Elas por Elas

Three husbands go out every night, going you-know-where. Their wives decide that the only way to stop them is to make them jealous by hiring three college boys to woo them.

This was a successful Broadway farce and the resultant film that shows up on YouTube times out at 45 minutes, with a faded and abrupt final reel. It's clear that a lot of business has been cut out. Not the titles, amusing as they are; director Howard Hawks would shine, once sound came in, in Screwball comedy in which people would talk a mile a minute, only to fall into a lake. He's clearly just waiting for the chance. He also needs a topnotch cast to pull off his style of farce. Here he's got a mix of great performers going through their bits (Louise Fazenda, Arthur Lake); great performers without much to do (Edgar Pangborn, J. Farrell MacDonald, Ethel Wales); and possibly fine performers who don't have much screen time.

The result is a spotty comedy, with a long, dull set-up and then some wonderful comedy bits. It was good enough to keep me watching through the end.