Film #7 - Going Ga-Ga (1929)

     

Starring Anita Garvin and Marion Byron.

 

Featuring Max Davidson and Edgar Kennedy.

 

Directed by James W. Horne.

 

Synopsis

"You would have to fall on that birthday cake!"

 

  

 

   



Anita and Marion are fired from their jobs in a bakery because Marion happened to sit on a birthday cake.

The pair walk off, only for Anita to discover that Marion has "Greetings" printed on her backside where she sat on the cake!

In the meantime, detective Max Davidson takes up a new case. A baby has been kidnapped and the distraught mother and father (Edgar Kennedy) will pay Max $10,000 if he can find baby Oscar.

The woman who has kidnapped baby Oscar bumps into Anita and Marion, and asks them if they will hold the baby for her for a few moments. The kidnapper then does a runner, leaving the baby with Anita and Marion.

The girls enjoy holding the baby until they overhear Max informing police officers that the kidnapped baby must be close by! Anita and Marion walk away from Max, carefully concealing the fact that they are carrying the child.

They try to get rid of the baby by placing it in an empty baby carriage, but the carriage rolls back towards them and knocks over Marion, who is thrown into the road. A police officer helps her up, which strikes fear into the heart of Marion!

The rightful owner of the baby carriage comes back, leaving Anita and Marion holding baby Oscar once more.

The girls devise a plan to leave Oscar outside someone's front door, where they will knock and then run away. Unfortunately, they don't have any luck. The door they knock at contains a hatch, and after knocking, a glass of beer appears!

Anita suggests that they make a swift exit. She grabs Oscar and starts walking down the road, speaking away to Marion...

...only Marion didn't follow her!

Marion stayed behind to have a drink!

Still trying to get rid of Oscar, the girls spy a nurse leading a group of kids along a street. They decide to follow the line and slip Oscar in with the other children. With Oscar safely in line, the girls walk off, hand in hand, only for Oscar and a new friend, hand in hand, to follow them.

The girls hurry and get both kids back in line and see them reach the safety of an orphanage. Anita and Marion are massively relieved.

They then learn that a reward is on offer for the lost baby, so rush back to the orphanage hoping to find Oscar again.

Instead, they bump into Max.

After giving Max a telling off, the girls walk away. However, Marion has the child's bonnet tucked into the back of her skirt, which Max notices, so he sets off in hot pursuit. Max crashes into a cop and the girls manage to escape.

Night falls, and Anita and Marion indulge in a bit of cross-dressing to aid their attempt to break into the orphanage and find Oscar.

Once they get in, they find a room full of sleeping kids and have difficulty locating Oscar.

Several babies wake up and Anita and Marion attempt to pacify them all. Marion trips whilst dancing, and knocks numerous beds out of position. Her bungling alerts the nurses and doctors, who come in to see what's causing the disturbance.

Anita and Marion hide under two beds until the coast is clear.

The kids start crying again, and in their attempts to pacify them, Anita loses her fake moustache and Marion has to pretend to be a baby in the cot once the staff come in to investigate the noise.

Oscar is found, and the girls and the baby make an escape out of the window.

Outside, Max is on the prowl. To avoid his suspicions, Marion places the baby (complete with beard and hat) on her shoulders underneath her coat, giving the impression that Anita is walking with a very tall friend!

Max can't believe what he sees, so he follows the girls.

When walking past some shops, the baby manages to get up on a shop canopy as Marion walks underneath it. The resulting headless walker terrifies Max.

Max eventually corners the girls and starts fighting with them. The father and mother of Oscar appear in a cab and pull their hired detective away from Anita. Oscar cries out for his mother, and he is reunited with both parents.

The happy father pays the girls $100 as a reward. Max doesn't get a nickel, but he does get a shove in the face.

Anita tries to find Marion just as the cops appear, but she can't find her. The cops arrest the men who were responsible for handing out beer from the doorway that the girls visited earlier - this being prohibition time. Marion had been drinking more beer, and a drunken Marion is carted away in the police car.

 

Review

"What do you know about babies?"

"I know one thing: Your parents drowned the wrong one!"

 

 

"If only" as a phrase can be applied to so many films, people, and studios during the great age of silent and talkie cinema in the 20s and 30s. If only "Hats Off" could be found; If only more Max Davidson comedies were to resurface; If only it were easy to purchase Charley Chase DVDs here in the UK. The list is endless. Well, OK, that last one isn't that difficult to sort out, but it is pricey.

But one of the greatest "If only" phrases at the top of my lengthy list is: "If only Anita Garvin and Marion Byron had made more than just three films as a comedy team."

I think about that "If only" a lot; whether it's inventing new Garvin/Byron scenarios in my head that would have worked well in films, or trying to figure out why the duo only made three films, it is a real shame that all the world has of their talents together are three shorts.

So, trying to solve the riddle: Why did they only make three shorts? My first thoughts were, unsurprisingly, full of unsurprising clichés: "oh, well, it's 1929, talkies are getting to be all the rage / perhaps Roach lost interest in this silent female partnership / the duo couldn't work together in talkies, etc, etc"

But, thinking beyond the clichés, the answer was probably simpler than that. Marion Byron left the Hal Roach Studios in 1929 (probably not long after the third and final Garvin/Byron short - "A Pair of Tights"). With Byron gone, and the series only three films in, it's hardly surprising that Roach shelved his idea for the moment.

I'd like to know why Marion Byron left the Hal Roach studios though, but that's a question I may never find out the answer to.

So, leaving clichés and suppositions behind, let's give a very fond slap on the back(side) of "Greetings" to Marion Byron and Anita Garvin who star in the excellent short, "Going Ga-Ga."

Why do I like "Going Ga-Ga" so much? Well, besides the fact that Marion Byron and Anita Garvin are terrific actresses, the short also features two other terrific actors, Max Davidson and (in a briefer appearance) Edgar Kennedy. You'd think that this sounds like the recipe for success; you'd be right. It's the icing on the cake.

I do love Peanuts.

Now, before you take that the wrong way, I don't mean the type that you eat. No. I mean P - E - A - nuts. Peanuts! Marion "Peanuts" Byron graces the opening gif of Magnolia's Musings (and if you've ever scrolled down to the depths of the page you'll find another gif of Peanuts that I think you'll enjoy) and was a wonderful comic actress. Apparently, she was only 4'11" in heels, hence the affectionate nickname.

In short - no Peanuts pun intended - I was really pleased to find out the cracking news that in the script for the first Garvin and Byron film, "Love 'Em and Feed 'Em", Marion Byron is referred to throughout as Peanuts! 

I've always wanted to find out more about Peanuts, and, in fact, she's on my list of biographies that I need to write:

Biographies to write - by Magnolia

1) James Finlayson

2) Marion Byron

3) Patsy Kelly

4) Pert Kelton

The list could go on and on.   

So, finally getting back to "Going Ga-Ga". It's a brilliant short rich in slapstick and laugh-out-loud moments. It is such a pity that the surviving footage is incomplete, with some small sections missing throughout the film including the ending and many intertitles.

Firstly, the pairing of Anita Garvin with Marion Byron works really well. The difference in height between the two women creates a lot of comic potential (just as Laurel's leanness and Hardy's penchant for looking like a biscuit offered lots of comedy for the duo).

But it's more than just a height difference - both Anita Garvin and Marion Byron are terrific actresses. Both posses what I have scientifically labelled "eye magic" (see the post on "Why Girls Love Sailors" for a detailed digression on the subject). "Eye magic", as the one avid reader of this blog will remember, is the ability for an actor to communicate a range of emotions and passions through facial expressions that largely stem from the eyes.

Anita Garvin is brilliant at this (in both silents and talkies) at making anger look sultry, and so is Marion Byron, whose bulging-eyed looks of fear are adopted frequently in this short. And have you observed how many times Marion Byron can contort her face into weird expressions in one scene?! She's incredibly funny!

In fact, it might even be Marion Byron who I tend to watch more in scenes in this short where she's with Anita Garvin, as I find her gestures and mannerisms hilarious.

One of my favourite moments in the film is right at the start, when it becomes apparent that Marion has sat on a birthday cake. The viewer finds out straight away that the word "Greetings" is printed on Marion's backside, but Anita's shocked discovery and scowl of disapproval moments later is terrific.

When the girls get hold of the baby, their attempts to look inconspicuous under the gaze of Max's prying eyes garners lots of comedy. I particularly like Marion's sneaky attempt to tell Anita that they are being watched. 

Whether it's tripping over bags of flour or getting terrified of policeman, Marion Byron's face is bound to make you laugh. I think that's part of the beauty of the comedy pairing; Byron and Garvin pull so many funny faces and exaggerate so many gestures, that sometimes it's simply funny looking at them on screen without anything particularly funny occurring.

When Marion Byron is helped up from the ground by a policeman, her slow turn towards the camera and delayed yelp of shock is fantastic. With Marion fleeing to the comforting presence of Anita and clinging onto her for dear life, the moment echoes Ollie's maternal instincts towards protecting Stan from harm. Indeed, in a couple of places in this film, Anita becomes a mother figure for Marion, with Anita defending her and generally looking after her pal - especially when it comes to Marion's lust for beer.

Speaking of beer, check out Marion's hilarious beer moustache! A nice foreshadowing of the cross-dressing that occurs later on.

  
The scenes in the orphanage allow for some really creative gags to take place. The fact that Marion and Anita don male attire for their daring break into the orphanage makes the comedy even funnier.

Anita Garvin makes a good man! Her gestures and posture are incredibly funny (as is the false moustache). Marion's exaggerated beard and sideburns add to the hilarity. The cross-dressing angle was fun to watch the first time that I saw this short. I wasn't expecting it, and it allows for some nice comedy, especially the boys girls' attempts to break into the orphanage. Anita Garvin takes a couple of bumps (one on the head with a fire hose and one on the backside when falling from a window).

Their creative ways of stopping the children from crying include Marion displaying her dancing talents and Anita getting part of the side of the cot stuck on her head (losing her moustache in the process)! Other standout comedy moments from inside the orphanage include Marion taking a spoonful of castor oil!

Whilst the ending of the film is missing, the moments that lead towards a conclusion are creative and very funny. Seeing Oscar with a beard and wearing a hat as a giant baby-man is great, although I wonder whose shoulders he sat on? It's clearly not Peanuts!

It's a shame that we don't get to see a drunken Peanuts arrested by the cops because of the missing ending, but it probably would have been a good laugh for cinema goers in 1929.  

I haven't said much about Max Davidson in this post, but he's in fine fettle in the film with his trademark hilarious facial expressions as he is outwitted by the girls. My favourite Max moments in this short include seeing him get soaked by water from a fire hose and laughing at the look of fear on his face when he thinks he sees a headless torso walking towards him!

"Going Ga-Ga" is a really fun short and very worthy of your attention. Let's raise a glass of prohibition beer to Peanuts and Anita!

"If only" they had made more films together...

What do you think of "Going Ga-Ga" and the Byron and Garvin pairing?

 

Watch it

"Get out! You're fired!"

 

 

 
"Going Ga-Ga" is available on DVD, beautifully restored by the German Filmmuseum as part of their "Female Comedy Teams" set.

 

Here's the link: Female Comedy Teams DVD 

 

Film #6 - Yes, Yes, Nanette (1925)

    

Starring James Finlayson.

 

Featuring Lyle Tayo, Sue O'Neill, and Oliver Hardy.

 

Directed by Stan Laurel and Clarence Hennecke.

 

Synopsis

"What a face!"

 

 

 

 

 



"Yes, Yes, Nanette" begins with Sonny (Grant Gorman) handing his mother a letter. The letter is from Sonny's sister, Nanette (Lyle Tayo).

The letter reveals that Nanette has married Hillory (James Finlayson) and is going to bring him home to meet the family.

The family, including the father (Jack Gavin) and perennial chewing-gum chewer and giggling daughter (Sue O'Neill), are all ecstatic about Nanette's return.

Sunday arrives and the family anxiously wait to meet the returning happy couple.

Mother is delighted to see Nanette, but is rather disappointed that Hillory is not as attractive as she'd hoped he would be!

Even Pete the pup seems to be hostile towards poor Hillory.

Sonny insults his clothes and the daughter pokes fun at the way he looks.

Father begrudgingly accepts Hillory's present of an El Stinko cigar whilst viewing his son-in-law with disdain.

The daughter returns to torment Hillory, sticking her chewing gum to the wall in the process.

She goes to touch his "shiny hair" but Hillory jerks his head backwards against the wall, right where the chewing gum was placed.

Hillory's toupee sticks to the gum on the wall and reveals his balding head, much to the mirth of the daughter!

Dinner is a disaster. As the family bow their heads to say grace, Hillory's toupee falls onto the table.

Pete the pup takes the opportunity to grab the toupee between his jaws.

Hillory eventually gets his toupee back from off of Pete the Pup's head!

Hillory's after-dinner singing is unappreciated by everyone except his wife, so the lovers are left alone.

Nanette's ex-sweetheart (Babe Hardy) enters and is disappointed to hear that she has got married.

After inspecting Hillory's clothes and toupee, the ex-sweetheart gets 'hands-on' with him.

Taking advice from the slogan hanging on the wall - "It is better to give than to receive" - Hillory decides to take a heavy-handed approach with his wife's ex-lover.

After smacking him in the chops, Hillory chases the ex-sweetheart out of the house.

The family are impressed by Hillory's heavy-handedness and leave him alone with Nanette.

Nanette sits on her husband's lap and the chair collapses.

 

Review

"What do you do with your old clothes - after they fall off?"

 

"Yes, Yes, Nanette" is a fun little one-reel silent comedy, lasting nine minutes in total.

It seems to have garnered significantly more interest than other one-reel films from the mid-twenties, possibly because of its "Laurel and Hardy" connections. Not only does Laurel and Hardy's chief nemesis James Finlayson star in this slapstick short, but Oliver Hardy makes an appearance late in the film as a burly bully, and Stan Laurel, along with Clarence Hennecke, was co-director of the film. 

And in case you were wondering:

The title of the film is a topical reference to an incredibly popular Broadway and West End musical comedy from 1925 entitled "No, No, Nanette" (thank you, Mr. Wikipedia), although that's where the similarities end - apart from the fact that "Yes, Yes, Nanette" like "No, No, Nanette" features a woman named Nanette...

Even though the film is short and the comedy is of a domestic nature, the gags presented have stood up well against the test of time. Largely this is due to James Finlayson's impeccable comic timing, and thanks to Pete the pup!

Yes, that's right! Pete the pup of Hal Roach's 'Our Gang' fame gets some of the best laughs in this film.

Some say that his natural, near complete circle around his right eye was made a perfect circle by legendary make-up artist Max Factor (as in the man), who would put make-up on the dog before filming.

A dog wearing a toupee?! What's not to like?!

 

So, thinking about my favourite gags in "Yes, Yes, Nanette", it's safe to say that the comedy involving Pete the pup and Finlayson is some of the finest in the film.

Finlayson's character appears on edge from the very first moment that he appears on screen, scanning the street to check out the type of neighbourhood his wife's parents live in.

There's no doubt about it: Hillory gets bullied and insulted throughout this short film, but, when Nanette's mother takes one look at his face and bursts into tears, it makes for great comedy. The laugh is heightened by Finlayson's penchant for looking at us, the viewer, throughout this film, and even though he doesn't do his what would become infamous double-take look ala Laurel and Hardy films, his bemused gawps make us laugh.

Hillory's attempts to make friends with Pete the pup turn out badly as well, with Finlayson in top comic form as he jumps away in exaggerated fear from the barking dog, taking refuge by holding onto the hallway light.

Probably my favourite Pete and Finlayson moment is during dinner, when the naughty dog takes Fin's toupee between his teeth and bolts away from the table! Fin is the master of the funny face, and his comical embarrassment is complete when Pete appears at the entrance to the dinning room with the toupee on his head! That was a hilarious moment!

Finlayson's gift for getting laughs by creating a range of bewildered and bemused faces is used to good effect when he attempts to chastise Pete for stealing his toupee, clearly speaking to the animal as if he were human.

Pete and Finlayson have one more special moment together when Nanette plays the piano after dinner. An ecstatic Finlayson, in full song, thinks it delightful that his wife is pecking him on the cheek as he sings. However, it's not his wife, of course, but Pete the dog licking his face.

Finlayson's expression is priceless during this moment - he goes from smug to disgruntled very quickly indeed.

Oliver Hardy's small role in this film is interesting enough, even though the role doesn't allow for the type of hilariously funny slapstick that he was performing with Bobby Ray in the same year. Hardy's job here is to turn up, insult Finlayson, and take a punch on the nose before running away. He's great as this type of burly bully, but it's not the Oliver Hardy that we would all grow to love, of course. The role could just have easily been played by someone like Noah Young, in my opinion. But Hardy does take a solid punch, and positively throws himself into the staircase after Finlayson trips him up. He also does a remarkable job of throwing himself to the floor as he escapes down the garden path. Nice work, Babe Hardy!

I always found it funny how the ex-sweetheart just wanders straight into the front-room of his former lover...anybody else think that?! The only person who has ever got away with just walking into front rooms unannounced is Arthur Fonzarelli...

On a curious tangent, I've been unable to find out the name of the actress who plays the mother in this film. Does anybody know who she is?

Please leave a comment below if you have any information.

In terms of the other actors, Sue O'Neill gives a nice performance as the bratty younger sister of Nanette and her constant ribbing of Hillory is fun. But her performance is probably made better by the fact that Lyle Tayo, Grant Gorman, and Jack Gavin are playing bit-part roles at best. With more screen-time, Nanette's sister is able to engage in more hijinks than, say, her brother Sonny. Having said this though, Sue O'Neill brings a certain cheeky playfulness to the role of the brat, and you never feel like you hate her - despite the fact that the intertitles suggest that you'd want to hit her with a brick! In fact, it's surprising just how anonymous Nanette is in this film, and Lyle Tayo has very little screen-time and very little to do. 

For those readers who like their stats and trivia, here's a good 'un for you: Sue O'Neill would later perform under the name of Sally O'Neil - yes, that's right ,two "l's" in the first surname and then one "l" in the second surname. She even acted alongside her sister, Molly O'Day, in "The Beloved" (1927).

I really like the scenes where the daughter torments Finlayson - they have great comic potential.

The daughter's chewing-gum offers one of the best gags in the film. And after Finlayson's toupee gets stuck to the gum on the wall and his baldness is revealed, Sue O'Neill's facial expression of shocked laughter is great!

Fin's attempt to place his toupee back on his head promptly and properly is also wonderful. D'oooohhhhhh!

 

 

I've always been a great admirer of James Finlayson, and even though I think he is better playing the villain than he is the hero - watch some of his early films with a young Stan Laurel, for example - "Yes, Yes, Nanette" has enough trademark Finlayson moments to make it a steady and enjoyable comedy. I'd certainly rank it above some of the other early Stan Laurel films such as "Half a Man" or "The Soilers", or Oliver Hardy's "One Too Many", for example, which feature on the same collection.

What do you think of "Yes, Yes, Nanette"?

 

Watch it

"Little girls shouldn't chew gum - It ruins their horoscope!"

 

 

"Yes, Yes, Nanette" is available on DVD as part of "The Definitive Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy Collection," restored by Lobster Films.

 

Here's the link: Definitive Collection DVD