Anita Garvin
Actor · 1906 – 1994 · New York City, New York, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Anita Garvin (February 11, 1907 – July 7, 1994) was an American actress and comedian who appeared in both silent and sound films. She is best known for her work with comedians Laurel and Hardy and Charley Chase. Garvin was born in New York City.] Her two sisters who danced in vaudeville encouraged her talents. At age 12, she lied to an agent saying she was "almost sixteen" and got a job being a bathing beauty for one of Mack Sennett's stage shows. The following year she joined the Ziegfeld Follies. She took pride in being the only woman allowed to touch Will Rogers's ropes. She also appeared in Earl Carroll Vanities. Garvin went on tour with the musical Sally staying with the show for two seasons, then decided to stay in California when the tour left that stop in 1924. In Hollywood, Garvin began working for Christie Film Company's comedies. She recalled her co-star Bobby Vernon dropping butter on the floor onto which she stepped and tumbled, cementing her career as a comedian. Charles Lamont brought her over to work for Educational Pictures. In 1926, Hal Roach took her under contract, where she appeared in many silent films with Charley Chase, James Finlayson, and Max Davidson as well as playing occasional supporting roles in feature films. Standing around 6 feet tall, "her regal countenance and deadpan expression" made her the perfect comic foil. Roach later considered her "one of his finest actresses." Reflecting upon her frequent co-star Stan Laurel, Garvin observed: "One thing about Stan--with apologies to a lot of directors--they thought they were directing him. And they thought they were directing the picture. But Stan was the one...He was very clever about it. The director was never cognizant of the fact that he was not doing all the directing. Stan's mind was going all the time, always thinking of gags and things to do. The script didn't mean a thing." Garvin appeared in a total of eleven Laurel and Hardy films. In 1928, she was teamed with Marion Byron as a short-lived female version of Laurel and Hardy. Along with Edgar Kennedy, Byron and Garvin appeared in A Pair of Tights, an "acknowledged masterpiece."
Movies23
Movie6.7ComedyFantasyMadcap couple George and Marion Kerby are killed in an automobile accident. They return as ghosts to try and liven up the regimented lifestyle of their friend and bank president, Cosmo Topper. When Topper starts to live it up, it strains relations with his stuffy wife.
Topper
1937 · 141 votes
Movie6.8ComedyHaving been kicked out by their wives on a wintry night they attempt to smuggle their little dog into an apartment house where dogs are not allowed.
Movie6.9ComedyThe boys get jobs as a butler and maid-- Stan in drag-- for a dinner party. When that ends in disaster, they resort to sweeping streets and accidentally capture a bank robber. The grateful bank president sends them to Oxford, at their request, and higher-education hijinks ensue.
A Chump at Oxford
1940 · 115 votes
Movie6.7ComedyA family goes on its weekly outing to the movies. Complications ensue...
Movie Night
1929 · 3 votes
Movie6.3ComedyMusicStan and Ollie are mousetrap salesmen hoping for better business in Switzerland, with Stan's theory that because there is more cheese in Switzerland, there should be more mice.
Swiss Miss
1938 · 79 votes
Movie6.9ComedyFight manager takes out an insurance policy on his puny pugilist and then proceeds to try to arrange for an accident so that he can collect.
The Battle of the Century
1927 · 59 votes
Movie6.6ComedyDreamy little comedy as down-on-his-luck Ham looks for work, gets thrown out of his rooming house and tries to make it on the street -- in the best, gag-filled 20s comedy style.
Move Along
1926 · 5 votes
Movie6.9ComedyStan and Ollie are on their way to Atlantic City with their wives, when Ollie gets a phone call from a lodge buddy telling him that a stag party is taking place that night in their honor. Ollie pretends to be sick and sends the wives on ahead, promising that he and Stan will meet them in the morning. The pair dress in their lodge gear, but their wives return having missed their train. With no obvious escape route, Stan and Ollie take to a bed in fear and in response to Stan's plea of "What'll I do?", Ollie replies "Be big!".
Be Big!
1931 · 47 votes
Movie6.6ComedyInexperienced waiters (Laurel & Hardy) are hired for a swank dinner party.
From Soup to Nuts
1928 · 42 votes
- Movie6.0Comedy
Jimmy Aubrey plays a book agent and on his rounds of selling is induced to substitute for a local fistic star. His adventures in the prize ring furnish a great deal of comedy.
Book Bozo
1925 · 1 votes
Movie6.2RomanceMusicWith unpaid actors and staff, the stage show Phantom Sweetheart seems doomed. To complicate matters, the box office takings have been robbed and the leading lady refuses to appear. Can the show be saved?
On With the Show!
1929 · 5 votes
Movie6.2ComedyThis Spanish language film was produced simultaneously with the filming of the two English language Laurel and Hardy shorts Be Big! and Laughing Gravy. The two shorts were edited together into one continuous film. Laurel and Hardy read their lines from cue cards on which Spanish was written phonetically. At the time of early talkies, dubbing was not yet perfected.
Movie5.6DramaComedyYoung, vivacious Billie uses her charms on influential businessman Glenn Abbott in hopes of getting her secret fiancé Gil a diplomatic appointment. Meanwhile, Gil's affections meander to beautiful ingenue Kentucky, Billie's best friend.
Our Modern Maidens
1929 · 16 votes
Movie6.4DramaWealthy Cynthia is in love with not-so-wealthy Roger, who is married to Marcia. The threesome is terribly modern about the situation, and Marcia will gladly divorce Roger if Cynthia agrees to a financial settlement. But Cynthia's wealth is in jeopardy because her trust fund will expire if she is not married by a certain date. To satisfy that condition, Cynthia arranges to marry Hagon Derk, who is condemned to die for a crime he didn't commit. She pays him so he can provide for his little sister. But at the last minute, Derk is freed when the true criminal is discovered. Expecting to be a rich widow, Cynthia finds herself married to a man she doesn't know and doesn't want to.
Dynamite
1929 · 15 votes
Movie6.9ComedyA con artist and a midget dressed as her infant son, are unmasked aboard a ship by a steward.
Sailors, Beware!
1927 · 26 votes
Movie7.3ComedyStan fakes receiving a telegram so he can go to a club with Ollie and a bottle of his unsuspecting wife's liquor, but she overhears his plans.
Blotto
1930 · 53 votes
Movie4.4ComedyThree couples raise a ruckus when they travel to Nevada for quickie divorces.
Merry Wives of Reno
1934 · 7 votes
Movie6.1ComedyDimwitted Cuthbert Hope is enlisted in the army, and gets himself and his sergeant in constant trouble.
With Love and Hisses
1927 · 29 votes
Movie5.6ComedyStan is a sailor whose girl gets kidnapped by a rough sea captain. Stan dresses in drag and seduces the captain but the captain's wife catches him. Stan and his girl beat a hasty retreat as the captain's wife fires off a parting shot.
Why Girls Love Sailors
1927 · 23 votes
Movie5.8DramaRomanceA bored socialite finds fleeting romance with an artist.
The Single Standard
1929 · 8 votes
- Movie9.0Comedy
Errol, a real estate salesman, returns from his honeymoon and moves into a model home, where he is constantly bothered by prospective buyers.
Home Boner
1939 · 1 votes
Movie7.8ComedyTwo girls are invited by one of the girls boyfriend's tight boss for dinner. On the way they stop for a cheap ice cream. But swinging doors, ventilators, cops and a brat make it nearly impossible to get the ice cream even close to the car where the rest is waiting.
A Pair of Tights
1929 · 8 votes
Movie4.8ComedyThe girls moonlight as taxi dancers in order to earn some extra money.
Asleep in the Feet
1933 · 4 votes