The Bath Dub (1921) User Reviews

endearing slapstick

[didi-5 · 26 October 2004]

Billy Franey shines in this comedy about an inventor who decides an 'automatic bathtub' would be just a ticket for a hotel whose baths haven't arrived on time for the opening (we see a letter signed, Piper and Fawcett, plumbers ...).

Snag is, there is only the one bath which comes when it is called. From room to room it speeds, often before one guest can put a leg into it, sometimes with bather still inside! It made me think of Fawlty Towers with its speed and slapstick.

May be Poverty Row comedy but there is much to enjoy in this short.

another side of slapstick

[mkilmer · 17 June 2006]

This was my first experience with Billy Franey, and they referred to the studios which made this type of short comedy as "Poverty Row." Kind of a like a B-movie today, and I am grateful that some of these still exist. It's part of the slapstick experience Sign me up for did-5's review, as it sums up my feelings as well. It was the grand opening of the Hotel Kazazus, and the manager, Kazumpus, watched as his entire staff quit and the plumbers sent him a note saying that they couldn't install the bathtubs. His janitor, after almost taking his head off several times with a mop, tells him of his brother the inventor, The guests arrive. This is 1921, and the guests have to let the front desk know when checking in if they want a bathtub in their room. It seems odd by today's standards, but today's standards are meaningless in the world of these comedies.

As angry guests – and they all seemed angry going in – phoned the front desk to demand a bath tub, "ZING," it would move from room-to-room. It's a mess, but it's a splendid situation for such a film.

The guests, angrier than ever, eventually tell the manager that they will leave his hotel if he does not fire the inventor of the "automatic bathtub." He does, "ZING," and the bath tub chases him away.

It's a fun movie for the fan. These folks were some of the most inventive comedians in history.