Gymnasium Jim (1922)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Jim (Billy Bevan) owns an auto garage and wants to marry the girl who works next door in the diner but she doesn't want him. That is until he gets paid $10,000 for creating a noiseless auto horn. Before the two can get married a con man talks Jim into fighting a boxing champion and saying he'll fix the fight so that Jim can double his money but of course this isn't what happens. GYMNASIUM JIM isn't going to be considered a classic by anyone but it's certainly on par with the majority of Mack Sennett's films from this era. I thought Bevan was decent in the lead role but I must admit that the performance didn't completely win me over. For the most part I thought he played a likable character and you can tell that he had a certain physical style that managed to work. Some of the best moments in the film take place in the gym when Jim is getting ready for his boxing match. This includes him bouncing himself off a large ball and taking a rather violent fall onto his back. Another funny scene has him hitting the ball up against the wall, which in the other room is a man trying to get to sleep. The boxing ring appears to be taking place on a trampoline and this adds some nice touches to the sequence. While none of the laughs are large ones, there are enough to make this worth sitting through.