planktonrules

Donald Ogden Stewart plays a famed bird lover who is making a speech to a ladies club. It is supposed to be humorous. It isn't. In fact, it's one and only joke is how dippy Stewart is...and that never pays off or is funny in any way.

I think there are a few reasons this isn't at all funny. First, times have changed. Perhaps in the 1920s this was funny...it ain't now. Second, the comedy short lacks laughs...and that's something folks couldn't miss even in 1929. I think THE joke is the wordplay, as in the early days of talking pictures, filmmakers thought talking alone was a great novelty. Sorry...none of it is interesting nor funny.

This comedy stars Lupino Lane and Wallace Lupino, who were real life brothers. Lupino was a pretty popular comic during the late silent era.

The story is set in ancient Rome and begins aboard a galley ship. Lupino and Wallace are slaves who are forced to row the ship but not surprisingly, they don't enjoy the work and soon find a way to escape. However, they are soon mistaken for gladiators...gladiators who are going to quite possibly die fighting for the entertainment of some rich scum at a dinner party. How can they manage to escape death? See the film.

The best thing going for this comedy is its pace. The film has no lulls and the gags come one after another. It's good enough that I even considered giving it an 8. Well worth seeing.

"A Pair of Tights" is one of the last silent comedies made by Hal Roach Studio. However, you really won't miss the sound too much as the film (like many late silents) has a musical score and sound effects.

Anita and Marion have run out of food and soon Marion's boyfriend (Stu Erwin) is coming over with his boss (Edgar Kennedy). However, the two men have sworn not to spent any money on the ladies (hence the title). But with not food, they eventually decide to go out and get something...and Edgar is thrilled when Marion suggests they get ice cream becasue it's cheaper than buying them dinner. What happens next is a long comedy of errors, when again and again Marion's efforts to bring them ice cream come to naught.

The film has very little plot for the final half of the movie...just one gag after another as Marion keeps losing the ice cream. It is very funny at times (I found myself laughing out loud one more than one occasion), though I also must admit they drug the gag out a bit too long. Well worth seeing and you wonder what Laurel & Hardy would have made of this story, as according to IMDB they were at one point supposed to be in the film.