{"id":36112,"date":"2021-10-29T19:47:17","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T23:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=36112"},"modified":"2023-03-10T18:51:50","modified_gmt":"2023-03-10T23:51:50","slug":"the-bootleg-files-summer-daze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2021\/10\/29\/the-bootleg-files-summer-daze\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bootleg Files: Summer Daze"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 783:<\/strong> \u201cSummer Daze\u201d (1932 short comedy starring Karl Dane and George K. Arthur). <\/p>\n

LAST SEEN:<\/strong> On YouTube.<\/p>\n

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:<\/strong> None.<\/p>\n

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS:<\/strong> A film that fell through the cracks.<\/p>\n

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE:<\/strong> Unlikely.<\/p>\n

In 1926, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cast two of its character actors, Karl Dane and George K. Arthur, in comic relief supporting roles in the film \u201cBardelys the Magnificent.\u201d The actors were not teamed for this production, but someone in the studio came up with the idea of pairing the tall and gangly Dane with the diminutive Arthur in an Army comedy called \u201cRookies,\u201d which was released to great popularity in 1927.
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MGM rushed Dane and Arthur into four more feature films in 1928 and 1929, but by this point in time Hollywood was transitioning from silent movies to sound films. Dane and Arthur turned up in MGM\u2019s all-star talkie \u201cThe Hollywood Revue of 1929,\u201d albeit doing a pantomime performance opposite Jack Benny.<\/p>\n

Sound films were not a problem for Arthur, who was born in England and had a clear speaking voice. Dane, however, was from Denmark and had a considerable Scandinavian accent \u2013 and while his speaking voice was not impenetrable, MGM felt uncomfortable keeping him in its roster. After severely reducing his on-screen presence in a few films, MGM dropped Dane from its roster \u2013 and Arthur was also let go.<\/p>\n

Still, the duo had enough popularity to warrant RKO Radio Pictures bringing them over to headline five comedy films in 1930 and 1931. When these films failed to register with audiences, Dane and Arthur continued at Paramount Pictures with four additional short films.<\/p>\n

\u201cSummer Daze\u201d from 1932 was the last Dane and Arthur short and it is an unsatisfactory swan song for this comedy team. In viewing the film, one gets the feeling that neither actor wanted to continue in this partnership \u2013 they don\u2019t click as a team the way that other teams of the era operated \u2013 and their material was conspicuously weaker than the comedies being generated by their peers.<\/p>\n

In \u201cSummer Daze,\u201d Dane is supposed to be a millionaire who has abruptly gone missing and Arthur is his physician. Dane is found at his New York City gentleman\u2019s club sleeping \u2013 he seems to be borderline narcoleptic, as he is continually asleep throughout the day.<\/p>\n

Arthur prescribes a camping trip in the Catskill Mountains, and the two men bring along their wives. But only Arthur is enjoying himself \u2013 Dane is mostly snoring in a deep sleep and the two wives loathe each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cSummer Daze\u201d is often childish and unpleasant. Dane\u2019s wife, played by the usually reliable Marjorie Beebe, throws stones at his head to wake him, and he responds to those missives with a befuddled \u201cYes, my love.\u201d There is a scene where the men try to slap an elusive mosquito that evades swatting \u2013 but their wives mistakenly believe the men are having a fight with their slap exchanges and they get into a fist fight.<\/p>\n

There is also a scene where Dane falls asleep on a large stone under a plaque that claims Rip Van Winkle slept for 20 years on that stone\u2014the frantic Beebe hails a farmer\u2019s truck and gets the confused occupant to wake her slumbering husband because he is not responding to the usual stone-to-the-head routine.<\/p>\n

\u201cSummer Daze\u201d also engages in some tired slapstick, with Dane standing in a boat to shoot flying geese (he falls from the boat into a lake) and where the couples\u2019 tent gets blown to the edge of a cliff and the men walk out and fall into the chasm below.<\/p>\n

This film was directed by Albert Ray, a prolific but undistinguished fixture of the lower-budget production. Paramount was still making its short films in New York City and much of \u201cSummer Daze\u201d was shot on location in the Catskills, although the cliff sequence was obviously done in a cheapjack studio set-up.<\/p>\n

Dane and Arthur had off-screen tensions since they were booted from MGM and by the conclusion of \u201cSummer Daze\u201d they decided to end their double-act. Dane was unable to regain a foothold in films \u2013 after a small role in a 1933 serial \u201cThe Whispering Shadow\u201d for the cheapjack Mascot Pictures, he couldn\u2019t get film work and went through a series of odd jobs and failed investments before committing suicide in 1934. Arthur\u2019s acting career also petered out, including a few bit parts in films at the MGM studio where he was once a star, but he was able to transition into producing and won an Academy Award for his 1956 short \u201cThe Bespoke Overcoat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSummer Daze\u201d was never released in any home entertainment format. The film did show up on television as a National Telefilms Associates release, and a print of that presentation can be found online.<\/p>\n

Sadly, very few of Dane and Arthur\u2019s films are easily available. None of their surviving MGM silent features have been released in home entertainment formats. One of their better Paramount shorts, \u201cA Put Up Job\u201d (1931), was part of a Kino DVD anthology of the studio\u2019s Pre-Code short films. \u201cSummer Daze\u201d can be found on YouTube \u2013 and while it is not representative of Dane and Arthur at their best, at least it keeps the duo out of complete oblivion. <\/p>\n