Love on a Ladder: A Short That Goes Nowhere Fast

Is it worth your time?

If you have a spare ten minutes and a weird fondness for watching Edgar Kennedy look miserable, sure. If you’re looking for a romantic comedy that actually feels romantic, skip it. This one is for the completionists of 1930s shorts and people who enjoy watching a premise run face-first into a brick wall.

Florence Lake really sells the "bored housewife" energy here. She has this way of blinking that says, I am going to make your life a nightmare today, and she doesn't disappoint.

The Ladder Problem

The whole bit with the uniform and the ladder is supposed to be funny because it’s so forced. It is forced. You can practically see Edgar Kennedy wishing he was literally anywhere else. When he’s standing there, waiting to climb, he looks like he’s waiting for a bus in the rain.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Love on a Ladder (1934) through its definitive frames.

There’s a specific moment where he fumbles with his hat that made me laugh. Not because it was written that way, but because it looked like he genuinely forgot what he was doing for a second. That kind of real-life awkwardness is the only thing that keeps the screen from feeling dead.

It’s not quite as chaotic as The Boat, which had a much better handle on physical slapstick. Here, the comedy just sort of sits there, waiting for someone to do something explosive.

Final Thoughts

• The uniform fits poorly, which is probably the best visual gag in the whole thing.
• The pacing is frantic, like they were trying to finish before the film stock ran out.
• I still don't understand why he agreed to the ladder. Maybe just to get her to stop talking?

It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a tiny, weird slice of old Hollywood desperation. 🪜