The Boob

Directed by William A. Wellman, The Boob follows George K. Arthur’s Peter Good as his attempts at impressing his crush (Gertrude Olmstead’s Amy) eventually land him in one precarious situation after the next. Filmmaker Wellman delivers a seriously meandering endeavor that fares best when focused on the central character’s affable exploits, as Arthur offers up an endearing turn that goes a long way towards transforming the bumbling Peter into a sympathetic, compelling figure. It’s equally clear, however, that The Boob has been suffused with a whole host of less-than-enthralling, patience-testing digressions and subplots (eg a restaurant patron tries eating an olive), with the episodic atmosphere slowly-but-surely negating the picture’s positive attributes and ensuring that the picture feels a whole lot longer than its 60 minutes – which effectively confirms the movie’s place as a hit-and-miss misfire that’s more the latter than the former.

** out of ****