It's time for the old haunted-house routine. Everybody from Buster Keaton to The Three Stooges had had a crack at it by this point, so why not Joe McDoakes?
(Interestingly, this short subject was originally banned in Finland, apparently because of its horror quotient. 60 years later, the movie's notion of scariness is benign enough for morning kiddie-TV fodder.)
Joe receives a telegram stating that he will inherit his grandmother's $1,000,000 estate, but only if he reaches her before she dies. Joe zips out to Grandma's mansion and is at first oblivious to some obvious signs. (When bats fly near him, Joe complains about "the mosquito problem" Grandma has.) But then Joe is greeted at the door by Grandma's screwy lawyer (Philip Van Zandt, a million miles away from the tough gangster he played in two late-'40s Laurel & Hardy comedies), and Joe starts to catch on that he's in for it.
Sure enough, the lawyer introduces Joe to some of his crazy relatives and his grandmother (all played by George O'Hanlon in full ham). In confidence, Grandma tells Joe that she isn't really dying and that he isn't really inheriting a million bucks -- it's just a test of hers, to see who will be loyal to her. The test fails very quickly, since the other relatives are jealous that Joe (they think) is inheriting Grandma's fortune. It's all downhill for Joe from here.
This short doesn't miss a cliche, including the old "Walk this way" gag that continued to serve comics such as Monty Python and Mel Brooks for generations to come. But as with all the wacko premises of the later McDoakes shorts, O'Hanlon is obviously having such a grand time in his multiple roles that you can't help but give in to his joy.
(Here is a link to an interesting blog that goes into greater detail about this short.)
Our rating: (C) 2012, Steve Bailey.
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