Niagara Falls (1941)

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writers:

Eugene Conrad (writer)
Paul Girard Smith (writer)

Release Date:

17 October 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Funny things happen at Niagara Falls!

Plot:

Margie Blake, who wants to get married young and have two dozen kids, has a flat tire and traveling salesman Tom Wilson...

Plot Keywords:

Niagara Falls | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Marjorie Woodworth	...	Margie Blake
Tom Brown	...	Tom Wilson
Zasu Pitts	...	Emmy Sawyer
Slim Summerville	...	Sam Sawyer
Chester Clute	...	Hotel Manager Potter
Edgar Dearing	...	Motorcycle Cop
Edward Gargan	...	Chuck (as Ed Gargan)
Gladys Blake	...	Trixie
Leon Belasco	...	Head Waiter
Rand Brooks	...	Honeymooner
Margaret Roach	...	Honeymooner
Jack Rice	...	Hotel Desk Clerk

Runtime:

USA:43 min (original version) | 86 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #7507)

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Too Stupid To Bother With

Being a fan of ZaSu Pitts comedies, I thought this one looked like it was worth a try. I was quite disappointed.

(The version I saw was on TCM, but consisted only of the Niagara Falls movie; the Miss Polly movie was absent.) The talents of the actors, who give fine performances, is wasted on one of the stupidest stories I have ever had the misfortune of sitting through.

Tom Brown (Tom Wilson) surprised me by being the strongest actor in the show, but the spotlight is hogged by Slim Summerville (Sam Sawyer), who, if he has any talent, didn't demonstrate it here.

ZaSu Pitts (Elly Sawyer) is great, but doesn't have near big enough a part. The biggest laugh in the movie is when she ends up under Sam under a table.

The only one in the movie who has any sense at all is Tom Wilson. Margie (Marjorie Woodworth) is unreasonable in general. While she is physically quite attractive, her personality and attitudes make her completely undesirable. Elly, Sam, and the hotel desk clerk are just complete fools.

Sam and Elly give up their honeymoon suite in the crowded hotel for Tom and Margie. But then they take it back. Sam ends up imprisoning Tom and Margie in their room. Most of the movie is them trying to break out, but Sam, using a rifle, always puts them back again.

Towards the end comes the worst part. Tom, who is finally about to make good his escape, runs into a minister on a lower floor of the hotel. Now the guy, who, as I said, is the only one in the whole movie who has a head on his shoulders, suddenly, for absolutely no reason at all, decides he has to marry Margie!

He drags the minister up to the room he has just escaped from, but Margie doesn't want to marry him. He gives her a kiss, and now, after one kiss, she feels compelled to marry him.

Finally, Sam has the nerve to say to Tom, "You deceived me," when practically the only line Tom had to Sam earlier was, "We're not married," to which Sam replied, "You think I'd believe that?"

Idiotic.