I must admit something up front. Although I adore old films, I am not a fan of the Edgar Kennedy shorts. I liked him in others' shorts...but not the ones in which he starred.
This is because often they rely on laughs where Edgar's onscreen wife and in-laws treat him like garbage. A little of this might work for me, but in film after film, you see these folk treat Edgar worse than you'd treat a burglar you discover in your house or a rabid dog!
While in "Edgar & Goliath" you do not (thank God) have Edgar's hellish in-laws, Edgar's wife is totally awful....worse than usual, that's for sure.
When the story begins, Edgar is offered $100 by some nurseryman for the tree in his yard. Considering the tree is NOT some small one but a large tree, the offer makes little sense. What also makes little sense is how the neighbor and nurseryman insist that Edgar must split the money with the neighbor since a few of the branches extend over the neighbor's property. Regardless, this money is contingent on Edgar digging up the tree and transporting it to the nursery...something that sure seems difficult, if not impossible.
Soon after, Edgar learns he's won a car...or so he thinks. It actually turns out to be a tractor (?) and this leads to a huge problem. Edgar's dim-witted wife insists that now she should get to drive their old car and her driving skills are WORSE than if you would have made Ray Charles your chauffeur!!* She also seems to care less that she's nearly killed several people...something that really made me dislike her and something I didn't find funny. In fact, I did find a bit of the film funny but think, like other Kennedy shorts, that having folks behave so cruelly isn't all that funny...and his wife is just cruel and indifferent to everyone.
*One of the folks who is almost killed yells out as he jumps to avoid being killed. It's interesting that it's the SAME yell that Robert Woolsey often used in the Wheeler & Woolsey films...the exact one. Now considering the short was ALSO made by RKO, it's understandable and interesting that they'd re-use the yell!