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5.2/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.2/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Fits in a Fiddle remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have twenty minutes to spare and love the kind of loud, sweaty vaudeville comedy that died out before your grandparents were born, Fits in a Fiddle is a weirdly fun watch. Anyone expecting sophisticated wit will absolutely detest this, but fans of pure, unadulterated nonsense are going to have a blast.
It stars Bobby Clark and Paul McCullough, a duo whose whole vibe is basically "what if we just yelled our way through the plot?"
The story is incredibly thin, even for a 1934 short. Bobby and Paul want to get on the radio, so they rig up this giant upright bass (which the title calls a fiddle for some reason) with a hidden record player inside. 🎻
Bobby pretends to be a master musician while the record does all the actual work.
Honestly, Bobby Clark’s painted-on glasses always freak me out a little bit. They look like he just drew them on with a thick grease pencil right before the camera started rolling, which he probably did.
It gives him this manic, cartoonish look that fits his chaotic energy perfectly.
His partner, Paul McCullough, mostly just stands around holding things and looking like a worried uncle. He doesn't get nearly as much to do, which is typical for their shorts, but his quiet confusion is a nice contrast to Bobby's screeching.
There is this great moment where the record starts skipping during the live broadcast.
Bobby has to physically mimic the skipping sound, shaking his body back and forth like a broken toy. *It goes on for way too long*, and that is exactly why it is funny.
It reminded me a bit of the chaotic energy in Chaplin's A Day's Pleasure, where things just keep going wrong for no good reason.
But where Chaplin is graceful, Clark is just a blunt instrument of noise.
We also get brief appearances by classic comedy foils like Charlie Hall and Tiny Sandford.
If you've watched any Laurel and Hardy shorts, you will instantly recognize their tired, annoyed faces. They bring a comforting familiarity to the madness.
The climax involves a lot of running around and people falling over, which feels a bit rushed.
Like they realized they only had two minutes of film left and needed to wrap things up fast.
Still, for a dusty old short, it has some genuine laughs.
It is definitely better than some of the other forgotten comedies of the era, like the painfully slow Rickety Gin.
Just don't expect anything deep. It's just two guys acting like idiots with a fake fiddle.
IMDb —
1921
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