Studio Pests (1927) Review - A messy, fun silent short

Is it worth watching today? Yeah, if you have twenty minutes and like old-school chaos.

If you hate silent slapstick where people just run in circles, you will probably turn it off in two minutes.

I watched this on a Tuesday morning with way too much coffee.

It is a short little thing from 1927.

It’s about a movie studio that is trying to make a film while everyone behaves like a maniac.

I have always liked movies about making movies.

It feels like you are getting a secret peek behind the curtain, even if that curtain is almost a hundred years old now.

Al Alt is in this one.

He has a very specific way of moving his arms like they are made of wet noodles.

Lillian Worth is there too, and she mostly just reacts to things with her eyes.

Her eyes are huge, like she’s permanently surprised by everything happening.

There is this one bit with a heavy prop that looks like it is going to fall on someone’s head for three minutes.

The tension is actually kind of real? 😅

Then it just... doesn't fall. It is a weird anti-joke that I actually liked.

The pacing is all over the place.

Sometimes it feels way faster than something like A Man About Town.

Other times, it just drags while someone tries to fix a light or a camera.

The set looks incredibly flimsy.

You can see the walls shaking whenever anyone slams a door.

I think I saw a guy in the background who wasn't supposed to be there.

He just looks at the camera and then ducks away really fast.

It is funnier than the actual jokes sometimes.

There is a scene involving a "pest" (hence the title) that is just... a lot.

It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in When the Cat's Away.

Just people being annoyed at each other for no real reason.

I missed some of the plot because I was looking at the posters on the wall in the background.

They looked like real 1920s movie posters, which is cool for history nerds.

One of them might have been for something like The Adventures of Kathlyn but the film was too grainy to be sure.

Speaking of the film quality, it’s a bit rough.

It adds to the vibe, though.

It feels like finding an old dusty box in an attic.

There is a lot of shouting. Well, silent shouting.

You can tell they are yelling because their necks get all veiny and their mouths are wide open.

Clem Beauchamp has a great bit where he tries to direct a scene.

He looks so stressed out I actually felt bad for him.

The ending is very abrupt.

It just kind of stops? 🎞️

Like they ran out of film or the actors just decided to go home.

It is not as "complete" feeling as Headin' Home.

But it doesn't really need to be a masterpiece.

It is just a bunch of people being silly on a set.

If you're looking for a deep story with meaning, move on.

If you want to see a guy trip over a bucket, this is your movie.

I liked it more than I expected to, honestly.

It has that weird 1920s energy where everyone is moving at 1.5x speed.

The makeup is also very heavy.

Everyone looks like they have been dipped in white flour.

Especially Glen Cavender.

Anyway, it is a good palette cleanser if you have been watching too many long dramas.

Watch it if you are bored and want a laugh that doesn't require thinking.

Or if you just like seeing how movies used to be made back in the day.

It is messy, but the good kind of messy.

Things I noticed:

• The director's megaphone is huge.
• Someone definitely trips on purpose and it looks painful.
• The lighting in the "outdoor" scenes is clearly just the sun hitting a white sheet.
• There is a dog that seems very confused to be there.

It's not trying to be art, and that is why it works.

Sometimes you just want to see a studio turn into a disaster zone.