Once you get over the extremely weak premise of this movie -- that Earl Rodney can't tell his parents that he is married to Dorothy Devore as they have chosen another bride for him, so he comes home with Dorothy disguised as a man -- this movie is played out with charm and good humor. Of course it all ends with the parents saying "Why didn't you tell us!", but had that been done in the first place, there would have been no movie, would there?
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planktonrules7 July 2006This comedy short is based on a particularly dumb premise. If you can ignore this, then the film is sure to please.
A young man has been away at school and meets and marries a young lady. He didn't tell his parents and the parents are set on him marrying a rich society lady--who they've already picked out and announced the coming nuptials! Instead of just telling them he's married, he inexplicably has his wife dress like a guy and introduces her to his parents as "Steve". See what I mean about a dumb premise?! Anyways, the man then goes out with the society lady (huh?) and dad takes Steve out for a man's night out!
There are a lot of cute gender-bending moments and it's all good fun to watch. It's just that the premise needed to be ironed out a lot better! Still it's fun and well worth a look. -
DKosty1236 December 2010Dorothy Devore is an attractive woman. As a man, well she looks a little bit off. The premise of this is that the son is afraid to tell his parents that he has already married a woman they haven't chosen for him. Yet he disguises the lovely Devore as a male roommate & takes him home to meet the woman his parents have picked? This does seem a stretch though being at the end of World War 1 it creates some of the situations created many years later in Victor/Victoria. Dad treats her as one of the guys & takes him/her out & a couple of women give them the eye. After they are seated with the women, the son comes in with his parents hand-picked bride & rescues Steve from being hit on by another woman, & catches dad eying someone other than mom too.
While the premise is tough, this situation & the one that mom sets up the next morning to trick dad into accepting his sons choice of bride is well acted & written. It is better than quite a few films in this era as it has more writing & less slap stick than many films of this age. -
For such a lightweight premise, "Know Thy Wife" works out all right, and delivers a few worthwhile laughs. It starts with a young man trying to disguise his new wife as a male, in order to fool his parents, but Dorothy Devore really is too feminine for this setup to be at all believable. Still, from there the setup leads to some amusing, if mostly predictable, developments when the young couple go to meet the in-laws. The characters are likable enough that you want to find out how things turn out for them.
Overall, while this is nothing special, it works as light entertainment. It's a pleasant little feature, not bad for its kind, and worth watching for fans of silent comedies.