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aettlinger
Reviews
Poppin' the Cork (1933)
An interesting period piece
I'll disagree with planktonrules. While I wouldn't call this a "good" college comedy, for me it made very interesting and amusing viewing. I'd ask "What better college comedies had been made by 1933?". What I particularly enjoyed was the portrayal of the prohibition repeal debate and the atmosphere that accompanied it. I'm not a particular fan of Berle, but it was also interesting to see him in the early period and to see that the double-take which became his trademark was part of his repertoire even back then. Another interesting aspect of this short film is the staging of the dance numbers. I had to check the opening credits to see if Busby Berkeley was mentioned. He wasn't, but whoever did the dance number staging certainly was under his influence. Another point: This is the last item in a collection of comedy shorts on a "Cavalcade of Comedy" DVD. My enjoyment of this one may have been conditioned by the previous exposure to comedy shorts made in 1929 and 1930, most of which are actually rather painful to sit through.