Stepping Out

Two wives make plans to go off on a long vacation, to try to make their husbands appreciate them more, but of course, that old trick never works. Leila Hyams and Charlotte Greenwood are Eve and Sally, just after the stock market crash of 29, but they are still spending money. and talking about lots of hollywood references.. Mack Sennett and his folly girls. So while the cats are away, the mice will play! the trouble is, the cats return home and catch the mice. everything has backfired. for everyone. we're off to Tijuana Mexico, for gambling and horse-racing. Look for the awesome Cliff Edwards, in here for comic relief..... so talented. sang and played ukelele in many films. perfect comic timing. and of course, he was the voice for jiminy cricket. this one moves slowly at times, but has a solid story. and we're still pre-code, so we can be a little dirty. lots of suggestive jokes and flirting, all around. it's all fun and light-hearted, but everyone keeps threatening to leave their spouse. So much talking ! clearly it started out as a play by Elmer Harris. Directed by Charles Reisner; he didn't win any oscars, but he DID work with buster keaton a couple times. he started out making silent shorts, then onto full lengths. it's a fun one.

The main problem here is the plot. It has some good ideas, but even at a short running time of 73 minutes I found myself looking at my watch. This might have been a great two-reel comedy, but there simply is not enough plot to stretch over the allotted time.

The plot revolves around two couples - Tom and Eve (Reginald Denny and Leila Hyams) and Sally and Tubby (Charlotte Greenwood and Harry Stubbs). Both couples are well-off financially, and Tom and Tubby are currently producing a motion picture together. The wives, feeling somewhat displaced by their husbands busy work schedule, decide to go to Agua Caliente, a race track and resort in Tijuana that was a fashionable destination at the time. They hope to have fun for a few days and get their husbands to start missing them as well.

The problems begin when Tubby decides to invite two pretty young ladies over to Tom's house - where they are supposed to be working - based on the fact that the two girls claim to find Tubby wildly attractive. One look in the mirror should have convinced Tubby that these two girls couldn't be completely on the level. Then unexpectedly the wives return home because one of them forgot her luggage. Add to that the fact that Tom and Tubby's lawyer had them both put their money in their wives' names in case the picture bombed and lost money - and the girls find the papers that give them title - and you have all the elements of a marital farce with the fellows having big stakes in getting their wives to forgive them.

I'd recommend this one, because there are some genuinely funny moments and gags throughout, just realize this is not the sauciest or the snappiest little precode out there.

Accidentally started watching this film and I couldn't walk away. Humor still holds up, and so refreshing to see an adult themed film without pandering to the 14 and under crowd-unheard of these days unfortunately. The movie was made almost 90 years ago and I'm watching it for first time in 2019!

Would have been better if the husbands weren't so goofy. I found myself hoping they really would divorce them! Still, a funny enough movie, worth a watch.

Leila Hyams and Charlotte Greenwood decide to take a few days at Agua Caliente to get a break from husbands Reginald Denny and Harry Stubbs, and to make them miss their wives. The men immediately invite a couple of girls over to discuss the independent movie they're financing and to swim -- no bathing suits. The wives walk back in, then walk out again to meet up with Cliff Edwards and Richard Tucker, only to have the husbands show up.

It's a pre-code situation comedy that is pretty much French Farce without slamming doors. There's some solid camerawork by Leonard Smith, William Gray edits at a brisk pace, and there are some well-delivered lines, particularly by Miss Greenwood. The result is a very glossy comedy that is amusing or better throughout.