We! We! Marie!

On October 11, 1930; the Motion Picture News reviewed We! We! Marie! as follows: "If your audiences don't shake the house with their roars as they view No. 2 of the Slim Summerville series you might as well go out of business. This is one of the funniest two-reelers we have ever seen. While Summerville, particularly, and Eddie Gribbon and Pauline Garon do great trouping, it's the large number of fresh gags and the excellent direction of Albert Ray that make it outstanding. After all, it's the material that counts. This short has enough story for a feature, and it is impossible to outline it in this space. The laughs in this are practically continuous. The Picture is filmed in the new Magnachrome style for wide screen, improving it greatly. Running time, 21 minutes."

Recently viewing a restored show at home print using Vitaphone discs, I was amazed how Universal used sets and footage from ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT to give this short feature production values. The village set; Bi-planes being shot out of the air; and battle scenes are three examples.

The comedy highlights: Slim conning the Sgt out of $20 for his mother; Slim accidentally shooting down planes while being chased by Marie; the rivalry with the Sgt for Marie's affection; in a foxhole with a German soldier; and a zany brassiere gag.

In the 1930s, very few films were shot in wide screen and to my knowledge, this is the only short that has turned up.

A WOW and a must see.