Sure, if it pops up on a random playlist. Don't go searching the archives for it like it's some lost treasure though. It’s just a silly little movie about a guy and some fake pearls.