Back in the 1940’s Universal Studios made a series of extremely whimsical comedies starring some of the best eccentric character actors around. You could enjoy Shemp Howard, Edgar Kennedy, Eric Blore, Robert Greig, Charlotte Greenwood, Irene Ryan, Hugh Herbert, and Edward Everett Horton strut their peculiar stuff in quickie B movies shot on the Universal backlot -- which was a fascinating microcosm of World War Two Americana.
One of the quirkiest films of the period is “San Diego I Love You,” starring the nonpareil Edward Everett Horton. There’s a dreary love plot, of course, but if you can manage to fast forward through that mush you’ll find some of the finest mugging and scene stealing in all of movie history. Horton is ably abetted by Eric Blore and Buster Keaton. This is the infamous movie where Keaton was offered ten-thousand dollars by the producers to smile onscreen. The Great Stoneface was hard up for cash at the time, so he did it. The result is rather ghastly.
No need to give you the plot -- storylines were all pretty much interchangeable for a Universal B picture: Boy meets girl, boy loses girl -- or girl loses boy; they get back together with the help of some expert zanies, and everything comes out in apple pie order.
The movie is not loud, but clever. It’s sentimental, yet surprisingly sharp in its observance of many small-town types. You need a big bowl of buttered popcorn, a quiet room and comfortable couch, and a penchant for yearning for the ‘good old days’ to really enjoy this movie. I highly recommend it if you want a true idea of what 1940’s America thought of itself.
And best of all you can live stream it on YouTube for absolutely free. The movie is in the Public Domain and the copy on YouTube is a crisp black & white with no cuts or scratches. It’s at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WdCCMPErXs
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