There's two reasons why this movie is enjoyable: lead comedian Leon Errol and comedy director Eddie Cline. In other hands this would have been one more slightly embarrassing, low-budget, bottom-of-the-bill dud. There's little plot and that's probably all for the better as the plot is nonsense. But Leon Errol, about 70 when he made this movie, is very good in a double---make that a triple---role. Errol was one of the best physical and character comedians back in the Ziegfeld Follies, and 30 years later he was still a master. His drag act compares with that of any other comic before or after him. Betty Kean, one-half of the comedy duo, the Kean Sisters (Betty & Jane), dancer Ray Malone and Eddie Quinlan help make the fun, but some of the other acts that pop up every few minutes are strictly bush league. This isn't a comic masterpiece, but Slightly Terrific gives you the chance to see what a great comedian, Leon Errol, can do with two-cent script in a buck-and-a-quarter budget film that is helmed by one of the better comedy directors in Hollywood.
2 Reviews
A delightful garden of corn.
mark.waltz9 May 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Another youthful variation of the "Let's Put on a Show" themed musical, this comes from Universal when dozens of these energetic programmers came out during the 1940's, usually lead by Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan. Here, there's no young star name, but Leon Errol, delightfully funny as twins of totally opposite personalities ("I'm the black sheep in the family, his black sheep of the family twin reveals, "So I took it on the lamb.") Notorious for frivolous investments, he longs to get the capitol for a youth-orientated musical comedy, but his Scrooge like twin won't budge with the dough, being the bank roller in the family. So black sheep brother goes out of his way to get it any way he can.
This leads to a series of improv auditions on the road, including a stereotypical Irish cop, as well as a band of gypsies to fill out the chorus. A delightful ditty, "Me and My Whistle", involves the youthful players, while another singer performs "The Blue Danube" with lyrics, and a chorus sings that old standard "Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey". After years of doing double duty in the "Mexican Spitfire" series, Errol could play this role in his sleep, and here, he also adds drag to his impersonations, wearing gypsy attire as if he were Marjorie Main with Mae West's swish. Clever split screen has him in drag flirting with his twin to get him to invest in the show.
This leads to a series of improv auditions on the road, including a stereotypical Irish cop, as well as a band of gypsies to fill out the chorus. A delightful ditty, "Me and My Whistle", involves the youthful players, while another singer performs "The Blue Danube" with lyrics, and a chorus sings that old standard "Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey". After years of doing double duty in the "Mexican Spitfire" series, Errol could play this role in his sleep, and here, he also adds drag to his impersonations, wearing gypsy attire as if he were Marjorie Main with Mae West's swish. Clever split screen has him in drag flirting with his twin to get him to invest in the show.
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