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Harry Langdon's first directing attempt, Three's a Crowd, had just been released when his former boss, producer Mack Sennett, released this short subject which features Langdon in the lead. The exhibitors' trade papers virtually leapt on this release and sang its praises -- "far better than some of his productions since he graduated into the feature class," Film Daily proclaimed. Fiddlesticks does offer a lot of what's best about Langdon, including his wistful quality in the midst of gags and other mayhem, and distills it into two reels. This admittedly does give this (and many of his other shorts) a richness that some of his lesser features lack. The premise of the film couldn't be more simple: Harry fancies himself a cellist and he goes out into the world with his instrument. Unfortunately, audiences don't exactly welcome the fledgling musician -- wherever Harry plays, he is pelted with old shoes, broken alarm clocks, and the like. But his luck changes when he joins forces with a junk dealer. The more Harry gets pelted with junk, the more the partnership flourishes. Eventually Harry is able to return home a success.