Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Egged on" is a 23-minute black-and-white short film that has its 90th anniversary this year. It is a silent film and 1926 is actually already one of the years of the transition to sound film. Maybe the fact that Charlie Bowers was a bit late compared to Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd with his silent works is the main reason why almost nobody has heard of him today anymore despite having had a fairly prolific career behind and in front of the camera. Another reason may be the contents. He did mostly comedy, but i cannot say I found the works I have seen from him funny in any way and this includes this one here too. That's why I cannot recommend checking it out. Not captivating in terms of story or comedy. Thumbs down.

MartinHafer There are only a few of Charley Bowers' silent shorts that still exist today. Thankfully, they have been released in a two DVD set that are sure to make you laugh...or at least say "how did they do that?!". That's because Bowers was a master of stop-motion and he also made a bunch of cute films involving inventors and their strange Rube Goldberg-inspired machines.In this film, Charley is out to tackle one of the most pressing problems of the ages--how to keep eggs from breaking before the customer gets them home from the market (I know I have spent countless hours fretting about this). His plan is to make an egg with a rubberized shell so it won't crack. Well, when he tries to talk to business men about financing, they think he's a nut and throw him out--mostly because Charley makes a nuisance of himself and explains it all wrong. One reviewer complained about this section of the film--saying it wasn't all that funny. While I'd agree it's the low-point, I still did enjoy it.What was crazy fun, however, was later in the film when he started working on his invention. To make this crazy machine, he kept stealing ANYTHING he might need--making those around him very irritated. But, he stole everything so well, they didn't seem to know it was him. And, when he began trying to test the product, the film sped into insane fun. I would tell you more about the eggs hatching--but it would spoil the fun. Instead, just watch and marvel at one of the best stop-motion scenes you'll ever see. This was made years before Willis O'Brien did his amazing stop-motion for KING KONG (which have made him a legend in the field), but Bowers' stunts are more impressive--at least in my semi-humble opinion. Ya gotta see it to believe it!! Overall, an amazingly bizarre, surreal yet funny film. Not among Bowers' best, but even his second-tier films are terrific!

Snow Leopard You can always expect Charley Bowers's comedies to feature some inventive and often spectacular visual effects, and this is not an exception. It's good comedy overall, and there is one wonderful sequence that almost upstages the rest of the movie.Most of the first part of the movie is the more conventional kind of slapstick, but most of it works well enough, and it sets up the sequences featuring Charley's efforts to build and demonstrate his latest invention. The gadget and, especially, some of the camera tricks, are worth the wait.The highlight is the "hatching" gag, and it is a real delight - elaborately planned and filmed, detailed, amusing, and even cute. What makes it even better is that it is set up so that it runs just counter to your expectations for the sequence. Bowers also gets a lot of mileage out of the scene, and almost any movie would be worth seeing for that one sequence alone.It's very fortunate that some of Bowers' features have finally become available, and this is one that is certainly well worth seeing.

Miles-10 It may be that the only place where you can find this movie is at a museum in Montreal, but it is worth seeing. Funny and imaginative, it could well tickle you where it counts. Stop-action animation is used to make excellent jokes, yet is fully integrated into the outrageous story.