The Rarest Comedies of Edgar Kennedy, Volume 2

Edgar Kennedy (1890-1948) was one of the greatest comic actors of Hollywood's Golden Age. He broke into Hollywood with bit parts in silent comedies, including a stint as one of the Keystone Kops. Kennedy soon came into his own at Hal Roach Studios, working both as actor and director, including playing "Kennedy the Cop" in the Our Gang shorts. The Marx Brothers also appreciated his talents, giving him a memorable role as a street vendor in Duck Soup (1933). But it was at RKO that Kennedy had his longest sustained success, starring in six short subjects a year for the venerable studio between 1931 and 1948. In these he played an eternally flummoxed "average man" with a scatterbrained wife (Florence Lake) and overbearing in-laws (Billy Franey and Dot Farley.) This was where Kennedy perfected his signature move, "the slow burn", in which he rubbed his hand across his face and bald head in a futile attempt to control his temper. These entertaining shorts, which numbered over a hundred by the time of Kennedy's death from throat cancer in 1948, served as the template for innumerable sitcoms in the television era. This collection features four of the rarest entries in the series, newly transferred from pristine prints courtesy of film historian John Kirby Carpenter, "The Movie Man."

SOUTH SEASICKNESS (1935): After learning his wife might be pregnant, Edgar starts building a boat to head for the South Seas.

EDGAR AND GOLIATH (1937): A man offers Edgar $150 for the tree in his front yard - but chopping it down turns out to be a Herculean task.

ALIBI BABY (1943): Florence borrows a neighbor's baby to convince Edgar they should have one of their own.

MOTHER-IN-LAW'S DAY (1945): Edgar kicks out his mother-in-law after finally having enough of her nagging.

• comedy