The Eyes Have It

Starring: Edgar Bergen, Christina Graver
Directed by: Alfred J. Goulding
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Comedy, Short
Length: 10 minutes
1931

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A boy goes to the optometrist to get his eyes checked.

Review:

Tim: I thought this little short film was perfectly fine. I wouldn't say The Eyes Have It is an especially funny film, but it's a harmless little short. I actually learned a lot about Edgar Bergen after watching this short. I didn't know he was Candice Bergen's father. He had a fairly long career and was quite famous for his ventriloquism, which was on display here. I can't say I've seen an abundance of ventriloquist-featured short films, so this film gets some points for that.

The premise is simple, but I can't say it was especially clever. Bergen plays an optometrist and his dummy, Charlie McCarthy is his patient. Christina Graver plays a nurse. The short film features Bergen and McCarthy bantering about his missing classes and his desire to fish. None of it is especially funny, but the dialogue moves quickly, so it holds our attention for the 10 minutes. This is probably the big appeal. Even though there weren't any laugh-out-loud moments, I suppose it's still mildly entertaining to see these two adults talking to the ventriloquist dummy.

The premise of the film felt off to me. It didn't feel like a realistic conversation between a doctor and patient. It's even weirder when the doc and the boy go fishing together (all alone). I know 1931 was a different world, but it felt like an odd set up. There would have been a dozen ways to make the story stronger. The optometrist could have been his uncle. The nurse could have accompanied them fishing. It really felt like the story was an afterthought.

I thought Bergen was fine. While watching the short, I was surprised I could see his lips obviously moving multiple times throughout. It made sense when I read that it was an actual criticism of him, one that Charlie himself would comment on from time to time. Bergen's performance felt weird. It's impossible to judge an actor on the data point of one 10-minute short film, but I can't say I was a fan of his performance or his demeanor. It just felt strange. I didn't feel any connection with him.

Like so many of these short films, The Eyes Have It kind of just elicited a shrug from me. I learned about Bergen, which was interesting. The short wasn't especially funny, it was different.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



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