Getting Gertie's Garter (1927)

The Age of Commercialism

best movie i've ever seen.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This was one of a series of charming comedies Marie Prevost made for Pathe during 1926,27 after a period of personal unhappiness. They may have been low budget bedroom farces but they stood out from the crowd with sparkling scripts, witty titles and proved actors. This film featured Franklyn Pangborn (he and Marie were almost a screen team at this stage), Del Henderson and Sally Rand who started off in movies but fed up with the lack of parts returned to vaudeville where she perfected her fan dancing routine. Marie's co-star was Charles Ray and he had also had a tumultuous film time from which he never recovered - bad career and money decisions had him going from comedy star to leading man status in only a couple of years!!Adorable Marie plays Gertie Darling who is coming back from the continent engaged instead of divorced!! It has the whole boat talking especially as the lucky man is Algy (Pangborn) who "uses his head to keep his ears apart"!!, another witty title describes a couple as "married by the War office and have been on the battlefield ever since"!! There are a lot of musical chairs being played on the boat - all in the name of flirtatious Gertie, but she has a secret!!A beautiful jewelled garter with matching photos given to her during her last engagement to Ken Walrick (Ray) - and she feels that if Algy sees it "we'll be divorced before we're even married"!! Meanwhile Ken, a New York lawyer is not exactly a wallflower himself. Described as having a "dozen different cases going at once - all involving some girl", he is engaged to the lovely Teddy (Rand) who "has a heart like the U.S. Army - open to any male between the ages of 21 to 60"!! Suddenly along comes Gertie, described by her companion as having "four speeds forward and no reverse"!! She desperately wants to off load her garter but isn't adverse to having a bit of good clean fun first!! But - aha!! It looks like Teddy wants some fun as well - with Algy!! "Dixieland Club - where the butter and egg man knows his onions" - Ken who has told Teddy he has to work late suddenly appears at the club and as Algy observes "there's something between Ken and Gertie" but Gertie doesn't have the garter, it's been sent to Barry's for a house party so that's the next stop!! With Ken asking the question "Where's that family album you've been wearing" the Barry house party turns into a free for all with Ken, Algy and even Jimmy Felton (henpecked Harry Myers) getting in on the action.It's a sparkling comedy complete with plenty of snappy 1920s songs and with Marie at her best, it's a pity the talkies killed off this sort of movie and Marie had to resort to "best friend" type of roles!!Recommended.

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.