So You Want to Build a House (1948) Online

Today, more famous for being the voice of George Jetson, George O'Hanlon portrayed everyman Joe McDoakes in sixty shorts from 1942 till 1956. "So You Want To Build A House" is typical of these one-reelers filled with lowbrow slapstick and often corny humor, yet still harmless fun for the family getting ready for the main feature to begin.

Made in post-World War II America when returning servicemen and their families (the baby boomers) were searching for homes during a national housing shortage, "So You Want To Build A House" was timely and even lampooned the prefab craze of the day.

While no Groucho Marx, George O'Hanlon had his moments, plus he fit his character well, actually looking and acting like a Joe McDoakes. His devoted wife, Alice (Jane Harker), stood by her man through all Joe's mishaps. Many times narrator Art Gilmore would interject comments, making transitions from one misadventure to another easier for the audience to comprehend.

"So You Want To Build A House" has several colorful characters thrown in to add to the shenanigans, a particular delight is Happy Jack the Laughing Irishman (Ralph Peters), a typical loan shark who nearly dies laughing as he attempts to send Joe to the poor house.

ALTHOUGH THEY AREN'T specifically mentioned, it is our G.I.'s who are both the prime sales target and the moving force behind it. The desire for home ownership, once only a sort of unrealistic 'pipedream', now had become a commonplace reality. The Congress had provided the financial mechanism via affordable mortgage provisions in various G.I. Bills.

THE SHORT OPENS up in usual manner. Joe and Alice Mc Doakes (George O'Hanlon & Harker respectively) are engaged in a kitchenette debate about moving from rented apartment to a home of their own. An advertisement in the morning newspaper brings them to Andy Mc Goon (Donald Kerr) the Irishman who is the building contractor. *

THEN WE FIND a chain reaction of Joe having to go to legal representation, the financial in$titution and, finally, the local building inspection department.

AS IS THE case in many gags that we see in a comedy like these, so much of the material is obvious. The conclusion finds Joe and Alice in their new., pre-fabricated, do-it-yourself cottage. As we who know Joe so well might well have expected, the "pre-fab" parts are less than perfect in their meshing together.

SO IT IS that Writer-Director Richard L.Bare and collaborator, Writer/Actor George O'Hanlon, once again prove themselves to be the champions of that venerable relic from the Silent Screen, the Sight Gag. This Mc DOAKES installment proves this to be true, with a great Super-Sight Gag ending.

NOTE: * We must protest! Why are building contractors always portrayed as shady, shanty Irishmen? This is much in the same tradition as calling the Police Patrol Transport vehicles "Paddy Wagons!" (Please folks, we're just kidding! Please send no nasty complaint letters!)

Joe McDoakes is going to be evicted and must look for another place to live. His wife insanely believes they can just build a house and move there...even though they have less than 30 days until their lease is expired. Having few options, Joe's 'friend' at work offers to help them....and each time he does so, the McDoakes' are less than satisfied with the result. In short, the friend is an opportunistic jerk.

This short film came just after "So You Want to Rent an Apartment"....one of the best Joe McDoakes pictures. However, while enjoyable its laughs seem a bit forced and isn't nearly as fun as its predecessor. Worth seeing, perhaps, but not among the better films.

. . . Into a Time Share reveals the sort of Sexcapades common in 1940s America, before today's Morality Police launched themselves toward the Iron Grip on our lives that they enjoy today. As SO YOU WANT TO BUILD A HOUSE illustrates so well, our great-grandparents were constantly scheming about how to get into each other's pants. This problem became more complicated when the desirable boxers belonged to a co-worker's wife. That's no problem for "Joe McDoakes'" office mate Homer, though. He engineers a land rush, a home reappraisal, a predatory mortgage, and a bizarre architectural schematic--just so that he can "own" a piece of Joe's wife, Alice, as this short's final scene spells out. Not only is the cuckolded Joe paying the upkeep for Homer's new mistress (Alice), but Homer's Byzantine home layout insures that Homer gets first crack at Alice AND the choicest food morsels (for which Joe also pays). Like that girl in Wonderland, Homer gets to have his cake, and eat it, too!

Painfully unfunny is this attempt to get humor out of the troubles one experiences and the pitfalls you have to watch out for when buying a house.

Everything is overdone, every attempt at humor is driven home with a sledgehammer and GEORGE O'HANLON is unable to mug his way out of a very poor script.

Story has him facing eviction during a housing shortage and his wife threatens him with the fact that they'll have to move in with his mother-in-law if they can't find a place.

This sets him into motion getting appraisals and loans and ending up in a fabricated house--all in a series of skits that fail to amuse and are overplayed to the nth degree.

Skip it.

So You Want to Build a House (1948)

** (out of 4)

Joe McDoakes (George O'Hanlon) is about to be evicted from his apartment because he can't pay rent so he decides to get a loan and build a house. Of course nothing goes as planned as soon one issue after another comes up. MGM made sixty-two of these shorts but this one here is a lesser entry in the series. The biggest issue is that there really aren't too many laughs as the screenplay really felt rushed as if someone thought of decent ideas but never tried to make them funny. O'Hanlon is his usual, goofy self and narrator Art Gilmore was always a nice addition.