Ma soeur masseuse

A Midwestern housewife comes to New York City to help her social-climbing sister run a fancy beauty salon & REDUCING parlor.

Marie Dressler shines in this movie vehicle tailored especially for her. With simple dignity & genuineness - and a crazy sense of humor - she captures the viewer's attention from her very first scene. Whether intimidating a ticket seller, attempting to climb into an upper berth, creating havoc in the salon, or prying an egg out of her little boy's mouth, she amply provides illustration why she was Hollywood's greatest & most beloved star in the early 1930's. There's never been another like her; she was completely unique & irreplaceable.

Receiving equal billing with Dressler is her frequent partner in mirth, the ubiquitous Polly Moran. This short, shrill, buxom comedienne could hold her own with the inimitable Dressler in the field of slapstick. Whether wallowing in a mud bath or trapped in a steam room, Moran is great fun as Marie's foil.

Anita Page & Lucien Littlefield have some good moments as Dressler's daughter & husband; but with Dressler & Moran on the loose, they're up against severe screen competition.

Movie mavens will recognize the unbilled Roscoe Ates as the stuttering railway ticket agent who has the misfortune to find Marie in his line.

It is important to note that the large glass swastika in the salon, which Marie inadvertently smashes, has nothing whatsoever to do with the Nazis. Rather it was an ancient symbol, even used by some Native American tribes, and was not infrequently seen as a trendy design or decoration.

"Reducing" is a wonderful comedy and drama with Hollywood's biggest comedy actress during the first few years of sound pictures. Marie Dressler was not only a large woman, but truly a top comedienne of the cinema then. She got a late start in silent films and made only 31 movies, 18 of which were sound pictures. She was one of the first female academy awards winners, taking the Oscar for best actress in the 1930 film, "Min and Bill," a very good comedy and drama.

In her comedies, Dressler combined witty lines with facial expressions that alone would get laughs, and when the script added antics, she could be riotously funny. Some of her antics remind one of Laurel and Hardy, and she might well have been a case study for Lucille Ball in her later career.

In this film, Dressler is paired with long-time silent film actress Polly Moran. This is the first of three comedies they made together, and by far the best one. The two women are sisters. They both have characters with their real first names. Polly Rochay owns an upscale reducing parlor in New York. She has invited Marie Truffle and her hubby and family to come and live with her since they've had hard times in South Bend. Both of the ladies have grownup daughters, and Marie and Elmer have two younger boys.

Marie holds up the ticket line as she argues with the ticket agent, buying train tickets for her family. She takes the cheaper upper berths for sleeping arrangements for her family, and it's a real hoot watching this large woman trying to climb into her top berth. Then, when Polly and her daughter meet them at the train station, the women hug and hug, and Polly starts bawling with joy and huge streaks of mascara run down her cheeks.

But the comedy gets quite funny after Marie and her daughter, Vivian, go to work in Polly's reducing salon. Marie boggles much of the equipment, creates mayhem and almost destroys the place. She nearly electrocutes Polly and then sends her flying into the mud bath. It's a real hoot watching Marie leading a group of very heavy women in calisthenics.

It must have been fun working in films with Dressler. She stumbles, bumps into things, kicks things, and hits her head and arms on furniture and cupboards. One can imagine that all of this wasn't in the script but that when she had a mishap for which a studio would normally reshoot a scene with most actors, they just left it in as part of her comedy performance.

The funniest aspect of this film is the relationship of the two sisters. They start off all aglow, not having seen one another for many years. Before long they are at one another's throats and hurling insults back and forth. Then they are all lovey-dovey again, but not for too long when the epithets start flying again.

This film is partly drama, and that's what brings it to a nice conclusion. Here are some favorite lines and exchanges from this film.

Railroad ticket agent, "Where are you going?" Marie Truffle, "I'm going to visit my sister." Agent, "Well, where does she live?" Marie, "On Riverside Drive." Agent, "Madame, would you be kind enough to tell me what city you wanna go to?" Marie, "Oh, huh, huh, the city. Why isn't that silly of me? Yeah, I wanna go to New York." Agent, "You wanna go by Buffalo." Marie, "No, I don't wanna go by Buffalo. I wanna go by train."

Polly Rochay, "Is that your husband?" Marie, "Yeah, what's wrong with him?" Polly, "Nothing. Only he has such a peculiar expression on his face." Marie, "Where'd you expect him to have it?"

Marie, "You know, my shape isn't what it used to be. As a matter of fact, I don't think I'm very good for a reducing parlor." Polly, "Oh, nonsense! Your shape hasn't anything to do with it at all." Marie, "Hasn't it?" Polly, "Just look at the people who buy hair tonic from bald-headed barbers." Marie, "Hah, hmmm. I hadn't thought of that."

Vivian Truffle, "Well, Tommy isn't smart or sophisticated." Marie, "Aw, a woman doesn't want a husband who's too smart. A man that's a little dumb is a lot more restful."

Marie, "Oh, baby, listen. I don't want you to miss out on the biggest thing in life - real love. Romance!"

Polly, "I don't want the money. Whaddaya think I am, an Indian giver?" Marie, 'You're a whole reservation."

Polly, "Oh, I've been so terribly dumb." Marie, "Well, I don't know what you're talking about, but I agree with you."

When I like an actor or actress I will try to watch as many of their movies as possible. I like Marie Dressler, so I'm trying to see all the films she put out. I watched a couple of her silent films in which she played Tillie and they were wonderful.

In the movie "Reducing" Marie Dressler plays opposite Polly Moran. The two go back to 1927 when they were in the movie "The Callahans and the Murphys" together. "Reducing" was their fifth project together.

Marie Dressler plays Marie Truffle, a woman who is down on her luck, but is extended a helping hand from her sister, Pauline 'Polly' Roche (Polly Moran). Polly sent Marie $200 for her to move her family from South Bend, Indiana to New York City, where Pauline ran a thriving and successful spa. I believe they called it a reducing spa, or reducing business, which was to say she was there to help people lose weight.

Marie and her family moved into Polly's home, which was occupied by her, her daughter Joyce (Sally Ellers), and her help. You could tell right away that the two sisters had a loving yet contentious relationship. Polly was not above subtly, and not so subtly, reminding Marie of the helping hands she's given her. Marie was big enough to swallow her pride for the sake of her family, but the things came to a head when the two sisters argued about their daughters, Vivian Truffle (Anita Page) and Joyce Rochay (Sally Ellers). The two seem to both be the object of the same man, and Joyce had him first, so naturally she saw Vivian as a foreign invader. Vivian, for her part, was largely innocent. She had no eyes on Joyce's man, John Beasley (William Collier Jr.), but Johnny had eyes on her.

This movie didn't speak to me. Besides the comically bittersweet relationship between Marie and Polly, there was the love triangle, so to speak, with Johnny, Joyce, and Vivian-- and I hate love triangles and romantic affairs. What started out as a comedy ended up being quite serious, and although Marie played the hero in this movie, it was having to do with love, infatuation, and desire between two young and naïve women, and one young and naïve playboy, and that just did not interest me.

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Marie Dressler stars as a woman from South Bend, IN who comes east to visit her sister (Polly Moran) who runs a fancy beauty salon. Each sister has a beautiful daughter: Dressler has Anita Page; Moran has snooty Sally Eilers. Dressler has has 2 boys and a failed husband (Lucien Littlefield). The cousins begin scrapping over "catch" William Collier, Jr., while another beau (William Bakewell) mopes around. Before long the sisters are quarreling too. Roscoe Ates is the ticket seller. Sitcom comedy/drama but worth a look for the Dressler-Moran pairing as well as the nice deco sets or Moran's home and salon. This film takes an interesting turn at the end.

Funniest bit is probably Dressler trying to buy train tickets from the stuttering Ates while the long line of people behind Dressler look on. Ates asks her where she wants to go. She finally says New York. Ates asks, "Do you want to go by Buffalo?" After a perfect comedic pause and a few facial twitches she responds, "No, I want to go by train."

And oh, the little boy (the one who gets his foot caught in a spittoon), Jay Ward, grew up to create Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Suffering hard times in South Bend, hefty Marie Dressler (as Marie Truffle) moves her poverty-stricken family to New York. There, she moves in with her generous, more well-to-do sister Polly Moran (as Polly Rochay). Ms. Dressler joins Ms. Moran at work in her "Beauty Parlor" and "Reducing" salon, with calamitous results. Dressler is frequently funny, and Moran mostly so; but, the comedy suffers whenever the focus becomes their respective daughters' love story. Dressler and Moran squabble over the younger women's interest in the same man, which becomes an issue about class. Still, Dressler is terrific, especially in the first half. And, capable daughters Anita Page (as Vivian Truffle) and Sally Eilers (as Joyce Rochay) strengthen the weaker parts.

***** Reducing (1/3/31) Charles Reisner ~ Marie Dressler, Polly Moran, Anita Page