Review of People Are Funny (1946) by Kevin N — 23 Feb 2012

This is one of those movies that seems so clueless and innocent that I feel a little guilty being so harsh on it, but because there are so many better radio-to-screen films from this decade, I will. This movie is based off of the radio program of the same title, an ingenious little piece of entertainment that, in a way, jump-started a trend that would wind through shows like Candid Camera, Kids Say the Darndest Things, America's Funniest Home Videos and a countless number of other variety and talk shows that centered on using its audience as its subjects, and turning dares and failed stunts into uproarious entertainment.

But that spontaneity is lost on this big screen adaptation, and the idea gets shackled behind a bad script and some stiff acting. Even the great Rudy Vallee, one of the funniest actors of the 1940s, seems tied down in situations he would be springing from were this a Preston Sturges movie.

The movie preaches a not-so-subtle message about real entertainment escaping the grasp of Hollywood's controlling arms, yet it becomes more and more hypocritical as it makes its own intentions (or lack of them) clearer and clearer.