So Edgar has somehow gotten himself fired from his job at the bank, and he had the good sense NOT to tell Vivian he was unemployed. Despite his poor attempts to hide the want ads, she doesn't managed to put two and two together. She makes sure to remind Edgar about a house-warming party for a friend of theirs and bring over a gift. Oh, will he ever bring them a gift and US too. So, after claiming he's going to work, Edgar goes down to the park to read the paper. There, waiting for him, is his friend Billy, and if he looks familiar, that's because he's played by Bill Franey, who usually plays Edgar's father in-law, but for an interesting change of pace, he plays someone who Edgar actually gets along with. He tells Billy about his unemployment woes, managing to pull it over on his wife for so long because they'd been living on his savings, and now it's almost gone. They'd been living on it for three months, and considering this was during the Depression, that's pretty good. How did Edgar lose his job, you may wonder? Oh, because he was rooting for the Giants. Not in the way you would think: Edgar had lied about going to his mother in-law's funeral when he was actually at the game, and so was his boss. Rotten luck, that. So when perusing the classifieds, an enticing ad catches Edgar's eye: a fast growing industry is looking for men with integrity to become financially independence. Yeah, I think we're ALL familiar those THOSE ads. You find them even today. They're not entirely rip-offs, but at the same time, they're not for everybody. Because the task you think you're going to do and then what you end up doing are entirely different. Take Edgar, for example: his rapidly growing industrial integrity job for financial independence is selling vacuum cleaners door to door. He walks his non-aggressive sales pitch around an apartment house and comes up empty. Perhaps a demonstration is in order? So, he knocks on multiple doors to get multiple tenants out in the hall, including a very surly janitor. Edgar will set out to test the cleaning capabilities of the Dandy Vacuum, so he invites everybody to make a big mess in the hall... I think we all know what's going to happen, because this scenario is definitely familiar, especially to avid viewers of I Love Lucy. So after everyone dumps their dirty and trash all over the hall floor, Edgar attempts to demonstrate the vacuum... only it isn't working. That's because get ready for this: the building's electricity was off. D'oh! As a result, the janitor handed Edgar a broom to clean up the mess the old fashioned way.
As if that weren't bad enough, guess who Edgar's next perspective customer is? Mabel, Vivian's friend, and who was presently throwing her house-warming party. She sees the vacuum and assumes Edgar brought it for her as a gift. This wouldn't be so bad if Edgar hadn't had to buy the freakin' thing. Yeah, that's something else those "fast growing industry" jobs require: you gotta pay for your own supplies. So that's 50 bucks down the crapper. Dejected, Edgar leaves the building, but is confronted by his boss who wants to see the day's profits. Unfortunately, that costs him yet another 50, and his "10% commission" leaves him with only $2.00. Hope that Giants game was worth it, Edgar. Oh, but speaking of his past employment, the bank manager is considering hiring Edgar back. Good thing too, because at the rate Ed's going, he'll be broke long before he actually sells a vacuum. But when he gets home, he finds out that Vivian must have taken stupid pills, because he tells Edgar to quit his job at the bank, because she found him a better one. Oh, I'll bet you did. And what's more, the bank manager comes by to offer Edgar his job, but his rotten wife denies him that small ounce of dignity, so now the bank is officially closed. But no worries, because as stated above, Vivian found Edgar the perfect new career. I'll give you a hint: it's in sales. He's going to be selling a very important item door to door. That's right, he'll be selling vacuum cleaners! Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh no.
Well, this one was okay, some parts were pretty funny and it wasn't quite as mean-spirited as some of Edgar Kennedy's other shorts. As I said before, the scene of Edgar making a big mess in the hallway to demonstrate the cleaner must have definitely served as inspiration for the I Love Lucy episode "Sales Resistance." You remember that one, right? Lucy gets tricked into buying a new vacuum, only ordered by Ricky to get rid of it, so she attempts to put on the same song and dance routine as the salesman, and ends up dirtying the floor of someone whose electricity was off. The concept and plot of this short film is still relevant today, because those types of ads are still popping up in the classifieds and people are still learning the hard way that their 'dream job' isn't all it's cracked up to be. Maybe it's just me, but I found Vivian to be somewhat out of character at the end there. Usually she's much more reasonable and level-headed than, say, Florence. Her dumb move is something more akin to one of Edgar's other wives. So, do I recommend A Clean Sweep? Sure. It's predictable, but it has some pretty amusing moments.
As if that weren't bad enough, guess who Edgar's next perspective customer is? Mabel, Vivian's friend, and who was presently throwing her house-warming party. She sees the vacuum and assumes Edgar brought it for her as a gift. This wouldn't be so bad if Edgar hadn't had to buy the freakin' thing. Yeah, that's something else those "fast growing industry" jobs require: you gotta pay for your own supplies. So that's 50 bucks down the crapper. Dejected, Edgar leaves the building, but is confronted by his boss who wants to see the day's profits. Unfortunately, that costs him yet another 50, and his "10% commission" leaves him with only $2.00. Hope that Giants game was worth it, Edgar. Oh, but speaking of his past employment, the bank manager is considering hiring Edgar back. Good thing too, because at the rate Ed's going, he'll be broke long before he actually sells a vacuum. But when he gets home, he finds out that Vivian must have taken stupid pills, because he tells Edgar to quit his job at the bank, because she found him a better one. Oh, I'll bet you did. And what's more, the bank manager comes by to offer Edgar his job, but his rotten wife denies him that small ounce of dignity, so now the bank is officially closed. But no worries, because as stated above, Vivian found Edgar the perfect new career. I'll give you a hint: it's in sales. He's going to be selling a very important item door to door. That's right, he'll be selling vacuum cleaners! Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh no.
Well, this one was okay, some parts were pretty funny and it wasn't quite as mean-spirited as some of Edgar Kennedy's other shorts. As I said before, the scene of Edgar making a big mess in the hallway to demonstrate the cleaner must have definitely served as inspiration for the I Love Lucy episode "Sales Resistance." You remember that one, right? Lucy gets tricked into buying a new vacuum, only ordered by Ricky to get rid of it, so she attempts to put on the same song and dance routine as the salesman, and ends up dirtying the floor of someone whose electricity was off. The concept and plot of this short film is still relevant today, because those types of ads are still popping up in the classifieds and people are still learning the hard way that their 'dream job' isn't all it's cracked up to be. Maybe it's just me, but I found Vivian to be somewhat out of character at the end there. Usually she's much more reasonable and level-headed than, say, Florence. Her dumb move is something more akin to one of Edgar's other wives. So, do I recommend A Clean Sweep? Sure. It's predictable, but it has some pretty amusing moments.
