Wedding Bill$ (1927)

User Rating:

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Director:

Erle C. Kenton

Writers:

Lloyd Corrigan (screenplay)
Lloyd Corrigan (story)

Release Date:

7 May 1927 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot Keywords:

Vamp | Blackmail | Farce

Cast

Raymond Griffith	...	Algernon Schuyler Van Twidder
Anne Sheridan	...	Miss Bruce
Hallam Cooley	...	Tom Milbank
Iris Stuart	...	Miss Markham
Vivien Oakland	...	Mademoiselle Mimi de Lyle (as Vivian Oakland)
Tom Guise	...	Mr. Markham (as Tom S. Guise)
Louis Stern	...	Judson, valet
Edgar Kennedy	...	Detective
John Steppling	...	District Attorney
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vera Reynolds

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation

Pigeon pot pie

I really, REALLY dislike comedies in which a human is consistently outwitted by an animal. Raymond Griffith is an odd choice to star in such a film. He usually played suave ultra-capable men, who are unflappable in every situation and usually one jump ahead of calamities which nobody else can foresee. In "Wedding Bill$" (the opening credits use the dollar sign), he is consistently outsmarted by a pigeon, with humiliating results.

Griffith plays Algernon Van Twidder, an elegantly dressed fellow who is constantly in demand to serve as best man at other men's weddings. In fact, he's called upon so often to perform this service, he keeps half a dozen wedding rings stored in his waistcoat at all times: each in its own pocket, and arranged in alphabetical order by the groom's surname. So far, so good: this gag fits in neatly with Griffith's established screen persona as the hyper-efficient sophisticate.

The film stops being funny when a title card identifies Griffith as "the worst best man". That's a clever piece of wordplay, but it contradicts the personality which Griffith had always depicted on screen. From this point onward, Griffith's Van Twidder becomes less efficient. A jeweller has given him temporary possession of a bracelet worth $25,000, strictly on approval. A pigeon snatches the bracelet. (Does this sort of thing actually happen? I know that ravens and magpies will steal bright objects ... but pigeons?)

Griffith spends most of the film chasing the pigeon, pausing for brief flirtations with Anne Sheridan (NOT the similarly-named ANN Sheridan who worked at Warners in the '40s) and for altercations with bad actor Hallam Cooley. Eventually the pigeon perches on the side of an office building, which leads Griffith into Harold Lloyd territory. Unfortunately, Griffith's contrived clamber up the side of a building in this movie (with blatantly obvious faked shots) isn't nearly as funny - nor so plausible - as Harold Lloyd's famous climb in "Safety Last".

The best performance is given by tall blonde Vivien Oakland, who is much sexier than Anne Sheridan. (Though not as sexy as ANN Sheridan.) Edgar Kennedy is wasted in a small role that should have been expanded to make him more of a menace to Griffith. This film was written by Lloyd Corrigan, a Hollywood hack who worked in films as a scripter, director and supporting actor but didn't do very well in any capacity.