Series: Glenn Tryon Director: Roy Clements, Fred L. Guiol Producer: Hal Roach Titles: Photography: Floyd Jackman Editor: Stars: Glenn Tryon, Blanche Mehaffey, Al Hallet, William Gillespie, Joseph Morrison, Helen Gilmore Company: Pathé Exchange Released: 07 December 1924 Length: 2 reels Production No.: G-3 Filming dates: September 9-23, 1924 Rating: -/10

Meet The Missus

Available on DVD:

A young suburban husband (GLENN TRYON) is out in the yard washing his shirt with the 'help' of his dog, whilst his wife (BLANCHE MEHAFFEY) scrubs the floor on the porch. When her cat walks up to her she grabs it and ties cloth on its paws to prevent it from leaving messy paw prints all over her washed floor, as the husband admires his wonderful work at hanging up the washing on the clothesline before tripping over the post and pulling the whole lot down. He walks over to the porch with his muddy shoes on, which doesn't go down well with the wife, who chews his ass off for wiping out all of her hard work. The big boss, Mr. Blunt, pulls up outside the house in his car his efficiency boss Mr. Stark and observes what he construes to be a peaceful scene with the couple on their porch. Inspired by the husband's evident show of a perfect marriage, the boss says he will give the husband a raise in his salary. So on Monday morning at the office, the husband, having received the bonus, thanks Mr. Blunt and invites him and Mr. Stark to his home for a quiet dinner with his wife that evening. The husband arrives home, and with the recent incident still fresh in his mind from yesterday, removes his shoes before entering the house. Concerned about their appearance and clothing, and wanting to make a good impression on their guests, the husband decides to rip down a curtain and dress his wife in it. The two gentlemen arrive and are shown to the dinner table. The husband goes into the kitchen and grabs a liquor bottle to make a cocktail, unaware that the maid earlier substituted it for a bottle of kerosene.

With Mr. Blunt giving a toast to "the continued peace and quiet of this perfect household", the mother-in-law bursts into the room and begins shouting about people who borrow things from her and then don't return them. This is followed by the dog chasing the cat into the dining room, with the cat running up Mr. Blunt's back and into his jacket. Mr. Blunt seems to overlook and forgive the bizarre situation and resumes his seat. The foursome all take a mouthful of their drink, and all realise at the same time that what they just poured into their mouths was not a cocktail. An awkward silence and an incredible degree of face pulling in cringeworthy fashion breaks out among them. Nobody dares to swallow, which makes it hard to speak when the husband's father walks into the room and asks to be introduced to the guests. After introducing Mr. Blunt, the father pats him on the back, causing him to swallow the contents in his mouth. When nobody is looking the husband spits out his mouthful onto an open fire, which erupts onto Mr. Stark's trousers. Add to this the fact Mr. Blunt makes a dash for the door and the wife's 'dress' falling off, it pretty much ends the dinner arrangements. Whilst Mr. Stark falls about on the floor, the father-in-law decides he has to have a drink too. He then dives out of the window. Mr. Stark writhes around on the floor and is given water. Except, it isn't water. Out on the lawn Mr. Blunt is drinking from a garden hose but when he tries to run away the dog chases him and pulls his pants off as the man jumps over the fence and into the mother-in-law's bedroom window. She screams for help and the others come to the rescue. The husband and wife take turns in assaulting Mr. Blunt who has crawled under the bed. When the husband discovers who the victim is, he quickly hands his lump of wood to Mr. Stark, who gets the blame for the assault. The two men leave and a drunk with a car pulls up. Both men get in but as the car pulls away one of them falls out. The end.

Favourite bit The moment when all four of them take their first (and only) taste of the 'cocktail'. The subsequent face pulling is a bit over-acted but is the highlight of an otherwise uninspiring film.

Trivia • Copyrighted December 3, 1924. • William Gillespie's name is mis-spelled in the credits as "Gillespir". Also, the credits gives a copyright year of "MCMXXVI" (1926) - the film was actually copyrighted in December 1924. • The film begins on a Sunday afternoon. • At least one source lists Noah Young as being in the film. He isn't. • The book which Helen Gilmore is reading in bed is "Three Weeks" by Elinor Glynn. This was an erotic romance novel first published in 1907. My opinion • A pretty standard comedy, with little plot, which centers around a dinner at home with two executives which goes disastrously wrong.

	Glenn Tryon The young husband
	Blanche Mehaffey The wife
	Al Hallett Mr. Blunt, the big boss
	William Gillespie Mr. Stark, the Efficiency manager
	Ernest Morrison Sr. [?]
	Ed Porter Father-in-law
	Helen Gilmore Mother-in-law
	George Rowe Motorist
	UNIDENTIFIED Maid

CREDITS (click image to enlarge)	INTERTITLES (click image to enlarge)

POSTERS (click any image to enlarge)

LOBBY CARD (click any image to enlarge)

Acknowledgements: Tommie Hicks (review copy) Jorge Finkielman (help) Jesse Brisson (identification of Ed Porter) This page was last updated on: 07 December 2023