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4.5/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 4.5/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Stolen Sweets remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Look, if you are the type of person who digs through archives to find where jokes started, sure. It is a harmless, breezy little thing. But if you have zero patience for stiff acting and predictable rich-girl-meets-poor-boy plots, skip it. You will probably hate the pacing if you are used to modern edits.
The whole thing feels like a stage play that forgot to leave the theater. Patricia Belmont is bored out of her mind with her fancy life. Enter Bill Smith, who sells insurance and apparently has a monopoly on fun. Honestly, I spent half the time wondering how they afford a cruise on a salesman's salary.
Then there is the butler. Stoner. When he tells the group to "Walk this way, please," and they actually do the bent-knee shuffle? It is kind of wild seeing it happen in what feels like real-time. It is the grandfather of every comedy trope that followed. I almost felt like I was watching history, or at least a very dusty sketch.
It is not exactly Springtime for Henry when it comes to sharp writing, but it has a weird, sunny energy. It reminded me a bit of the frantic vibe you get in What a Night! where everything is just a bit too loud and everyone is always smiling way too wide.
I caught myself zoning out during the middle act. The scenes at the Bennett estate drag on like a Sunday afternoon with nothing to do. Sometimes the camera just sits there, waiting for someone to finish a sentence that really didn't need to be that long.
Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it better than watching paint dry? Barely, but it’s got a weird heart. 🍿 Sometimes these old films just want to be simple, and I think I can respect that, even if I fell asleep for ten minutes near the end.