Some Babies (1924) Review - A chaotic silent mess of infants

Should you watch it?

If you have about fifteen minutes and a high tolerance for 1920s slapstick, Some Babies is a pretty fun distraction. It’s perfect for people who enjoy seeing grown men get absolutely outsmarted by toddlers.

However, if you find the idea of silent-era 'frantic' acting annoying, you will probably hate this. It’s loud in spirit, even if there’s no audio.

The movie stars 'Little Billy' Rhodes, who was a pretty big deal in these kinds of shorts back then. He has this specific way of moving where his legs seem to be going twice as fast as the rest of his body.

In this one, he and Monte Vandergrift are basically stuck babysitting. It sounds simple, but the movie treats it like a war zone. 🍼

The babies are everywhere. They are on the tables, under the chairs, and probably in the walls if you look close enough.

I noticed one specific shot where a baby is just chewing on a leather shoe for a solid ten seconds. Nobody stops him. It’s easily the most real moment in the whole film.

The pacing is kind of a mess, honestly. It starts fast and then just stays at that same high-pitched energy until it suddenly ends.

It reminds me a lot of Oiling Uncle, but with way more property damage. There is a sense that the director, whoever was actually holding the camera that day, just told the actors to 'look stressed' and let the kids do whatever they wanted.

Monte Vandergrift plays the straight man here, but even he looks like he’s about to quit show business halfway through. There’s a bit where they try to wash one of the kids, and it looks genuinely dangerous for a second.

The set design is basically just a room with too many props. You can tell they were working with a tiny budget because the wallpaper looks like it was applied with a glue stick.

I kept waiting for a plot to happen, but it never really does. It’s just a sequence of 'oh no, another baby did something!' moments.

If you’ve seen Oh, What a Kick!, you’ll recognize the same brand of chaotic energy. It’s that specific brand of comedy where the punchline is just exhaustion.

One reaction shot of Billy Rhodes lingers for so long it actually becomes funny again. He just stares at the camera with this 'why am I here?' look that I felt in my soul.

The writing by Charles Diltz and Bob Carney isn't exactly deep. But then again, you don't watch a movie called Some Babies for the philosophy.

Bob Carney actually shows up in the film too. He looks like he’s having a slightly better time than Billy, but not by much.

The film grain is pretty heavy on the surviving prints, which adds to the feeling that you’re watching a fever dream from a hundred years ago. Sometimes the lighting gets so bright that the babies' faces just disappear into white blobs.

It’s a bit shorter than some of the other 'Billy' shorts, like His Private Life, which is probably a good thing. Any longer and the screaming (which you can't hear) would start to give you a headache.

I liked the part where a kid grabs a handful of mush and just stares at the lens. The kid clearly didn't know he was in a movie, and that’s the best part of these old shorts.

The ending feels like they just ran out of film. There’s no real resolution, they just sort of stop being on screen.

It’s a weird little relic. Not a masterpiece, but it’s human in a way that modern stuff usually isn't.

Check it out if you want to see how people handled 'parenting' humor before television existed. Just don't expect it to make much sense.