The Stolen Jools

I just caught this old thing as an add-on for Dementia 13 on Haunted Hollywood (A light night movie program that shows here in Dallas). It wasn't quite the laugh riot it was intended to be, but there were several moments worth catching. Laurel and Hardy, for example, as 2 detectives that mistakenly make a final payment on their car. There was a funny bit with someone I thought was George Burns, but have found that it actually was someone else I don't know. Don't look for a solid story line, rather expect a series of gags, skits and one liners, not all of which hit the mark.. When you have half of Hollywood out for cameos, that's about all one can expect.

A dogged police inspector searches Hollywood for THE SLIPPERY PEARLS purloined from Norma Shearer.

Several of Tinseltown's brightest talents donated their time to this fund-raiser for the National Variety Artists Tuberculosis Sanitarium located at Savanac Lake, New York. Funds would be solicited from theater patrons after viewing this 20 minute short, which was ironically sponsored by Chesterfield Cigarettes. Distributed by Paramount Studios, some of the stars are embarrassingly bad in their tiny roles. The comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey come off by far the best, although one wishes one could see more of Maurice Chevalier, Laurel & Hardy and the Our Gang kids.

This little film is sometimes shown under its alternate title of THE STOLEN JOOLS (1931).

The closing credits obligingly give a cast list, particularly helpful in identifying the celebrities of yesteryear who've faded into obscurity:

At The Police Station: Wallace Beery, Buster Keaton, Jack Hill, J. Farrell MacDonald, Edward G. Robinson & George E. Stone.

The Law: Eddie Kane, Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy.

At The Victim's House: Our Gang's Allen 'Farina' Hoskins, Matthew 'Stymie' Beard, Norman 'Chubby' Chaney, Mary Ann Jackson, Shirley Jean Rickert, Dorothy 'Echo' DeBorba, Bobby 'Wheezer' Hutchins & Pete the Pup. Also Polly Moran, Norma Shearer & Hedda Hopper.

Tête-à-Tête: Joan Crawford & William Haines.

On The Porch Swing: Dorothy Lee.

At Breakfast: Edmund Lowe, Victor McLaglen & El Brendel.

In The Hotel: Charles Murray, George Sidney, Winnie Lightner, Fifi D'Orsay, Warner Baxter (as the Cisco Kid) & Irene Dunne.

At Lunch: Bert Wheeler & Robert Woolsey.

In The Movie Studio: Richard Dix, Lowell Sherman & Claudia Dell.

The Newsmen: Eugene Palette, Stuart Erwin, 'Skeets' Gallagher, Gary Cooper, Wynne Gibson & 'Buddy' Rogers.

The Detective: Maurice Chevalier.

Under The Tree: Douglas Fairbanks Jr. & Loretta Young.

At The Car: Richard Barthelmess.

At The Gate: Charles Butterworth.

Couples At Home: Bebe Daniels & Ben Lyon, Frank Fay & Barbara Stanwyck.

In A Movie Scene: Jack Oakie & Fay Wray.

In A Beard: Joe E. Brown (unbilled).

In The Projection Room: George 'Gabby' Hayes & Little Billy Rhodes.

Solving The Mystery: Mitzi Green.

An interesting comparison with THE SLIPPERY PEARLS is MGM's THE Christmas PARTY, released the same year and with some of the same cast (Norma Shearer, Polly Moran, Wallace Beery). In half the time and with much better production values, it presents a rapid succession of some of MGM's biggest stars playing themselves in a Christmas greeting to their fans.

Believe it or not, this unique all-star comedy short was financed by a tobacco-producing company in aid of charity! Practically everybody who was anybody in Hollywood circa 1931 puts in an appearance here during its mildly enjoyable but thoroughly fascinating 18-minute run: seasoned copper Wallace Beery sending rookie Buster Keaton to patrol the streets of L.A., detective team supreme of Laurel & Hardy arriving on the scene of the titular crime (belonging to Norma Shearer, no less) and having their car disassemble itself right there and then, Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe (in character as Flagg and Quirt) waited on by Swede El Brendel at a restaurant, Warner Baxter (again in character as The Cisco Kid – for which he was awarded an Oscar in 1929) flirting with the ladies, gangsters Edward G. Robinson and George E. Stone hiding out in a hotel lobby, Richard Dix and Irene Dunne – whom I have just seen teamed up in CIMARRON (1931) – being questioned by a nosy investigator, editor Gary Cooper ordering reporter Eugene Palette about, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. taking a stroll with Loretta Young, a rare peak at the home of newly-weds Frank Fay and Barbara Stanwyck (of whom, incidentally, I have just acquired a handful of rare movies)…plus Richard Barthelmess, Joe E. Brown (donning a false beard), Maurice Chevalier, Joan Crawford, Jack Oakie, Wheeler & Woolsey (whose brief bit here made me want to watch more of them), etc.

This little number is quite unique! It almost serves as a trailer for every film made by the majors in 1931. If you see this, you will see virtually every major and minor star of the era in a sort-of non musical "all-star" picture which was formerly very popular in the early sound days. It is quite fun to see the stars from MGM, Paramount, Columbia and RKO all together in this melange. Some of the artists do no more than appear for a split-second on camera, but the intent seems to be to sandwich as many recognizable stars as possible into this, a 20 minute short film, underwritten by Chesterfield cigarettes to benefit tuberculosis research! It is fascinating to see "screen snap shots" of some famous Hollywood couples of the day, such as Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Fay, and Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyons. Norma Shearer has the biggest part, and she seems to be enjoying herself in this little film. You also get a glimpse of Joan Crawford and her best friend, gay film star William Haines. I got this film a few years ago for next to nothing as part of a 3 disc set of silent and early sound movie classics in a dollar store. At a dollar a disc for the set, it has a lot of fascinating entertainment for the price.

"The Slippery Pearls", also called "The Stolen Jools", is a short comedy that is worth watching for the star power alone. It's amazing how many movie greats appear in just 20 minutes, from silent film legends to some of the (at the time) youngest stars in Hollywood.

The actual story, an investigation of the theft of Norma Shearer's jewelry at a big party, is just a device to give a "detective" a reason for talking to all these celebrities. There are a fair number of decent gags, but the humor is not nearly as noteworthy as the great cast. Watch it and see how many luminaries you can spot.