100% Service (Short 1931)

100% Service: Directed by Ray Cozine. With George Burns, Gracie Allen, Chester Clute. George registers at the Jefferson Hotel; after the desk clerk gives him the runaround, he meets Gracie at the cigar counter.

“I first encountered Burns and Allen through their television series, after they were well past middle age. When I see their early films, Iu0026#39;m astonished at how attractive Gracie Allen was in her younger days. In u0026quot;100% Serviceu0026quot; she wears an elaborate set of gauntlet cuffs that must have been quite stylish in 1931.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;100% Serviceu0026quot; gives a story credit to u0026quot;George N. Burnsu0026quot; (the u0026quot;Nu0026quot; probably stands for Nathan, Georgeu0026#39;s real name), but thereu0026#39;s no real story here … and we donu0026#39;t need one. This is an hilarious example of vaudeville cross-talk comedy, with George as the befuddled newlywed husband on his honeymoon. His wife is played by some other actress, not Gracie. George stops off at the cigar counter for some stogies, where he meets dim-witted cigar girl Gracie Allen. At first, we suspect that Gracie isnu0026#39;t as dumb as she seems, because she uses her screwball logic to rook a customer out of $4.75 change. But then her same illogical logic impels her to give the change to George, so maybe Gracie is dumb after all.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are some funny sight gags here, including a Scotsman who tries to check into the hotel with several small children and a midget concealed under his cloak, so that they can all get in for the price of a single-occupancy room.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSPOILER. Thereu0026#39;s an amazingly u0026quot;blueu0026quot; gag at the end of this movie, when Georgeu0026#39;s wife wants him to come up to their room for a game of u0026quot;honeymoon bridgeu0026quot; … and then the wife is followed upstairs by TWELVE men, and the last man is leading a live horse! Must be an interesting honeymoon.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTrivia note: in real life, Gracie Allen had one blue eye and one green eye, and she was extremely embarrassed about this. She retired from show business just when Burns u0026amp; Allenu0026#39;s popular TV show was about to make the transition from black-and-white to colour. Gracie claimed that she was u0026quot;tiredu0026quot; and didnu0026#39;t want to work any more, but Iu0026#39;ve always suspected that she didnu0026#39;t want to appear on colour TV for fear of revealing her mismatched eyes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;100% Serviceu0026quot; is a delight from start to finish, marred only by a brief appearance by the annoying character actor Chester Clute, more effeminate than usual. Iu0026#39;ll rate this movie 10 out of 10.”