DbcultAccessing Vault...
6.4/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.4/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Whose Baby? remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Is this worth watching today? Only if you have twenty minutes to kill and a high tolerance for the 'I can explain!' trope where the person never actually explains. 🏃♂️
If you love old-school slapstick or you're a completionist for early sound-era shorts, you'll probably get a kick out of it. If you hate plots that could be solved by one sensible sentence, this will make you want to throw your shoe at the screen.
Arthur Lake is the star here, playing Horace. He’s got this very specific, puppy-dog energy that he later perfected in the Blondie movies. He looks like a guy who is constantly about to trip over his own feet even when he’s standing still.
The whole thing starts with him waiting for Betty, played by Gertrude Messinger. She’s cute, he’s nervous, everything is fine. Until some random woman walks up and just... hands him her baby. 👶
I love how in these old movies, people just hand off their children to total strangers on the sidewalk. Like, 'Here, hold this human life while I go buy some thread.' And Horace, being the polite doofus he is, just takes it.
Of course, Betty shows up right at that second. The look on her face is gold. She doesn't ask questions; she just assumes the worst immediately. It’s that classic 1920s comedy logic where everyone is way too fast to believe their boyfriend is a secret polygamist.
The middle of this short is just Horace trying to ditch the baby or explain the baby while the baby basically does nothing. The kid they hired for this is remarkably chill. 🍼 Most babies would be screaming their heads off, but this one just hangs out while Horace panics.
There is a bit where he tries to hide the baby in a carriage, and it just leads to more people yelling at him. It reminded me a little bit of the vibe in That's My Wife, where the misunderstanding just keeps layering on top of itself until you can't see the original problem anymore.
Lake’s physical comedy is really the only reason to watch this. He does this thing with his hat and his hands where he looks like he's vibrating. It's funny, but you also kind of want to shake him and say, 'Just point at the lady in the store, man!'
The sets are obviously just backlots. You can tell the sidewalk doesn't really go anywhere. It gives the whole thing this weirdly claustrophobic feeling, like Horace is trapped in a tiny world where babies are just falling from the sky.
If you've seen things like Heebee Jeebees or The Humdinger, you know the drill. These shorts were basically the sitcoms of their day. They didn't need to be deep; they just needed to be fast.
The ending is... well, it's an ending. It resolves exactly how you think it will, but with a bit more running around. It’s not exactly a masterpiece of writing, but Edward Ludwig (the writer) knew how to keep the pace up.
I found myself wondering about the woman who left the baby. She’s the real villain here. Who does that? She just disappears for like ten minutes of screen time. I hope she got a parking ticket or something.
It’s not as polished as some of the bigger comedies from that year, like maybe The Masks of the Devil (which is a totally different vibe, obviously), but it’s got heart. Or at least, it has a lot of sweat. Arthur Lake is definitely sweating by the end of it.
Anyway, it’s a decent little slice of history. It’s short enough that even if you hate it, it’s over before you can get truly annoyed. Watch it for the hat fumbling and the sheer absurdity of 1920s childcare standards.
Is it better than Scrambled Wives? Maybe. They both rely on people being incredibly bad at communicating. But this one has a baby, and babies are usually funnier than scrambled wives. Usually.
Check it out if you're bored. Or if you just really like seeing Arthur Lake look like he's having a minor heart attack for twenty minutes straight. ✌️
IMDb —
1920
Community
Log in to comment.
