Loose Ankles (1930)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Ted Wilde

Writers:

Sam Janney (play)
Gene Towne (dialogue and continuity)

Release Date:

2 February 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

In this light romantic comedy, 17-year old Loretta Young is cast as Ann Harper, a wealthy socialite...

Plot Keywords:

Aunt | Scandal | Uncle | Inheritance | Will

Cast

Loretta Young	...	Ann Harper Berry
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.	...	Gil 'Gilly' Hayden
Louise Fazenda	...	Aunt Sarah Harper (Katherine in credits)
Otis Harlan	...	Major Rupert Harper
Daphne Pollard	...	Agnes, Lucy's maid
Edward J. Nugent	...	Andy Martin (as Eddie Nugent)
Inez Courtney	...	Betty
Ethel Wales	...	Aunt Katherine Harper (Sarah in credits)
Norman Selby	...	Terry Todd
Raymond Keane	...	Linton 'Lint' Harper

Runtime:

69 min (copyright length) | USA:67 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Vitaphone (Western Electric Apparatus)

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The play opened in New York City, New York, USA on 16 August 1926 and had 168 performances. The leads were played by Kathleen Comegys and Harold Vermilyea, and friends Terry and Andy were played by Charles D. Brown and Osgood Perkins.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Onscreen credits list Louise Fazenda as "Sarah" and Ethel Wales as "Katherine", but Fazenda is consistently called "Katherine" and Wales is consistently called "Sarah".

Movie Connections:

Version of Ladies at Play (1926)

Soundtrack:

Am I Blue?

Spotlight on Character Actors

This film, based on a 1926 stage play, is extremely funny and fun to watch. It is also somewhat hard to find. I was fortunate to see it screened at Cinevent 39.

The story concerns a group of society people hearing a will read to them. The deceased's niece (Loretta Young) has most of the luck when an estate is left to her under the condition that she find a husband and no scandal be brought to the family. Everyone else's inheritance depends on this clause, but Ann (Young) doesn't want her share. In fact, she's determined to force everyone out of theirs because she thinks the family is too greedy. Off she goes to put an ad in the paper for a boy to "compromise her." Andy (Edward Nugent) finds it in the paper and thinks he'd be perfect for the role, but instead thinks maybe his room mate Gil (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) would be better suited. In a very funny scene, Gil goes to Ann's home and is taken advantage of by the maid (Daphne Pollard).

Somehow, they all end up at a speakeasy where Ann's uptight aunts Katherine (Ethel Wales) and Sarah (Louise Fazenda) steal the show during a drunken spectacle where Andy tries to control his laughter.

This film is certainly a pre-code. Aside from outright illegal drunkenness, we see Andy taking a bath and women disrobing men, along with the generally racy storyline. Possibly the reason they got away with so much (besides being made during the pre-code era) is because this film is based on a play.

Thankfully, the camera-work does not make the film's roots evident. Of course, there are many shots that look like characters on a stage, but we also have a moving camera and many close-ups to take advantage of the beautiful stars. Young and Fairbanks struggle with their dialogue, but there are enough scenes with the character actors to make up for their scenes.