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Wise Guys Prefer Brunettes
Wise Guys Prefer Brunettes
	Film poster
Directed by	F. Richard Jones; Stan Laurel
Written by	H.M. Walker (titles)
Produced by	Hal Roach
Starring	James Finlayson; Ted Healy; Burr McIntosh; Charlotte Mineau; Helene Chadwick; Tyler Brooke; Sammy Brooks; William Courtright
Cinematography	Harry W. Gerstad, Len Powers
Edited by	Richard C. Currier
Distributed by	Pathé Exchange
Release date	October 3, 1926;
Running time	20 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

Wise Guys Prefer Brunettes is an American silent comedy film directed by F. Richard Jones and Stan Laurel, starring James Finlayson, Ted Healy, Charlotte Mineau, and Helene Chadwick. It was released by Pathé Exchange on October 3, 1926.^[1]^[2]

Plot

Helene Chadwick plays a like-named student at Pinkham University who runs a shop selling sexy gowns. The dean (James Finlayson) believes that Helene's shop is behind the recent breakdown of campus discipline and wants her expelled. Meanwhile, Ted Healy—portraying Napoleon Fizz, PU’s "11-year freshman"—has been developing a rejuvenating plaster. He and Helene conspire to test it on the dean. It works, transforming Finlayson into the campus Romeo. Helene and Napoleon promptly usher him into a compromising situation at a women's sorority house, and he is found emerging from the plaster's effects just as the university's president (Burr McIntosh) shows up.

Cast

James Finlayson as Stan Pincher (credited as Jimmie Finlayson)
Ted Healy as Napoleon Fizz
Charlotte Mineau as The Matron
Helene Chadwick as Helene (uncredited)
Burr McIntosh as The President (uncredited)
Tyler Brooke as Faculty member (uncredited)
Sammy Brooks as Undetermined secondary role (uncredited)
Clarence Courtright as Faculty member (uncredited)
Helen Gilmore as Undetermined secondary role (uncredited)
Clara Guiol as Co-ed (uncredited)
Martha Sleeper as Waitress (uncredited)

Production

The film's title, clearly a play on the 1925 comic novel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, by Anita Loos, was the brainchild of H. M. Walker, as were all of the film's title cards.^[3] Perhaps returning the favor, Loos dubbed her novel's sequel, published in December 1927, But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes.^[4]

Vaudevillian Ted Healy made his screen debut here, as well as his only pre-talkie appearance.^[5]^[6] As for Stan Laurel, this may have been his final credited directorial assignment; shortly after the film's release, he was starting to be paired onscreen with Oliver Hardy,^[7] en route to the team's official debut on October 8, 1927, in The Second Hundred Years.^[8]

Reception

Despite some positive reviews in the trades,^[9]^[10]^[11] the film failed to generate much interest and Healy's fledgling film career was put on hold for another four years.^[6]^[12] Likewise, the film did little to alter the downward trajectory of its curiously uncredited leading lady, Helene Chadwick.^[13]

References

^ "Pathe's October 3rd Releases". Motion Picture News. October 2, 1926. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
^ "Pathe Program for Week of October 3". Moving Picture World. October 2, 1926. p. 290. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
^ "Pathe Program is Diversified; Six Units Working on Hal Roach Comedy Lot". Motion Picture News. July 10, 1926. p. 145. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
^ "Eagle's Fall Book List". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 26, 1927. p. 51. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
^ Cassara, Bill (2015). Nobody's Stooge: Ted Healy. Duncan, OK : BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-768-3.
^ ^a ^b Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (2007). Vaudeville Old and New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America, Volume 1. New York: Routledge. p. 496. ISBN 9780415938532.
^ Cassara, Ch. 14.
^ Everson, William K. (1973). The Films of Laurel and Hardy. Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel Press. p. 50. ISBN 0-8065-0146-4.
^ Sewell, C.S. (October 9, 1926). "Reviews of Little Pictures with a Big Punch". Moving Picture World. p. 357. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
^ "Four Ideal Comedies". The Daily Film Renter. November 4, 1927. p. 2. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
^ Miss Exray (aka Mrs. Ray Schader). "Rubberin' Round; Laughs in 'Wise Guys'". Variety. November 3, 1926. p. 41. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
^ "The First and Best Talkie Reviews". Photoplay. October 30, 1930. p. 55. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
^ "Helene Chadwick, Silent Film Star, Dies of Injury, 41". The Tampa Tribune. September 6, 1940. p. 2. Retrieved February 13, 2022.