Should Tall Men Marry?
About Should Tall Men Marry?
Joe Skittle’s livestock hates him, and a mule attacks him whenever it can. His daughter Martha is courted by bashful Teddy and by Snake-tail Sharkey, an intertitle says, a man so two-faced he needs two barbers. Texas Tommy coaches Teddy by cuddling and kissing a calf. Sharkey’s men drag Martha into a barn. Tommy and Skittle get her out, mostly by fighting each other, and Tommy holds the gang off so she can marry. Skittle takes the credit. The mule chases him into the sunset.
Cast & crew
More about Should Tall Men Marry?
Hal Roach produced the two-reeler for Pathé Exchange, production number S-23. H. M. Walker wrote the titles. Richard C. Currier edited. Louis J. Gasnier was the director named while the company was shooting; Clyde Bruckman is the only director credited on the surviving print. Lord Heath dates principal work to 16 April–5 May 1927, with retakes 17–25 May. Motion Picture News reported location work in Victorville in early May 1927. Pathé released it on 15 January 1928. It was previewed as Cowboys Cry For It.
Themes
Reviews
Film Daily, 8 January 1928, called the short well acted and well gagged.
Look
George Stevens photographed the Western burlesque, including the Victorville exteriors.
Music
Silent, with English intertitles.
Preservation
A surviving copy runs 19 minutes 53 seconds. The 1936 Descriptive Catalogue of Kodascope Library Motion Pictures includes a synopsis.
Notes
- James Finlayson plays Joe Skittle, Martha Sleeper plays Martha Skittle, Theodore von Eltz plays Teddy, Stuart Holmes plays Snake-tail Sharkey, and Stan Laurel plays Texas Tommy.
- Wikipedia calls it Laurel’s last solo short before the permanent teaming with Oliver Hardy.
- The same year Roach made the feature No Man’s Law, in which Hardy plays a Sharkey who wants Finlayson’s daughter, with von Eltz also in the cast.
- Lord Heath lists a copyright of 2 September 1927 and a gag in which Finlayson uses Colman’s mustard on his feet.
- Motion Picture News named Eugene Pallette in the supporting cast during the Victorville shoot. AFI does not confirm he is in the release print.
Scenes
- Texas Tommy kisses a calf to show Teddy how to court Martha.
- Sharkey’s men shut Martha in a barn, and Tommy and Skittle fight each other while they try to get her out.
- After Skittle claims the capture, the mule chases him into the sunset.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Should Tall Men Marry (1928).webm)
Quotes
So two faced he needs two barbers to shave him.
