Pour la jarretière de Gertrude

Getting Gertie's Garter of 1927 is a typical comedy of errors. The plot is not surprising at all and mostly predictable. However it can get chaotic at times, especially when all three couples of the movie are appearing at the same time. The leading actors of the movie are Marie Prevost and Charles Ray who are acting quite well. However the character of Algie, played by Franklin Pangborn, is a bit weak compared to the others. As in all Pangborn movies, he is not really masculine, which does not quite fit his role in Getting Gertie's Garter. Overall, the movie is not a classic but it provides enough funny scenes to keep the audience entertained for an hour.

When the story begins, all the rich young men are going absolutely gaga over Gertie. I am not exactly sure why...but she apparently is the most eligible and desirable woman the guys knew. Ken is a bit of an idiot. He wanted to give Gertie a nice present and gave her a garter with his picture on it. He THOUGHT it was a necklace of some sort. Even today, this would be considered a rather forward thing to do...especially because when Ken gets engaged to another lady, he now has to worry about someone seeing that garter. The same goes for Gertie, as she also is engaged and certainly doesn't want her new beau to see it. So, when they are having a house party (I think it's like a sleepover), the pair try to find that incriminating garter...but each one's fiance thinks the pair are up to no good! What's next? See this cute film.

While I would never describe this as a laugh out loud comedy, it is rather cute and has a nice, albeit unexpected, happy ending. The writing is nice and it shows you how well silents were being made towards the end of the silent era. Very polished and enjoyable. Well worth your time and if you care to know (or not), it's based on a play and there is a sound remake from 1945 starring Dennis O'Keefe.