The Constabule: Andy Clyde, Harry Gribbon, and a lot of shouting

Is it worth the 20 minutes?

If you like old-school slapstick where people fall over for no reason, then yeah, give it a watch. It’s short, loud, and mostly harmless.

But if you can't stand early sound movies where everyone screams their lines at a hidden microphone, you'll probably hate this one within three minutes.

The Constabule is one of those Mack Sennett shorts from right when movies started talking. It’s got that weird, nervous energy where the actors aren't sure if they should be making funny faces or just yelling.

Andy Clyde is the main draw here for me. He’s playing his usual "old man" character even though he wasn't actually that old yet.

He’s a station agent who wants his daughter, Betty, to marry the local constable. The constable is played by Harry Gribbon, who is basically a giant human cartoon.

Gribbon has this ridiculous mustache that looks like it might crawl off his face at any second. He spends most of the movie looking confused or getting hit by things.

Thelma Hill plays the daughter, and she mostly just has to look pretty and annoyed. I felt a bit bad for her having to deal with these two goofs.

There is a scene in the station where things just start breaking for no real reason. It’s classic Sennett chaos, but it feels a bit slower than the silent stuff like The Fraidy Cat.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Constabule (1929) through its definitive frames.

I noticed that the sound quality is pretty rough. You can hear this constant hiss in the background like a radiator is leaking somewhere on set.

Also, Billy Gilbert shows up! He’s the king of the "sneezing fit" gag, and he brings that specific brand of madness here.

Random things I jotted down:

• The way Andy Clyde walks is still funny to me, even after seeing it a hundred times.
• There is a dog in one shot that looks genuinely confused by the humans.
• The physical comedy with the luggage is way too long, but it has one good payoff.
• Why is the title spelled "Constabule"? It’s a joke about how they say it, but it looks like a typo on the screen.

The plot doesn't really matter. It’s just an excuse to get to the next gag. It reminded me a bit of the pacing in Let-'Er-Go Gallagher, but with more shouting.

There’s a bit where a character gets stuck in a window that goes on for a while. It’s one of those moments where the silence starts to feel awkward rather than funny, then someone yells and the movie keeps moving.

It’s not a masterpiece, and it’s definitely not as tight as The Cradle Snatchers. But for a relic of 1929, it’s a fun little time capsule.

The ending is kind of abrupt. Like, they just ran out of film or the sun went down and they all decided to go home.

I’d say watch it if you’re a fan of Andy Clyde. He carries the whole thing on his back. Everyone else is just there to be loud and get in his way.

It’s a bit of a mess, but a charming mess. Mostly.