Les bijoux volés

Comedy short made for charity, notable for the cast of big names. Someone has stolen Norma Shearer's jewels at the annual Screen Stars Ball. The investigation leads us through a variety of stars playing bit parts. That's pretty much the whole plot. The stars include Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Edward G. Robinson, Laurel & Hardy, the Our Gang kids, Loretta Young, Buster Keaton, Wallace Beery, Joe E. Brown, the aforementioned Norma Shearer, and many others. The purpose of the short was to raise money for the N.V.A. Tuberculosis Sanitarium. It's amusing although each star's bit is disappointingly brief. It's certainly interesting for classic film fans. But it's pretty much just empty fluff. Don't expect to laugh your socks off.

20 minute short film PACKED with some of the biggest film stars of the day. The premise is that at a major Hollywood party Norma Shearer's jewels are stolen. A detective interviews all the stars who were at the party. Barbara Stanwyck, Irene Dunne, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford and best buddy William Haines, Buster Keaton....and so many more stars. The story is not too funny, and in some cases not very well acted, case in point look at Norma Shearer herself, but if you are able to find this on VHS or DVD I suggest you watch it.

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.

Those of us who are stargazers will be suitably impressed by The Stolen Jools, originally entitled The Slippery Pearls. Just about all the studios lent some of their best contract players out for this 20 minute short subject.

I can't really describe a plot because there isn't one here. It begins with Wallace Beery as a police sergeant getting the call among others and the fun just starts from there. When you get Edward G. Robinson and George Stone reprising their characters from Little Caesar, when you get Wheeler and Woolsey, Laurel and Hardy, and the Little Rascals all doing a bit of shtick, and such beauties as Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford and so many more just walking, what's to complain?

The short was actually shot at Paramount, there seems to be a tilt toward Paramount players, but only slightly and it was to benefit the National Variety Association tuberculosis sanitarium in Saranac Lake, New York. Back in the day that was a favored location for those who contracted TB.

Just sit back and stargaze.