Matchmaking Mamma (1929)
** (out of 4)
One of the last silents to be produced by Mack Sennett, this two-reeler gathers up a great cast but sadly the end result is rather lame. A mother (Daphne Pollard) decides to hook up her daughter (Carole Lombard) but this plans gets off course when her stepsister (Sally Eilers) shows up unannounced. MATCHMAKING MAMMA really isn't going to appeal to anyone except for those who must see everything Sennett produced or those wanting to see Lombard before she would switch over to sound. Those expecting to see a lot of Lombard will be disappointing because she's given a pretty thankless role that basically has her either standing or sitting around. With that said, she's quite beautiful so her just being here certainly helps keep the film moving. The rest of the cast are pretty good with Pollard doing a fine job as the mother and Eilers manages to be quite cute, although her stealing the man from Lombard seems pretty weird when viewed today. Even Andy Clyde shows up for a quick role. The film's biggest problem is the fact that it really doesn't contain any laughs and it's almost like they didn't even try to do anything funny. Another reason why film buffs might want to watch this is because there's some 2-strip Technicolor footage of Sennett's Bathing Beauties.
