Is this worth your time?
If you have ten minutes and a tolerance for
ventriloquism, sure, give it a look.
It is definitely for people who like old vaudeville stuff or if you just want to see how weird movies used to be in the late 20s.
If you find puppets creepy, you should probably stay far away from this one.
The Park Bench Encounter
So, the whole thing starts with Charlie McCarthy just laying on a park bench like he's had a rough night.
This lovely woman stops to check on him, and then Edgar Bergen shows up playing a doctor named Dr. Langdon.
It is immediately clear that the logic of this world is a bit
off.
The woman, who is a nurse, pulls a thermometer out of the top of her stocking.
I'm not sure if that was standard medical practice in 1928, but it felt like a very specific choice for the camera.
Charlie is supposed to be eleven years old here, but he's clearly a piece of wood, and nobody mentions it.
They decide he has a fever and take him back to the office.
The Medical Advice
Once they get to the office, the 'medical' stuff gets even weirder.
Dr. Langdon gives the kid a dose of
silver nitrate.
I looked that up and it seems like something you'd use for warts or cauterizing wounds, not something you just drink for a fever.
But hey, it’s a movie.
Charlie starts talking about his
last will and testament because he thinks he’s gonna die from a tonsillectomy.
It’s actually a pretty funny bit, seeing this dummy dictate who gets his pocketknife.
Bergen is really good at the voice work, even if his mouth moves a little too much sometimes.
You can tell this was a practiced routine they probably did a thousand times on stage.
The Surgery and the Flirting
Then comes the anesthesia part.
While Charlie is 'under,' the doctor and the nurse basically forget he exists for a minute.
They start getting
better acquainted, which is just 1920s code for heavy flirting over a patient.
The way Bergen looks at the nurse is almost more interesting than the puppet act.
He’s got this very dry, almost bored delivery that somehow works.
It reminds me a bit of his energy in
Edgar, the Explorer, where he also seems slightly distracted by everything.
The nurse, played by Christina Graver, doesn't have much to do besides look pretty and hold things, but she plays the straight man well.
Wait, what just happened?
The movie just sorta... ends.
It’s very abrupt, like they ran out of film or the joke was over and they didn't know how to leave.
I noticed that the lighting in the doctor’s office is super flat, making the whole set look like a cardboard box.
There’s a moment where Charlie’s head wobbles in a way that’s actually kind of
disturbing.
It’s not quite as polished as
Monkeying Around, which felt a bit more like a 'real' movie.
But there is a charm to it.
It’s like finding an old postcard in an attic; it doesn't tell a whole story, but it’s a neat look at a specific moment.
Random Observations
- The thermometer in the stocking is definitely the most memorable part of the first three minutes. 🌡️
- Charlie McCarthy’s tuxedo is way nicer than anything I own.
- The way they handle the 'surgery' is basically just poking the puppet with a stick.
- Bergen’s 'doctor' persona is about 10% medical and 90% trying to get a date.
- The kid's will mentions a 'girl in the front row,' which makes me think they just kept the stage dialogue exactly the same.
I wouldn't go out of my way to find this unless you're a completionist for Bergen's work.
It’s not as funny as it thinks it is, but it’s not boring either.
It’s just
odd.
If you want something with more of a plot, maybe try
The Home Town Girl instead.
This one is mostly for the novelty of seeing a ventriloquist act before it became a TV staple.
Anyway, I’m glad I watched it, but I don't think I'll ever need to see it again. 🤷
The ending comes so fast you might think the video file is broken.
It’s not. It’s just how they did things back then.
