Starring Edgar Kennedy and Franklin Pangborn.
Featuring Mabel Forrest, Arthur Housman, and Pert Kelton.
Directed by Harry Sweet.
Synopsis
"Oh! I beg your pardon!"
"Next Door Neighbors" begins in the Green household, with Mr Green (Edgar Kennedy), a composer by profession, writing music on his piano.
His wife (Mabel Forrest) is busy whisking eggs and humming, and the noise disrupts Mr Green from his composition. After an angry tirade delivered to his wife, Mr Green carries on.
Meanwhile, next door, Mr Andrews (Arthur Housman) is trying to recover from a headache - I like to think it's caused by a hangover. He lies down on the sofa complete with towel for his forehead, whilst his wife (Pert Kelton) does housework.
Outside, the landlord (Franklin Pangborn) is building a fence as his son (George Billings) watches on.
The phone rings in the Andrews residence, much to Mr Andrews' annoyance. Mrs Andrews answers it. It's a call for Mrs Green. Mrs Andrews has a system where if she knocks on the wall three times and Mrs Green knocks back on the wall three times, it means that she is coming over to get the phone.
The knocking disturbs Mr Green, but his wife goes over to take the call.
As she goes outside, Mrs Green accidentally steps on the landlord's fence that he is building, and snaps one of the panels. The call is actually for Mr Green, so Mrs Green has to go back to her house to get her husband. She steps on another fence panel accidentally and breaks it, much to the landlord's annoyance.
An irate Mr Green goes next door to take the phone-call breaking more panels on his way there and back.
Mrs Andrews goes next door, breaking more fence panels on her way over and annoying her husband by letting the door slam.
More broken fence panels, more slamming of doors and more phone calls occur to the annoyance of the landlord, Mr Andrews, and Mr Green.
Eventually, a full-scale 'tit-for-tat' war escalates between Mr Andrews and Mr Green.
In the ensuing destruction, Mr Green rips off the Andrews' back door, Mr Andrews returns the favour, Mr Green upsets the Andrews' dinning table, and Mr and Mrs Andrews dance a waltz around the Green's living room, destroying most of their furniture in the process.
Mr Green grabs his shotgun but when he loads it, the gun goes off and he destroys his music manuscript.
The Greens go round to the Andrews' house and use the phone to call the police station. Before the call is completed, Mr Andrews rips the phone off the wall!
All four of them set off in a huff towards the Green residence, walking across and breaking the entire fence that the landlord has just finished making.
In the Green residence, Mr Andrews is on the floor in some kind of leg-lock administered by Mr Green. Mrs Andrews whacks Mr Green with an umbrella whilst Mrs Green hits Mr Andrews with a broom.
The landlord storms in and demands that they all get out and leave his properties, destroying Mr Green's piano in the process.
The film ends with the landlord finally in peace to finish his fence, only for his son to snap a panel right in front of him! The landlord finally snaps and moves angrily towards his son...
His wife (Mabel Forrest) is busy whisking eggs and humming, and the noise disrupts Mr Green from his composition. After an angry tirade delivered to his wife, Mr Green carries on.
Meanwhile, next door, Mr Andrews (Arthur Housman) is trying to recover from a headache - I like to think it's caused by a hangover. He lies down on the sofa complete with towel for his forehead, whilst his wife (Pert Kelton) does housework.
Outside, the landlord (Franklin Pangborn) is building a fence as his son (George Billings) watches on.
The phone rings in the Andrews residence, much to Mr Andrews' annoyance. Mrs Andrews answers it. It's a call for Mrs Green. Mrs Andrews has a system where if she knocks on the wall three times and Mrs Green knocks back on the wall three times, it means that she is coming over to get the phone.
The knocking disturbs Mr Green, but his wife goes over to take the call.
As she goes outside, Mrs Green accidentally steps on the landlord's fence that he is building, and snaps one of the panels. The call is actually for Mr Green, so Mrs Green has to go back to her house to get her husband. She steps on another fence panel accidentally and breaks it, much to the landlord's annoyance.
An irate Mr Green goes next door to take the phone-call breaking more panels on his way there and back.
Mrs Andrews goes next door, breaking more fence panels on her way over and annoying her husband by letting the door slam.
More broken fence panels, more slamming of doors and more phone calls occur to the annoyance of the landlord, Mr Andrews, and Mr Green.
Eventually, a full-scale 'tit-for-tat' war escalates between Mr Andrews and Mr Green.
In the ensuing destruction, Mr Green rips off the Andrews' back door, Mr Andrews returns the favour, Mr Green upsets the Andrews' dinning table, and Mr and Mrs Andrews dance a waltz around the Green's living room, destroying most of their furniture in the process.
Mr Green grabs his shotgun but when he loads it, the gun goes off and he destroys his music manuscript.
The Greens go round to the Andrews' house and use the phone to call the police station. Before the call is completed, Mr Andrews rips the phone off the wall!
All four of them set off in a huff towards the Green residence, walking across and breaking the entire fence that the landlord has just finished making.
In the Green residence, Mr Andrews is on the floor in some kind of leg-lock administered by Mr Green. Mrs Andrews whacks Mr Green with an umbrella whilst Mrs Green hits Mr Andrews with a broom.
The landlord storms in and demands that they all get out and leave his properties, destroying Mr Green's piano in the process.
The film ends with the landlord finally in peace to finish his fence, only for his son to snap a panel right in front of him! The landlord finally snaps and moves angrily towards his son...
Review
"We love to be neighborly"
Magnolia's Musings was set up to offer my own thoughts on the giants of black and white comedy, but it's also important, I feel, to use this space as a place where overlooked, ignored films can gain some attention.
You're probably thinking that there's a reason why some short films are never mentioned on popular review sites or available easily on widely distributed, lavishly restored sets: It's because they're really not that good, right?
But that argument doesn't wash with me. Take, for example, the fact that here in the UK, you can't purchase any official Charley Chase or Harry Langdon sets because they've never been given UK releases on DVD. By the argument above, because they're unavailable, should I treat those clowns as "minors" and "unworthy" of my attention? No!
I guess what I'm trying to say is that this blog was set up in part to give coverage to those films that you might not necessarily have thought deserving of a review. Perhaps some of them you haven't seen before. Perhaps you might be encouraged to go and watch them. If so, great!
But of chief import is that here at Magnolia's Musings, I'm not drawn into the school of critics who will look to tell you that "Film X" is rubbish and unworthy of your attention. If you like comedy, there's always something of interest in watching obscure or unmerited films. Hopefully, they should make you laugh, even if they aren't "classics".
Finally, Magnolia's Musings is not a blog that takes itself too seriously. I like giving space to the unknown -and- the celebrated, but ultimately these posts are little more than my (lightly edited) streams of consciousness that I feel I have to jot down on paper after watching these films. It's not a scholarly blog, nor is it a critical blog where you will find production dates, actor biographies, or obscure details. Above all, I like writing about laughter, and films that make me laugh.
"Next Door Neighbors" is a film very much in that vein above that I've been writing about. A film that is obscure; not very well-known, probably not watched very often, and certainly it has never been painstakingly restored.
It's also not a classic, and I mean that in it a nice way.
It will make you laugh in places, but you won't be in a rush to watch it again. It is essentially, a product of its time; to be watched for light entertainment, enjoyed, and forgotten about.
However, if you're a fan of comedy from this period (and indeed the Hal Roach studios) it does feature some old friends that you'll be happy to see.
For the Roach fans, you'll be pleased to see that Edgar Kennedy is in good form, and it's also a chance to see every Roach fans' favourite drunk, Arthur Housman, as an un-inebriated Mr Andrews. There's also a minor role for onetime Hal Roach Studios actress, Pert Kelton.
One of my favourite moments in the short is when Arthur Housman and Pert Kelton dance a waltz round the Green's living room, destroying many of their possessions in the process. Both show their athleticism - kicking and prancing around fallen objects and tables.
Pert's easy on the ear - nice accent - and Housman's facial expressions are as charming as ever, although he's so typecast as a drunk in my mind that it's hard to see him performing any other role without being disappointed. I keep thinking: "He's going to do something really funny in a minute," but it never quite comes in this short, sadly.
Unsurprisingly, Edgar Kennedy is the star of the short. I really don't want to use the phrase: "Kennedy is the master of the 'slow-burn'" seeing as -everybody- seems to mention that phrase whenever they mention Kennedy, but, well, he does a great job here with an under-par script in making the 'slow-burn' work!
I could have said: "Kennedy will fix it" - the script, that is.
I should have said that, shouldn't I?
Good Kennedy moments in this film include ripping the Andrews' backdoor from off its hinges to gain access to their house and telephone, and accidentally firing his shotgun at his music manuscript, destroying it in the process. I actually feel sad for Kennedy, lying on the floor crying with his hard work destroyed!
Before watching this short, I hadn't heard of Franklin Pangborn, but apparently he was an extremely talented actor known for his comic prowess in films of the late 20s, 30s, and 40s. He gets top billing in the list of actors, above Edgar Kennedy.
Part of the fun of watching Franklin Pangborn as the landlord is to see his reaction to every broken fence panel that Mr and Mrs Green and Mr and Mrs Andrews ruin. The joke of people "accidentally" stepping on a fence panel could get tiresome quickly, but the humour is maintained in this short rather than the gag becoming repetitive by the fact that you're constantly wondering whether that particular broken fence panel will be the last straw and see the landlord snap.
Even though the resolution to all of those broken fence panels is expected and a little too predictable - the landlord throwing out his violent tenants - the film will go down in history in my mind as featuring one of the creepiest endings to a short ever, with a snarling Pangborn advancing closer and closer towards the camera (the camera acting as a substitute for his own son's eyes). Check out the picture at the end of this post (if you dare!)!
Even though I'm not one to whinge at picture quality very often - I got through my poor quality copy of "Seven Footprints to Satan", after all, and still enjoyed the film - it is a bit of a shame that at several moments in this short you can't quite make out some of the actors facial expressions - especially long distance shots - but still, who am I to complain. Will this ever be cleaned up and loving restored? No! Of course not!
Overall, the film is solid if unspectacular, with a few nice novelties. It's worth a watch, if you haven't seen it before, but you probably won't be in a rush to watch it again.
And the ending will creep you out...
What do you think of "Next Door Neighbors"?
Watch it
"If I find my shotgun, you'll see what I'm going to do!"
Here's the link: Edgar Kennedy Volume 1 DVD
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