It can be difficult to be a silent film fan. You have to deal with so many silly misconceptions, like the idea that every woman in silent cinema was a damsel lashed to the rail road tracks. Pure bunk! Another silly misconception is that there were no female comedians during this period either, that they were too concerned with physical beauty to be able to do anything goofy on film. Also bunk. There were a number of comediennes during the silent era, the most beloved nowadays being Mabel Normand and Marion Davies.
A Pair of Tights (1929) is a late silent short which features a female comedy pairing: Anita Garvin and Marion Byron (best remembered for working with Buster Keaton in his last independent feature, Steamboat Bill Jr). Garvin's imposing physique and tough attitude pair wonderfully with Byron's petite frame and girlish disposition. In this short, the two are hungry and hope their dates will take them out to dinner. Unfortunately, their male consorts are tightwads, only willing to get them ice cream cones. Of course, being a Hal Roach film, you know this won't end well: fate itself seems to conspire to make sure nobody gets a single lick off those cones as Marion finds them constantly knocked out of her hands in increasingly silly ways.
It's a cute short, full of personality and relate-able situations for anyone who's ever been on a crummy date. However, it does get a little repetitious in the last five minutes. I also prefer the quieter first half with more character-based gags than the hectic second, complete with cops and obnoxious preteen boys, but it's still so much fun. If only Garvin and Byron had been allowed to do more shorts than the few collaborations they managed!
A Pair of Tights (1929) is a late silent short which features a female comedy pairing: Anita Garvin and Marion Byron (best remembered for working with Buster Keaton in his last independent feature, Steamboat Bill Jr). Garvin's imposing physique and tough attitude pair wonderfully with Byron's petite frame and girlish disposition. In this short, the two are hungry and hope their dates will take them out to dinner. Unfortunately, their male consorts are tightwads, only willing to get them ice cream cones. Of course, being a Hal Roach film, you know this won't end well: fate itself seems to conspire to make sure nobody gets a single lick off those cones as Marion finds them constantly knocked out of her hands in increasingly silly ways.
It's a cute short, full of personality and relate-able situations for anyone who's ever been on a crummy date. However, it does get a little repetitious in the last five minutes. I also prefer the quieter first half with more character-based gags than the hectic second, complete with cops and obnoxious preteen boys, but it's still so much fun. If only Garvin and Byron had been allowed to do more shorts than the few collaborations they managed!