A Hint to Brides

"A Hint to Brides" is a comedy short from the Al Christie unit at Paramount. I've seen quite a few shorts from this studio and would have to say that this particular short is, so far, my favorite. It's strange and unlike any other short I've seen...and I appreciate that.

When the film begins, a couple gets married. However, instead of doing what most normal people would do on their wedding night, the pair are planning on going to the theater, as they were given some free tickets. But the husband (Johnny Arthur) forgot the tickets at home and they have to return for them....and he walks into the middle of a burglary. It seems that burglars knew the couple wasn't supposed to be home and were using this time to rob the place. When the wife comes into the home to find her husband tied up and the crooks there...though one of the burglars (the lady) insists that they should just leave and steal nothing....and the boyfriend agrees. However, the wife does something very strange....she encourages them to take all the awful and duplicate wedding gifts. This way, she won't need to worry about keeping ugly gifts or having to return them! What follows is amazingly civil and nice...a very strange sort of robbery!!

The cleverness of this short is what won me over to it. It's just so unusual and it made me smile due to some clever writing. Well worth seeing.

Although there are issues with this early sound comedy, none of them are particularly obnoxious for 1929, a time when the introduction of sound equipment often tied the camera down, and unpracticed silent performers found themselves reduced to stagey line readings. Instead, this short subject about how newlyweds Johnny Arthur and Ruth Taylor go up to their apartment to fetch tickets for a show, only to find a pair of burglars robbing it, is excellent by the standards of the year, with some very funny lines, and an attitude that the bizarre manner in which everyone reacts to everything that makes it fun.

It's also a rare opportunity to see Miss Taylor and hear her voice. She had had a breakout role as Lorelei Lee in GENENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES the previous year, and was poised for some more interesting work, when she threw everything over to get married.

A HINT TO BRIDES is the only surviving talkie short with Ruth Taylor, famous for starring as Lorelei Lee in the 1928 silent GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES. She has a squeaky voice that reminded me of Mae Murray. In this one she's a new bride married to Johnny Arthur. When their home is burgled by robbers (Lawrence Leslie, Martie Martell) the dumb blonde comes up with the smart idea of offering them the presents they don't want (including the stuffed owl) and calling it even. Taylor's two talkie feature films survive along with several of the silent comedy shorts.

IMDb lists Martie Martell as Margie, but she's clearly billed as Martie in the opening credits. All three of Martell's credits are listed as Martie .... there is no Margie Martell.