Rent Too Much Johnson (1938)

Don't expect an actual movie. This is unedited footage. - Too Much Johnson review by YR

I'm a big fan of silent comedy and a big fan of Orson Welles. However, I found "Too Much Johnson" to be somewhat tedious. It's not Orson Welles's fault. When he created "Too Much Johnson," it wasn't meant to be shown in the cinema. In fact, it was meant to be background scenery for a live theatre play. For whatever reason, Welles didn't even succeed in creating his half-play half-movie and then "Too Much Johnson" somehow got lost. Many decades later, archivists found the footage, and now they have excitedly released the footage on DVD. The problem is the footage isn't even edited down. On this DVD, you're essentially watching the "rushes"… and you see some of the same scenes over and over again… because that's how you make films: you film different versions of the same scene and then choose the best version for the final cut (Chaplin, in particular, was renowned for his repetitive takes in the pursuit of perfection). It seems that nobody in the 21st century bothered to edit "Too Much Johnson" (or, if they did, it's not on this DVD release). Furthermore, they didn't bother to put intertitles in. Thus, when you watch this DVD, you see a 66 minute movie that should've really been 26 minutes long. As it stands, is not particularly funny (but that's probably because no footage was taken out). A lot of what makes silent comedy funny is expert editing. Actually, it's wrong to say that this is unedited. It's just not edited to be funny. That said, there is some amusingly rapid editing in the first few scenes (which, to me, foreshadows his manic editing preferences of the 1970s). Unfortunately, most of the movie is just watching the same scene over and over again. Okay… I've said a lot of negative things, but let me focus on a few positives. Some of the cinematography is beautiful. You have the amazing architecture of 1930s New York (mostly with actors running on rooftops), beautiful desert scenes that juxtapose sandy topography against the sky, lovely sunsets, etc. And, clearly, everyone was having a great time filming this. Orson Welles was exactly that generation that would've watch silent film in their formative years. So, the affection for silent film is clear. Also... if you're in the right mood, you might actually enjoy watching the same scenes over and over again. It has a kind of surreal appeal, perhaps enjoyable in the same way that hearing the repetitive beats of music might be enjoyable. However, I think most people will be watching this either (a) looking for a Welles film or, (b) looking for a Mack Sennett style crazy comedy. They won't find either. Overall, "Too Much Johnson" will be very exciting for film archivists and Welles fanatics, but I feel that a lot of people (silent film fans) will be disappointed with this film. As I said, don't blame Orson Welles for this, because all of this wasn't meant to be a real movie anyway.

Only suitable for silent film buffs or as a curiosity - Too Much Johnson review by CP Customer

We were disappointed that this did not include speech pages or frames such as we had seen when clips from old silents were shown on the TV.

Also, the action moved very fast, and it was impossible to work out who was who and the developing plot.

Not a film - Too Much Johnson review by LE

It's just rushes/footage from the filmed inserts for a stage play. It's for Welles completists only. Should really be an extra on a proper DVD rather than a DVD on its own. Become tedious quite soon, plus there's some awful abuse of a horse early on. Not pleasant.