Bested by a Beard (1940) Online

Threatened with the repossession of his furniture due to a loan he took to buy his wife a birthday present, Leon Errol risks hearth and home in trying to get his hands on the money to pay off the loan company. A scheming brother-in-law hawks his wife's watch and bets it on a horse, then the wife hires a fortune teller to find out what happened to her precious birthday present. Errol, probably the oldest new papa on film, pretends that the baby swallowed the watch (because it takes a licking and keeps on ticking), and even poses as the fortune teller. Comedy and confusion galore as the fortune teller he poses as had told a woman that her husband was cheating on her, and the husband comes looking for him to beat him up; The furniture company shows up to cause more chaos as the wife and Errol's sister realize everything that's been going on. Amusing and quick, painless comedy, even though the lack of character development makes the sitcom atmosphere difficult to fall right into. Had Errol played the same character (much like his Uncle Matt/Lord Epping characters in the "Mexican Spitfire" series) throughout his series of shorts, the continuity might have aided in making these 15-25 minute shorts a bit better.

No, this isn't one of the episodes in Leon Errol's comedy shorts for RKO in which he also plays Lord Epping. He does, however, dress up in a fake beard to dodge the guy who is going to repossess the furniture he owes money on. As often happens with these shorts, the fun lies in Errol's tics and pulled faces.

THere's also a couple of other people on hand that's good to see: there's Anita Garvin, once the go-to girl at Roach for sexy shrews. She doesn't get to do much here in early scenes, but she manages to make something of her role. Also on hand is Arthur O'Connell, who would be nominated twice for the Academy Award. He is best remembered for playing straight man to Freddie Prinze in CHICO AND THE MAN. It's good to see him here too, although this short is almost all about Errol and a crying baby.