The Giddy Age: A Short, Weird Burst of Old School Chaos

Is it worth your time?

If you like old-school, slapstick-adjacent comedy that doesn't care about making sense, then sure. It's a quick watch. If you need a plot that actually goes somewhere, maybe skip this one. Seriously, you’ll probably be annoyed by the shouting if you’re not in the right mood.

It feels like one of those shorts you'd find on a dusty reel in an attic. There’s a lot of running around. People are constantly hiding in closets or behind curtains. It’s exhausting in a way that feels intentional.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Giddy Age (1932) through its definitive frames.

The vibe is just... off-kilter

The pacing is genuinely weird. You’ve got these characters who seem to exist solely to lie to each other, and they do it with such confidence it’s almost impressive. Dorothy Granger is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. She’s got this way of looking at the camera—or just past it—that makes the whole thing feel slightly unhinged.

I noticed a bit where someone is trying to hide a hat behind their back, but they hold it so awkwardly it’s basically dangling in the air. Classic. Nobody seems to notice, or maybe they just don't care.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Giddy Age (1932) through its definitive frames.

It reminded me a little of the frantic, messy energy you find in Great Gobs. Both films feel like they were made in a hurry, with the director just shouting "keep going!" every thirty seconds. It lacks the polish of something like Lady Windermere's Fan, but honestly, that’s kind of the point.

Odd little moments

• There is a door that keeps slamming. It slams too many times. It becomes a character on its own.
• The background extras in the party scene look like they were told to just "do something" and they chose to look confused.
• The dialogue is so fast you might miss the actual point of the argument. Not that the point matters much.

Franklin Pangborn shows up, and you immediately know exactly what he’s going to do. He’s like a human punctuation mark in a movie that’s otherwise just a long, messy run-on sentence. 😅

It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not trying to be. It’s just a snapshot of a time when comedy meant making someone trip over a rug while trying to look important. Sometimes that’s enough. Just don't expect to remember it tomorrow.