Crazy Doings: A Wild, Wonky Trip Back in Time 🤪

Okay, so Crazy Doings. This one's a bit of a trip, for sure. If you're into those old, wild silent-era comedies, or just really curious about what people laughed at back then, give it a shot. It's not gonna wow anyone looking for deep drama or slick modern pacing, and honestly, if you don't have a soft spot for really physical humor, you might just find it baffling. But for a certain kind of movie watcher, it's kinda fun. 🍿

The whole thing feels like a very elaborate setup for a series of pratfalls. And that’s not a bad thing, mind you. Billy Dooley, he’s just this whirlwind. One minute he’s trying to tie his shoe, the next he’s tangled in a garden hose. The sheer commitment to clumsiness is admirable.

There’s this one sequence, probably about a third of the way in, where a simple cake delivery goes absolutely sideways. It starts with a dropped hat, then a banana peel – classic, right? But then the cake itself ends up on a dog's head, and the dog runs through a busy street. It’s silly, it’s loud (well, in the silent film way, you know), and it just keeps escalating.

You can almost feel the movie trying to convince you this *really* matters, this runaway cake. 😂 But it doesn’t. And that’s okay!

Vera Steadman, she plays the exasperated love interest, I think? Her reactions are gold. Every time Dooley messes up, her eyes just kinda roll into another dimension. She doesn't need words; her face says it all, honestly. A lot of that era's charm is in those huge, expressive faces.

The chase scenes are… something. There’s a bit with a bicycle, a car, and then everyone just ends up running on foot. It goes on about 20 seconds too long, and the silence starts to feel awkward rather than emotional, but then someone slips on a pail, and you just gotta chuckle.

One reaction shot of Tom Dempsey, when he realizes he’s locked himself in a closet instead of escaping, lingers so long it becomes funny. Like, really, really funny. You just sit there, watching him pull on the door. Then pull again. It's that kind of humor. A little drawn out, but it hits.

The sets are, well, they're sets. You can tell they're mostly inside, even when they're supposed to be outside. The painted backdrops are charmingly obvious. It give the whole film this kind of stage play vibe. Like you're watching a troupe just put on a show.

I guess the plot, if you can call it that, is just a series of events leading to more events. There's no grand mystery. Just pure, unadulterated *chaos*. And a bit of romance, I suppose, if you squint.

The movie gets noticeably better once it stops taking itself seriously, which, for a film titled “Crazy Doings,” should have been from the start, right? But there are a few moments early on where they try to establish some sort of dramatic stakes, and it just… doesn’t work.

One thing that kinda stuck with me was the way the supporting cast, like Jimmy Hertz and Eddie Barry, would just pop in and out of scenes. They're not always important, just part of the background mess. Like half the extras wandered off, then came back when the action picked up.

It’s an interesting peek into how much *energy* early filmmakers put into just getting people to laugh. No fancy effects, just sheer physical comedy and very expressive acting. And some really, really quick scene changes.

So, yeah. If you're looking for something that's less a 'film' and more an 'experience in historical silliness,' Crazy Doings is there. It won’t change your life, but it might give you a goofy grin for an hour. Definitely not for everyone, but I dug some of its weird charm. 👍