Subtle is never a word that can be used to describe a Larry Semon film. After all this is the guy who would hold a giant prop bomb with the word "Bomb" written on it in big letters. With this lack of subtlety Semon's films lived and died on the merits of their humor. Some of his movies could be down right hilarious while others scrapped the bottom of the silent comedy barrel. In my mind one of the comedian's finest movies is his 1927 short, Oh! What a Man!
With how unsubtle and clearly just out for a laugh Larry Semon films are, they can only be judged based on how funny they are. By that standard, Oh! What a Man! is an excellent short. To say the humor is fast paced is an understatement, the jokes come at us a mile a minute, never stopping to take a breath. As is true of the best Semon movies, these jokes are as cartoony and over the top as possible. Many of these gags would feel right at home in the excellent cartoons made by Warner Brothers and MGM in the 1940's and 50's. Though Semon was never subtle, his humor could be very clever and he knew how to execute a great joke to near perfection. Few of his shorts show this ability greater than Oh! What a Man! and there is no doubt this movie will always continue to delight any silent comedy fan who sees it.
A review in The Film Daily stated, "Larry Semon turns out a very pleasing number that carries a good batch of laughs." An exhibitor's review in The Motion Picture Herald called this film "...an extra good comedy." A different exhibitor's review called the short "A fine comedy." However that review did go on to say "he had some better comedies before." Another was much more harsh stating "Semon is done. This is far from good."
For anyone interested in watching, this movie is on YouTube.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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