Alice Solves the Puzzle (1925)

Alice Solves the Puzzle Review

Alice Solves the Puzzle is a 1925 animated short film from the Alice Comedies series. It’s an odd short.

Alice and Julius are playing on the seashore when Pete comes around, gets Julius drunk and tries to steal a crossword puzzle from Alice. Julius has to sober up to come to the rescue. This is one of the strangest shorts in this series as it focuses on this crossword puzzle that is somehow physical I guess. It’s weird stuff, but I liked that weirdness as it made the movie original and memorable.

There is also Pete, who is so much fun here. He’s a great foil for Alice and I found him amusing throughout. There is some technically stunning animation for the time, including very well incorporated Alice. This was the first movie starring Margie Gay, and it was strange seeing a different child actress play her, buts he was fine overall. The humor and action were pretty uninteresting here and the movie’s biggest hurdles.

Alice Solves the Puzzle has an interesting premise and some great animation, but it suffered in terms of gags and action scenes.

My Rating – 3.5