Casar e Descasar

A delight I caught at the Film Forum in New York City 5/00 (very nice 35 mm. print). Eddy Cantor (not once in blackface) excellent as a former tailor hooked up with the wealthy Laurence Gray. Cantor's his valet, caddy and advisor (women are after Gray's millions). Cantor is crazy about Clara Bow (her first screen role)and there are lots of chases and hilarity. Billy Dove (of Ziegfeld fame) is featured.

I decided to watch 'Kid Boots' because of Clara Bow but in fact it is as much Eddie Cantor's film as hers. My overall impression is somewhat mixed, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons, with the two lead actors being the biggest pros. Frank Tuttle's direction is pretty uninspired, the pacing is uneven and the photography and camarawork are no better than alright. Evidently it was a struggle to turn a broadway production into a silent film. To the extent this succeeded it did so because of Cantor, who is a (to me surprisingly - I had not seen him before) good comedian with great comic timing, and to Clara Bow, who is of course screen gold: she lights up any scene where she appears. The high point of the picture is a hilarious cliff hanger scene. In sum, 'Kid Boots' is not a great film, but it is a decent comedy that had me laugh out loud in a few places. Well worth the 1 1/4 hours it takes to watch.

No matter how enamored one may be of the silent era, not all such titles are made equal. When it comes to comedies, specifically, one can trust the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, or Laurel and Hardy to be consistently delightful; comedies without such stars, and their gag writers and stunts, are less assured. Though it's no singular revelation, thankfully this 1926 feature counts among those that lack a major comedic lead but which are nevertheless highly enjoyable. Anchored with household names in producer Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky, director Frank Tuttle, and not least co-star Clara Bow, the real strength of 'Kid Boots' lies with the writing team. In adapting a stage production of the same name George Marion Jr., Luther Reed, and Tom Gibson filled the movie with plentiful lighthearted mirth and cleverness. It may not inspire big laughs the way some other flicks do, but I'm pleased to say that this is much stronger and funnier than I assumed sights unseen.

Sure, strictly speaking the storytelling is considerably light, and we kind of have to just take it at face value. From characters and scenes to the narrative at large, there's a certain Just So sensibility that wouldn't hold up under much scrutiny. The storytelling is quite beside the point, though: this is a picture built purely to entertain, and from one moment to the next we're greeted with terrific situational humor, gags, physical comedy, high energy, animated and expressive performances, and some witty intertitles to top it all off. Some bits are downright brilliant; some odds and ends come off better than others; for as slight as the storytelling is there are some instances that - fun as they are - raise a quizzical eyebrow as we wonder "wait, how was it that we got from A to B?" Part of me questions if 'Kid Boots' wouldn't have worked better as a series of one- or two-reel shorts, for the looseness of how it is put together kind of gives the impression that it started out that way on paper. One way or another, though, all involved fully embrace the spirit of the film, and the infusion of vitality and good cheer is more important than utmost cohesiveness.

Say what one will about how successful the comedy is, and how solid the writing is or is not overall, in all other regards this is splendidly well made. The cast really is a blast; decades later Bow might claim the most star power, but everyone truly just leaps wholeheartedly into the proceedings, from Eddie Cantor and Lawrence Gray to Billie Dove and Natalie Kingston. We get eyefuls of some great filming locations, and the sets are fantastic. While not altogether revelatory I very much appreciate the editing and cinematography, and the shrewd manner in which they're used to help craft the lark as we see it. The stunts and effects are excellent, some recalling the more famous contemporary comedians, and Tuttle's direction is wonderfully sharp in sustaining and indeed growing the highfalutin silliness. From hair and makeup to costume design and in all other details this is all-around swell, and if 'Kid Boots' falls short of perfect or riotous, I'm ready to forgive the deficiency.

Despite obvious reflections of the period in which it was made, I think this has more in common with modern cinema than one would suppose. As the shenanigans escalate over the length the plot increasingly just falls away, and it feels more and more like the intertwining threads of the characters is just a meager excuse for more outrageous notions. We can all surely name comedies of more recent decades that share that same ethos, be they of the 70s, 80s, 90s, or 2000s. With all this in mind, just how much favor this title deserves will vary significantly from one viewer to the next. For my part I don't think it's anything one needs to go out of their way to see, but the feature is a reliably good time from start to finish and might well help to lift one's mood if we're feeling down. What more could we really ask for? 'Kid Boots' is definitely a less well-known silent flick, but if you're looking for a merry diversion it's hard to go wrong here. My glad recommendation!

Movie actors realize they've made an impact in the entertainment world when Hollywood produces a motion picture about their life. That's precisely what happened to vaudeville, stage and screen actor Eddie Cantor in 1953 when Warner Brothers gave him the full-blown biopic treatment in its 'The Eddie Cantor Story' with actor Keefe Brasselle playing 'Banjo Eyes.' Cantor's debut in feature films came when he was 34, a relatively late age to be be starting out in cinema. His October 1926 movie, "Kid Boots," was a silent version of the 1923 hit musical of the same name he starred in for an incredible 489 straight Broadway performances. The film expands Cantor's lead role as a wheeling-and-dealing caddie at a private country club's golf course, who becomes a witness in a court case for a playboy in the middle of a messy divorce with a gold-digging wife. Clara Bow serves as Eddie's love interest.

Cantor, born and raised in New York City, dove into the entertainment business early on, displaying a knack of singing and slinging jokes in saloons, where a young Jimmy Durante played piano for his act. He graduated to vaudeville before producer Florenz Ziegfeld slotted him into his 'Ziegfeld Follies of 1917.' Working alongside Will Rogers, Fanny Brice and W. C. Fields, Cantor proved his worth with his melodic voice and his sense of self-deprecating humor. When on tour, he briefly dated future 'Valley of the Dolls' author Jacqueline Susann.

His prominence in the 1923 play 'Kid Boots' showcased his talents even more. Inventor Lee De Forest hired Cantor to appear in one of his first sound movie recordings to demonstrate his recent invention Phonofilm. Eddie sings two songs from the play 'Kid Boots.' De Forest's "A Few Moments with Eddie Cantor" was the innovator's biggest name star for his series showing how the first sound impulses imbedded on a celluloid strip could play in perfect sync with the picture.

The play also had a profound influence on Frances Rose Shore. As an aspiring singer, she sang one of the play's most popular songs, "Dinah," during several radio auditions. When she was being introduced by a famous New York City radio disc jockey, he had trouble remembering her name but knew she was going to sing her signature song. So he quickly called her the 'Dinah girl.' She loved the name so much she adopted it to ever be known as Dinah Shore.

Eddie Cantor used the movie "Kid Boots" as a springboard to introduce himself to a variety of media, including radio and television. In the following year he was offered the lead in Warner Brothers' 1927 "The Jazz Singer." But along with George Jessel he turned down the part, missing out on one of the biggest historical turning-points in cinematic history.

... this is a 1926 silent starring Eddie Cantor in the title role and costarring Clara Bow. This film is a great treat because we get to see how the musical comedy "Kid Boots" was turned into an effective silent film. Kid Boots works in a tailor's shop and is about to get a beating from the beau of Clara McCoy (Clara Bow) when he is saved from harm by Tom Sterling (Lawrence Gray). Likewise, when Tom's soon-to-be ex-wife tries to prove that they have been reunited so she can annul their divorce decree and get in on Tom's recent large inheritance, Kid Boots comes to the rescue and claims the two have not been alone together. I know this sounds strange, but chalk it up to divorce law in the early 20th century. Tom then runs off with Kid Boots - his witness - to a mountain resort until the time for his final divorce decree to become final has come and gone to evade his ex-wife's trickery.

At the resort Tom meets a girl that he falls for, and Kid Boots runs into Clara McCoy again, still accompanied by her brutish boyfriend. Clara prefers Kid Boots because she "prefers reliable men to good-looking ones" a title card tells us. At the resort Tom's ex-wife and her lawyers soon follow, along with all of the comic routines and mix-ups that you're accustomed to seeing in Cantor's sound films, if you've been fortunate enough to view those rarely seen comic gems. The film is quite good and it didn't surprise me that it was a Paramount silent that someone else had restored and presented.