A Pair of Tights

A Pair of Tights
Cinema lobby card. Three men and two women sitting in a car or standing around it. One of the men has four ice cream cones on his head. Both women are laughing. Below the picture is the title of the film and head shots of the four main characters.
Lobby card
Directed byHal Yates
Produced byHal Roach
Starring
Production
company
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • December 1928 (1928-12) (US)
Running time
20 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages
Publicity shot of Garvin (left) and Byron (right) taken during shooting of the film.

A Pair of Tights is a 1928 silent comedy short film starring Anita Garvin, Marion Byron, Edgar Kennedy and Stuart Erwin.

The film was produced by Hal Roach and was the third, and final pairing, of Garvin and Byron after Feed 'em and Weep and Going Ga-ga.[1]

Filmed in September 1928, the film was towards the end of the year. The script came from the prodigious output at Roach's studios and was originally intended for Laurel and Hardy but as the pair were already busy, the film was recast.[2]

The plot sees penniless Garvin and Bryan on a double date with Bryan's boyfriend (Erwin) and his boss (Kennedy). The girls are hoping for dinner but the men are a pair of tightwads.[3] The men will only pay for ice cream. Bryan's attempts to buy ice cream result in repeated loss of the ice creams to falls, accidents and other mishaps.[4][5] In the meantime, the other three are trying to avoid the attentions of a policeman as there is no parking available at the ice cream parlour.[6] The film ends with a mass brawl in common with many other Roach shorts of the time.[7][8]

  1. ^ Roots 2017, p. 186.
  2. ^ Everson 1971, p. 40.
  3. ^ "Civil War Story at Paramount Theater". The Deseret News. December 17, 1928. p. 9 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Halliwell 1987, p. 75.
  5. ^ Walker 2002, p. 149.
  6. ^ Roots 2017, p. 187.
  7. ^ Roots 2017, p. 188.
  8. ^ Neibaur 2018, p. 23.