Joe suffers from a severe case of insomnia and uses a variety of methods to get himself to sleep.
The best McDoakes shorts start with Joe going through a common situation and then trying to resolve it through uncommon means. This one fits the bill -- who can't relate to not being able to sleep at night? And silent-comedy buffs will appreciate that the first third of this short has no dialogue at all -- it simply depicts sleepless Joe being driven to distraction by miniscule sounds that are amplified by his insomnia. Fans of Jerry Lewis, who applauded his similar use of sound in a scene of The Nutty Professor, should take note that the premise was brought to full fruition a decade earlier.
The short's wrap-up is funny, too, especially Joe's Groucho-like leer in the final shot.
Our rating: (C) 2012, Steve Bailey.
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