One of the best early talking feature comedies and a record of both his greatest Broadway success and his numerous talents, Joe Cook plays circus manager Smiley Johnson who is forced to become a one-man circus when his performers go on strike in this scene from "Rain or Shine", released this week in 1930 and directed by Frank Capra
Joe's formidable juggling skills were documented repeatedly, but this is the only footage I've seen of his balancing and wire-walking abilities. Dave Chasen, later of Chasen's Restaurant fame, plays stooge for Joe in this sequence. He's rather like a less-subtle, talking Harpo Marx.
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