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Lloyd's first talkie was a complete dud. Apparently it was filmed as a silent first and sound was added later, and given how awkward and unconvincing most of the sound work is, I'm guessing it worked far better as a silent. Nonetheless, while certainly a victim of the great transitional period, the film doesn't really work, even on its own terms, and Lloyd's talkies lack the comic authority and ingenuity of his silent films.

Lloyd's first talkie did very well at the box office, and the talking is incorporated well, especially considering how much of it was done retroactively. I do have rather a soft spot for how the scenes with Barbara Kent play out, and it's great to see how well the lunky buddy dynamic with Noah Young holds up in a talkie. But as much as there are some good gags, every mediocre bit of bumbling around fighting a drug ring in stock-comedy Chinatown just drags on, and on, and on, forever.