Ladies Last (1930)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Legendary director George Stevens made his debut in this Hal Roach comedy, another entry in the "Boy Friends" series. This time out Dave (David Sharpe), Alabam (Grady Sutton) and Mickey (Mickey Daniels) are invited to a dance by their girlfriends who insist they wear fancy suits. The boys refuse and decide to go on strike and stay away from the girls but soon they see other guys at the dance. This was the third entry in the series and you can tell that the cast members are still learning their routines but for the most part I enjoyed this two-reelers. I think Mickey steals the film as the annoying wimp who gets to act tough but ends up fighting a few fake dummies before running into a couple thieves. I found Mickey to be quite funny here because he just comes off so strange and corny that you can't help but laugh. Sharpe and Sutton don't get as much to do here and their line delivery is still pretty rough around the edges. This early sound comedy suffers from the new technology but much of this can be overlooked. The final gag dealing with fireworks in someones pants works pretty well and makes for a nice little film.