6 Day Bike Rider (1934)

While Joe E. Brown was a very popular comedian in films during the 1930s, today he's not nearly as popular. I wonder if some of it might just be the sorts of characters he often played. Too often, he played really obnoxious sorts--narcissistic jerks who thought they knew everything. "6 Day Bike Rider" is yet another one of these films...with Wilfred (Brown) being an incredible braggart. Because of this, it's hard to really care about what happens to the guy.

The film begins in the small town of Mildew. Wilfred has been dating Phyllis (Maxine Doyle) for years but takes her for granted. When a traveling show arrives and she is smitten with a guy who does tricks on his bike, Wilfred insists he can do even better....and makes a fool of himself in the process. Eventually, he behaves so badly that Phyllis breaks it off with Wilfred...and Wilfred heads to the big city to make a name for himself and win her back. His plan is to enter a team bike race. But this boob ends up getting himself arrested and cannot make the start of the race--and his new nemesis will be riding there as well and you know he MUST make that race. What's to happen to Wilfred and his big plans?

This film is at best a time-passer and not much more. In addition to making Wilfred a jerk, the film also loses a few points for the big bike race. Cheating is obvious by the baddies (and never noticed by anyone but the audience watching the film) and at one point Wilfred is also cheating by tossing bananas onto the track and another he unintentionally drugs his opponents with Chloroform! Apparently there are no judges watching the race...or they are legally blind! Add to that a few really BAD rear-projected scenes and the film certainly has a few strikes against it. Had the film made him Brown's character sympathetic and the jokes a bit funnier, it sure would have worked better.