Is These Dry Days actually funny or just old?

If you are the kind of person who spends their Friday nights digging through archives for silent shorts, you’ve probably bumped into These Dry Days. It is worth watching if you appreciate 1920s slapstick, but if you need a plot that actually makes sense, you might want to skip it.

Honestly, it’s mostly for people who like seeing grown men scramble around like panicked squirrels. Most modern audiences will probably find the jokes about Prohibition a little stale.

The whole thing stars Claude Allen. He has this very specific, jittery energy that reminds me of someone who has had way too much coffee.

The premise is simple. It’s the Prohibition era, and everyone is incredibly thirsty.

It’s funny how much of early cinema is just guys trying to get a drink. I guess some things never change, even if the cameras do.

Claude Allen spends a lot of time looking wide-eyed at the camera. It’s that classic silent movie acting where every emotion is turned up to eleven.

There is this one scene where he’s trying to hide a bottle. He looks so guilty that even a blind man could see he’s up to no good.

The way he fumbles with his coat is actually pretty impressive. It’s a bit of physical comedy that feels more natural than the scripted jokes.

I noticed the background sets look incredibly flimsy. Like, if someone sneezed too hard, the whole bar would probably just fall over.

It gives the movie this weird, dream-like quality. Or maybe it’s just because the film stock is so grainy now.

Klar Magnus and Harry Brooks show up too. They mostly just stand around and react to Allen’s nonsense.

Magnus has a very stern face. He’s the perfect foil for a guy who is basically a human noodle.

The Vibes of 1921

There is a lot of dust in this movie. Not just on the film itself, but in the actual scenes.

It feels very dry, which I guess is the point. The title isn’t lying to you.

I kept thinking about The Girl of Today while watching this. That movie feels so much more "modern" even though it’s from the same general era.

These Dry Days feels like it belongs in a time capsule that was buried a little too deep. It’s rough around the edges.

The editing is also kind of choppy. Sometimes a character will be on one side of the room, and in the next frame, they’ve teleported three feet to the left.

It doesn't really matter, though. You aren't watching this for the technical mastery.

• The facial expressions are pure gold.
• The hats are very big and very round.
• The ending happens so fast you might miss it if you blink.

I wonder if people back then actually laughed at the bottle-hiding scene. It goes on for a long time.

Maybe about thirty seconds too long. You can feel the movie stretching the bit until it almost snaps.

It reminds me of the pacing in Bring Home the Turkey. There’s that same sense of "we have ten minutes to fill, let's just keep running."

There’s a bit where Fred Ardath enters the scene. He has this presence that almost makes the movie feel like a real story for a second.

But then someone trips, and we’re back to the usual business. Which is fine, really.

Sometimes you just want to see a guy lose his hat. It’s a simple pleasure.

I do think the movie gets better once you stop trying to follow the logic. Just let the flickering images wash over you.

It’s definitely more energetic than The Wolf. That one feels like it’s moving through molasses compared to this.

"A drink! A drink! My kingdom for a drink!"

That isn't a real quote from the movie, but it should be. It’s the entire vibe of the twenty-minute runtime.

The music on the version I watched was a bit distracting. It was this jaunty piano that didn’t quite match the desperation on screen.

I actually preferred watching it in silence. You can really focus on the weird shadows on the wall.

There is a specific moment where Claude Allen tries to look through a keyhole. The iris shot they use is so clunky it made me laugh out loud.

It’s those little imperfections that make these old shorts worth it. You can see the people behind the camera trying to figure out how movies work.

They weren't trying to make art. They were just trying to make the guy in the front row spit out his popcorn.

If you've seen Action, you know how these early comedies can be hit or miss. This one is a soft hit.

It’s not going to change your life. It won't make you rethink the Prohibition era.

But it might make you smile at how silly everything used to be. And that’s enough for me.

One thing that bugged me was the lighting in the final scene. It’s so dark you can barely tell who is who.

I think they were trying to simulate nighttime, but it just looks like they forgot to turn on the sun. 🎥

Anyway, if you find a copy, give it a look. Just don't expect it to be the next Chaplin masterpiece.

It’s just a messy, thirsty little movie from a long time ago.