So Long Letty

This film is probably of interest to early talkie fans only. It was made to showcase Charlotte Greenwood, the long lanky star of the stage that Warner Brothers signed to try out in talking pictures. Originally slated for the role of Mabel in The Gold Diggers of Broadway, this turned out to be her first feature length talking picture.

The film is often classified as a musical, but it isn't really. Charlotte Greenwood gets an opportunity to sing just a few songs, and actually the tunes are not that memorable. The comedy is pretty good and Greenwood is a natural before the camera. The basis of the plot is that Letty (Greenwood) likes to party and hates housework but is married to a home-body, Tommy Robbins (Bert Roach). Next door, Harry Miller (Grant Withers) likes to savor the nightlife, while his wife Grace is the homebody. The two husbands talk it over and decide they would like to swap wives on a trial basis. The wives agree, seeing this as an opportunity to teach their husbands a lesson - that the grass is not always greener. The husbands explain to their wives there will be a swap - but not really (implying no sex, just the home atmosphere will be involved).

To complicate matters, Tommy's rich Uncle Claude is in town and plans to leave Tommy his money, but only if he approves of his wife. Unfortunately for Tommy, Claude really approves of Grace (not his wife), but has had a previous run-in with Letty and as a result dislikes her strongly. Tommy getting his inheritance thus relies on him keeping this wife swapping charade believable at least while Claude is in town.

Marion Byron shows up here as one of Claude's two granddaughters. She doesn't get many lines but she is as saucy here as she is in her other supporting roles at Warner Brothers during the early talkie era. I liked Grant Withers here better than I liked him in most of his other early talking Warner Brothers roles, mainly because he is not trying so hard to be the wise-cracking smart guy that usually just made him come across as obnoxious and goofy.

If you are interested in early talkies I recommend it. Also, the plot element of wife-swapping will probably make it of interest to pre-code fans.