The Super Snooper: A weird little slapstick relic

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, you probably shouldn't bother unless you are some kind of completist for 1930s short films. If you enjoy watching a grumpy man get hit in the face with doors and chase people around hotel lobbies, you might find a laugh or two. But if you hate movies where the plot is basically just an excuse to watch someone run in circles, skip this one.

It’s the kind of short that feels like it was written in an afternoon during a lunch break. Andy Clyde is doing the heavy lifting here, and he’s clearly a pro at this stuff, but the material is just so thin. It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in Hot for Paris, though without the budget to back it up.

Notes from the couch

• The hotel lobby set is remarkably small. It feels like they could have walked across the entire frame in three seconds.
• The jewel thief subplot is almost entirely unnecessary. It's just there to make sure the cops show up at the end.
• I’m pretty sure someone trips over the same rug twice. Or maybe it’s just my eyes playing tricks on me.
• That police line-up scene? It goes on for about three minutes too long. You can feel the actors waiting for the cue to stop staring at the camera.

There's a specific moment where Andy Clyde is trying to act like a professional porter while clearly being totally lost. His face goes through about twelve different expressions in five seconds. It’s actually kind of impressive, even if the surrounding scene is totally forgettable.

I found myself wondering if this was filmed in a single day. The lighting is so flat it’s almost impressive. It has that same weird, stage-bound feeling I noticed when I watched The Woman Under Cover, but with way less mystery and way more shouting.

The whole thing just sort of ends. There’s no big payoff. No clever twist. Just a final shot of someone looking confused, and then the screen goes black. It feels less like a finished film and more like a sketch that just stopped being funny. 🤷‍♂️

Whatever. It’s barely twenty minutes. If you’re bored and want to see how they did comedy before everyone started overthinking it, give it a shot. Just don’t expect a masterpiece.