I love Edward Everett Horton. Much of my fondness stems from early childhood memories of his narration of Fractured Fairy Tales on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, but my true love for him developed after seeing him in Trouble in Paradise. I've since seen him in many films from the 1930s and have enjoyed every one of his performances.
#2 No Publicity
In this silent short film, Eddie is a newspaper photographer tasked with obtaining a photo of a young socialite, whose guardian refuses to allow it, as she eschews publicity. He makes many attempts to get her photo, finally resorting to dressing as a woman to sneak into the house and steal a photo from the wall. He is unintentionally mistaken for a woman scheduled to give a lecture on morals called "What's Wrong With Our Girls," putting him in the position of educating the ladies about the sins of cigarettes, petting, lip rouge and dancing, until he is forced to flee when the real lecturer arrives.
"—a word about petting, that delightful—er—dangerous diversion—"
This film can be found on the DVD "Edward Everett Horton: 8 Silent Comedies." It is beautifully restored with a lively organ score (Note: image quality is not yellow on the DVD—that is a result of me taking photos of my TV). Edward Everett Horton cuts a fine figure in a dress, even while tumbling down stairs, and is just as funny in silent film as he was in his later movies with sound. I look forward to seeing more of these films.
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