Marie Dressler and Polly Moran are basically the original frenemies

Is this movie worth your time today? Yes, but only if you actually like watching people yell at each other for an hour. It is a loud movie. 🎞️

If you want something quiet and artistic, you will probably hate this. This is for people who enjoy old-school slapstick and seeing Marie Dressler make those weird faces she does.

It starts out in a boardinghouse, which feels very lived-in and kind of dusty. You can almost smell the cabbage cooking in the background of these scenes.

Marie Dressler and Polly Moran are the stars here, and they play these two landladies who are best friends but also hate each other a little bit. It is that specific kind of friendship where you want your friend to do well, but not better than you.

Polly starts making money in the stock market and immediately starts acting like she is the Queen of England. She tells Marie to buy stocks in something called "American Cheese." 🧀

I laughed because "American Cheese" sounds like a fake company from a cartoon. Marie is too scared at first, which is probably the only smart thing she does in the whole movie.

The kids, Genevieve and William, are back from college and they are in love. They are mostly just there to look nice and give the moms something to argue about.

To be honest, I kept forgetting the kids were even in the movie. Every time they came on screen, I just wanted the camera to go back to Dressler and Moran fighting over a vacuum cleaner or something.

There is this one scene where Polly is being really patronizing about her new wealth. You can see the steam practically coming out of Marie's ears.

It reminds me of Twenty Dollars a Week because it deals with that weird tension of having just enough money to be annoying. Marie eventually caves and puts her life savings into "Brazilian Bananas." 🍌

Again with the food stocks! I don't know why everyone in 1930 was apparently investing in fruit and dairy, but it makes for some funny dialogue.

Once Marie gets rich, she goes totally overboard. She stages this big "society splurge" at a fancy resort that looks like it cost the studio about twelve dollars to build.

The palm trees in the background look like they are made of cardboard. It adds to the charm, I guess.

The way Dressler walks in a fancy dress is hilarious. She looks like she is fighting the fabric and the fabric is winning.

There is a lot of physical comedy here that feels like it belongs in a silent movie. It makes sense because these two were huge in that era too.

The dialogue is fast and sometimes they talk over each other so much you can't hear the jokes. It feels real, though, like a real argument between two people who have known each other too long.

I noticed a small detail in the boardinghouse kitchen where a pot is boiling over and nobody fixes it for like three shots. It drove me a little crazy. 🍳

The movie is a bit like Ladies Must Dress in how it focuses on clothes and status. But this one is way more aggressive about it.

The stock market crash part of the story feels a bit rushed. One minute they are rich, and the next minute everyone is panicking, but it doesn't feel heavy or sad.

It stays a comedy, which is a bit weird considering people actually lost everything back then. But I guess people in 1930 needed to laugh at the situation or they would just cry.

There is a scene at the resort where Marie tries to act sophisticated and it fails miserably. Her face when she realizes she doesn't fit in is actually kind of sad for a second.

Then she trips or something and the sadness goes away. The movie doesn't like to sit with emotions for more than a few seconds.

Polly Moran has this nervous energy that is almost exhausting to watch. She jitters around the screen like she had about ten cups of coffee before the director yelled action.

I preferred Dressler’s performance because she can do more with just a look. Her eyes are massive and she uses them to tell you exactly how stupid she thinks everyone else is.

The romance between the kids is resolved in the most predictable way possible. It’s fine, but it feels like a different movie entirely from the landlady stuff.

It’s like The Primrose Ring where the sweetness feels a bit forced compared to the rest of the grit. I wish they had just let the moms stay the focus the whole time.

One reaction shot of a waiter watching them fight lasts way too long. It’s one of those moments where the editor must have been distracted or something.

The ending is a bit of a mess, but it’s a happy mess. Everyone sort of realizes that being friends is better than being rich and alone.

It is a very simple message for a very loud movie. I liked it more than I thought I would, mostly because the chemistry between the two leads is so genuine.

You can tell they actually liked working together. Or they actually hated each other and that's why the fighting looks so real. Either way, it works.

Don't expect a masterpiece like Lucretia Lombard or anything serious. This is strictly for when you want to turn your brain off and watch two ladies fall into things. 🛋️

The sound quality is a bit hit or miss since it’s such an early talkie. Sometimes it sounds like they are shouting from inside a tin can.

But that’s part of the fun of watching these old 1930 flicks. You get to see them figuring out how microphones work in real time.

I’ll probably forget the plot of this in a week. But I won’t forget Marie Dressler’s face when she finds out about the Brazilian Bananas failing. 🍌

It’s a solid 70 minutes of chaos. Perfect for a rainy Sunday afternoon when you don't want to think about your own bank account.