And speaking as we were last week about movie comedians of the '30s who just weren't funny -- submitted for your approval, it's none other than (as he was known at Columbia Studios) "America's Swede-Heart" El Brendel.

Here he is in his most, er, famous role -- as "Single-O" (don't ask) in the 1930 sci-fi musical(!) Just Imagine.

Seriously, every time I've seen this guy in something (Turner Classic Movies shows his stuff now and again, including the aforementioned Just Imagine ) I've come away totally baffled, an impression not dispelled when a web search turned up that he was a big vaudeville star in the '20s mostly famous for coining the catch phrases "Yee vizz!" and "Yumpin' yiminy!"

I should also mention that Just Imagine features Brendel as a guy from 1930 revived by scientists in the far, far future -- i.e., 1980. Alas, it's a lot less fun than you might expect given the premise, in part due to some mildly anti-Semitic and homophobic gags that pre-Code Depression audiences were apparently amused by. It's not on DVD at the moment, but like I said, TCM runs it occasionally; the curious or the perverse of eyes, take note.