GManfred Mild-mannered 'B' comedy which serves as a vehicle for Charles Butterworth's oblivious, Tom Smothers-type humor, which can be very funny (see "Love Me Tonight"). In "Baby Face Harrington" he is asked to carry a whole picture and his particular talent is stretched to the breaking point. Luckily, the movie only lasts 65 minutes. As reviewers have written, he is a boring milquetoast to everyone but his adoring wife (Una Merkel). He unwittingly becomes mistaken as a notorious criminal, with the attendant misunderstandings and pitfalls.Charles Butterworth's brand of humor is an acquired taste, and I acquired it over the years. A very funny man, this picture ends just in time. There are lots of noteworthy character actors to tide you over, and you can test your memory, as there are a lot of them.

ksf-2 With all the right cast members for a comedy, MGM comes through in this shortie! Gene Palette, Don Meeks, Una Merkel, Charles Butterworth, and wrestler turned movie star Nat Pendleton. We follow husband and wife team Millie and Willie (Merkel and Butterworth) as they are caught up in an adventure when Willie thinks Skinner (Meeks) has taken his money. They get in deeper and deeper when fate, the police, the mob, and the big city reporters step in and make things worse. Directed by Raoul Walsh, although this one must have seemed pretty light fare, after the heavy work he had done earlier in his career. It's a "Much ado about nothing" sort of story, with a fluffy light script, but a fun way to kill an hour. Finally, a film where they give Palette and Meeks plenty of screen time. They were frequently relegated to tiny roles.

MartinHafer 1935 was an interesting year because two very similar movies came out at about the same time--THE WHOLE TOWN'S TALKING and BABY FACE HARRINGTON. Both are about a nice but mousey little man who is accidentally pulled into the world of crime but in the end they both end up becoming, rather accidentally, heroes. While THE WHOLE TOWN TALKING is a vastly superior film (thanks to John Ford's direction and exceptional acting by Edward G. Robinson), both are well worth your time and are funny little films.The eternally befuddled Charles Butterworth stars as an ineffectual and rather daft man. While his wife (Una Merkle) loves him, she is upset that Butterworth has so little ambition and strength--being the supreme milquetoast. However, all this changes when Butterworth accidentally robs a man in a very clever scene. When in jail, once again through a series of mistakes, he is taken to be a dangerous criminal. This is all egged on by the local newspaper who convinces everyone that Butterworth should be on the FBI's most wanted list! There's much more to the film than this, but it's cute how no matter what Butterworth does, it's misinterpreted and problem upon problem occur--making his life a disaster. Thankfully, by the end of the film, things miraculously work out (after all, it IS a movie) and Butterworth is once again welcomed home--this time as a hero! Cute, inventive and worth a look. After seeing this film, try to get a copy of THE WHOLE TOWN'S TALKING--both are terrific films.

jpickerel The story of a mild mannered milquetoast (today he'd be called a loser) played by Charles Butterworth, who gets mixed up with criminals, cops and a bank robbery. He predictably winds up a hero. But I believe the story here is secondary to the cast, which features Una Merkel (brightens up any film in which she appears), Nat Pendleton, who made a career of playing gangsters and dumb cops, Eugene Palette as a detective and Donald Meek, who for once played a role that wasn't particularly in keeping with his name. Butterworth underplayed a role that was meant to be underplayed, and did it beautifully. Call it a B picture, a bill filler or whatever, it was a pure pleasure watching some of the great character actors of the '30's carry a film in which the focus was not on a major star.