Summary
“Lions and Ladies” unfurls a tapestry of domestic absurdity woven with the whimsical thread of early automotive chaos. At its heart lies a peculiar triumvirate: Henry Hash, Stephen Stew, and Peter Pye, whose very names hint at a culinary, almost farcical, predisposition. Their narrative genesis, rather unusually, sprouts from the very 'crackshaft' of a Ford, a machine that, in this context, seems to possess the untamed spirit of a wild beast, perhaps even a lion lurking in one's domestic sphere. The introduction of their respective wives amplifies the comedic potential, transforming a mundane mechanical starting point into a burgeoning realm of marital discord or synchronized folly. Further enlivening this burgeoning pandemonium is "Moon-struck" Mike, a figure whose romantic overtures, born of a private picnic and a speedway proposition, are met with a swift and unceremonious rejection. This rebuff, however, serves not as a deterrent but as a catalyst, propelling the narrative into a more heightened state of disarray. The subsequent intervention of an authoritative officer and the enigmatic, almost mythical "big hippopotamus" character injects a fresh surge of lively 'tum' – a delightful, almost onomatopoeic descriptor for the ensuing physical comedy and escalating pandemonium. The film thus promises a delightful descent into a uniquely early 20th-century brand of slapstick, where the mundane becomes magnificent, and the mechanical, monstrous.
Synopsis
Where could you find a more toothsome trio to start a movie with than Henry Hash, Stephen Stew and Peter Pye? And where could you find an easier place to start something than at the crackshaft of a Ford ? And now all you have to do is to add three "his wives" and "Moon-struck" Mike, for spice, and things are moving nicely. If you've never had a lion in your front yard or in your library, try a Ford Lizzie. Enter, a private picnic, led by the romantic Mike - he, of the moonstruck soul. Having asked a damsel to ride with him on the speedway, he is turned down cold, whereupon an officer and a "big hippopotamus" give a lively tum to the action.
