Easy to Get: A dated romp that’s mostly just noise

Is it worth the watch?

Honestly? Only if you’re a completionist for early comedy shorts or have a weirdly specific itch for 1920s slapstick. It’s light, it’s fast, and it’s mostly forgettable. If you hate dialogue that moves at the speed of light or characters who act like they've had ten cups of coffee, stay far away.

Harry Myers is the anchor here, and he spends most of the runtime looking like he just stepped in something unpleasant. He’s trying to be the suave husband-on-the-loose, but he has the charisma of a wet paper bag. Watching him dodge his wife, played by the sharp Isabel Withers, is less 'daring caper' and more 'sad man digging his own grave.' 🙄

The 'Gay Girls' energy

The whole series premise is a bit dusty, honestly. It’s all very nudge-nudge-wink-wink without actually having any teeth. There's this one scene where a character is trying to land a job as a co-respondent in a divorce case, and it’s treated like she’s applying for a desk job at a bank. It’s bizarre.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Easy to Get (1931) through its definitive frames.

• The pacing is frantic, which is fine, but it misses the comedic timing you see in better shorts.
• Hank Mann is doing his usual thing, which I guess is what you’re here for if you like that specific brand of bug-eyed acting.
• The sets feel like they were put together during a lunch break.

It reminds me a bit of the chaos in Scrambled Weddings, though that one had at least a little more heart. This just feels like a machine cranking out 'funny' situations without checking if they actually work. You can almost feel the writer, Beatrice Van, trying to pack too much into a tiny window of screen time.

There is a moment toward the middle where the film completely loses its footing. The divorce suit plot gets so convoluted that I stopped caring about who was cheating on who. It’s just people shouting and pointing fingers for three minutes straight. Why are they yelling? Who knows. It’s just what they did back then to signal comedy.

I’ve seen better stuff from this era, like the vibe you get in The Marriage Speculation, which feels like it has a point to make. Easy to Get is just… there. It exists. It’s a slice of film history, sure, but it’s a slice that’s been sitting out on the counter a little too long. 🥪

It’s fine if you want something to play in the background while you fold laundry. Don't expect to be laughing out loud, though. It’s mostly just a curiosity piece at this point.