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Cult Review
Senior Film Conservator
Is Sugar Plum Papa worth your time today? Honestly, only if you have twenty minutes to kill and a soft spot for early sound-era chaos.
If you like watching old guys get absolutely bamboozled by pretty girls, you will have a good time. People who hate loud, clunky slapstick should probably look elsewhere.
The whole thing stars Andy Clyde, who was basically the king of playing the 'old man' even when he wasn't that old. Here, he is Andy, a guy with way too much money and zero common sense.
He decides to marry this young girl, and the ulterior motive is so obvious it might as well be written on her forehead. She wants the cash, and she wants it now.
The movie feels like it was filmed on a Tuesday afternoon where the director forgot to drink his coffee. There is this frantic energy that never really stops to breathe.
Andy’s mustache is really the star of the show. It is huge and twitchy and seems to react to the bad news before he does.
I noticed that the sound is a bit crunchy in places. You can tell they were still figuring out how to hide microphones on the set back then.
There is a scene in the house where everyone is just shouting at once. It reminds me of A Salty Sap in how it just trusts that noise equals funny.
The wedding ceremony is a total mess. People are moving in and out of the frame like they are trying to catch a bus.
The bride, played by Marjorie Beebe, has this terrifyingly wide smile. It is the kind of smile that says 'I am going to buy a fur coat with your retirement fund.'
One of the guests keeps looking directly at the camera for a split second. It’s one of those small things that makes these old shorts feel so human and unpolished.
It’s definitely more frantic than something like The Bashful Lover. That one had a bit more charm, while this just has more... collisions.
I found myself wondering how many vases were actually broken during the filming. It feels like they had a bulk discount on pottery.
The pacing is weirdly uneven. Some jokes land and then the camera just stays on Andy’s face for five seconds too long.
It makes you wonder if they were waiting for a laugh from an audience that wasn't there yet. It’s awkward, but in a way that’s kind of endearing if you’re in the right mood.
The plot is basically non-existent. It’s just a series of things happening to a guy who really should have signed a pre-nup.
The ending doesn't really resolve anything in a way that makes sense. It just kind of stops once they ran out of film or ideas.
If you've seen Hello, Mars, you know how weird these old concepts can get. This isn't sci-fi weird, just 'angry marriage' weird.
I think the best part is just seeing the physical comedy. These actors really took some hard falls for our entertainment.
It’s not a masterpiece, and it’s definitely not 'cinematic gold' or whatever. It’s a messy, loud, slightly confusing relic of 1930.
But hey, if you want to see Andy Clyde look confused for twenty minutes, you could do a lot worse. It’s better than a lot of the stuff that came out of the same studio that year.
Just don't expect a deep story. It's about a man, a girl, and a very stressed-out mustache. 🥸
IMDb —
1916
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