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Cult Review
Senior Film Conservator
Honestly? Only if you’re the type of person who digs through the bottom of a bargain bin at an estate sale just to see what kind of junk people held onto. If you enjoy early 20th-century slapstick where everyone yells, this is your jam. If you have zero patience for grainy black-and-white antics that make absolutely no sense, skip it.
Selling Shorts feels like a sketch that forgot to end. It’s loud, it’s jittery, and the plot is thinner than the fabric of the pants they’re supposedly selling. 👖
The whole thing has this frantic, almost aggressive energy. Bud Jamison is doing that thing where his eyes look like they might pop out of his head at any second. It reminds me a bit of the manic pacing in Hotsy-Totsy, but with less actual charm and more people waving arms around.
There is a scene where someone tries to fix a pair of pants and I swear the sewing machine sounds like a lawnmower. It goes on for way too long. The editor must have just gone for a smoke break and forgot to come back.
It’s not as cohesive as Roaring Rails, which at least had a train to focus on. Here, everyone just runs in circles. It’s kind of funny, in a way that makes you feel a little tired just watching it.
The framing is so tight that sometimes characters are just talking to a wall or a lamp. Maybe that was the point? Or maybe they just didn't have enough room in the studio. 🤷♂️
Ultimately—wait, I promised I wouldn't say that word. Let's just say this: the movie ends quite abruptly, like someone pulled the plug. I checked to make sure my internet didn't drop. It didn't. That’s just the film.