Lady and the Lug, The (1941)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Elsa Maxwell, a famous gossip columnist, plays herself here. Her nephew (George Reeves) wins the contract of a boxer (Max "Slapsie" Rosenbloom) during a poker game and decides to make him fight for a special benefit. This Warner short isn't the greatest comedy ever written and there's no doubt that it's not Oscar-worthy material but there's enough charm and imagination to it that fans of comedies should certainly check it out. What makes the film worth viewing is the fact that both Maxwell and Rosenbloom are willing to make themselves look like idiots in order to get a laugh. I've become a fan of Rosenbloom over the years as I find the former boxer to have a nice comic timing and he's certainly very capable of playing dumb. I was surprised to see how many jokes Maxwell makes about herself and how much abuse she goes through in the film. The highlight of the movie is when the two perform the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. The final boxing match is fairly funny even if it is predictable.