Spoilers herein.
Today, nearly every medium is inherently cinematic, especially radio. But it was not always so. This project is from the period when we were looking the other way; here we have episodic radio material - skits, characters, the short joke and musical interludes - spliced into cinema.
There's a fascinating fold here, the business of Charlie. Think about this, a ventriloquist as radio star. The idea is a sophisticated one. You have the world of the watcher and the creators of the story. Then you have the world of the characters in the film. Because this is from radio, the characters are primarily a matter of funny voices (and little else).
But in this case, you also have a world within because in the world of the characters we have a man who creates and presents an inside layer of characters. Following Ted's law, these are exactly as abstract compared to the world of the characters (Edgar and Fibber) as Edgar and Fibber are from us the listener.
To keep this constant, Edgar has to affect a goofiness that is not usual for his act. Lepidoptera, the con and Injuns hint at this notion of shows within a show.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
Today, nearly every medium is inherently cinematic, especially radio. But it was not always so. This project is from the period when we were looking the other way; here we have episodic radio material - skits, characters, the short joke and musical interludes - spliced into cinema.
There's a fascinating fold here, the business of Charlie. Think about this, a ventriloquist as radio star. The idea is a sophisticated one. You have the world of the watcher and the creators of the story. Then you have the world of the characters in the film. Because this is from radio, the characters are primarily a matter of funny voices (and little else).
But in this case, you also have a world within because in the world of the characters we have a man who creates and presents an inside layer of characters. Following Ted's law, these are exactly as abstract compared to the world of the characters (Edgar and Fibber) as Edgar and Fibber are from us the listener.
To keep this constant, Edgar has to affect a goofiness that is not usual for his act. Lepidoptera, the con and Injuns hint at this notion of shows within a show.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.