Too many fans seem to be blown away

Good idea lost in the noise

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Put on a silent comedy with any music in the background, and you'll find all ages of audiences. As long as the visuals are silly, unrealistic and delightfully dangerous, people will stare. This has the lamest of plots, but the action is fast and hysterical. Beds flying outside for no apparent reason, wacky automobiles in a race, dangerous curves and fast camera movements keep this one going at a breakneck speed. There's always the urge to squint and say ouch because of what happens on the screen, and this is filled with many moments like that. You can see the influences of this style of comedy in classic cartoons, on sitcoms and in films made today. But this has the innocence that most of those genres don't, all over in less than 15 minutes.

This was another silent comedy short I watched on the "American Slapstick" DVD collection. It's from Mack Sennett starring Billy Bevan. In this one, there's a car race between two competing garages that are built across each other. There's a few amusing sight gags like a bed that's running like a car or the way one car manages to come quickly to the finish line or seeing how some people are bumping into each other. And I liked the last line as depicted on the title card. Otherwise, I didn't think this was such a hilarious short and part of the gags just seemed a little shopworn to me though I'm sure many of them here were brand new and funny to many of the audiences that watched this then. Still, if you're interested in seeing many of these vintage films, Lizzies of the Field is worth a look.

As I was about to write this review, I just realized that perhaps no one will ever read it. After all, LIZZIES is not easily available and few have heard about silent comedian Billy Bevan. This is probably about the sixth film of Bevan's I have seen and although he made gobs of films, there just aren't that many out there.This film isn't deep or sophisticated and that isn't a problem. Instead, it abounds with wonderful sight gags and stunts. My favorite appears at the beginning, as you see Billy riding along at a very brisk pace in a bed-mobile (called a "Snoozenburg"). Additionally, the film really finished well--with yet another crazy stunt.The only minor quibble is the pickax scene. This is because I have seen variations on this scene in many movies, so it wasn't as original or exciting as the rest of the film.

This is a brilliant slapstick comedy, the climax of which is one of the greatest car race sequences ever filmed. Part of the wonder of this film is how on earth they did the stunts with those fragile old jalopies. Equally baffling is how they managed to film those stunts - some of the camerawork is astounding. From the opening sequence, when a bed is racing down the street, to the literally explosive finale, this film does not let up in action or laughs. Do not miss this one, it is a classic!