User Reviews

James and Lucille Gleason (in her movie premiere) are a married song-and-dance team in small-time vaudeville. He's got a terrible thirst and a roving eye, so after the show, he heads to the nearest speakeasy, where he meets and falls in love with Helen Mehrmann. Explaining that he and his wife have an agreement that if either of them want out of the marriage, the other won't squawk, he takes Miss Mehrmann to meet the wife. Fireworks of an unexpected sort ensue.

It's a bit of a foreign world, the backstage life of touring vaudeville almost a century ago, but it's a handsomely performed risque little comedy as talkies took over everywhere. There are some real laughs here.

James Gleason and his wife, Lucille, were an acting team on stage, so it's not surprising they'd get a short film together...though today, few would recognize her. James went on to a very respectable career in feature films...with appearances in such classics as "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" and "Arsenic and Old Lace"...and Lucille appeared in far fewer films. Because of this, it's nice seeing the pair together in "Meet the Missus".

When the story begins, James is confronted by his wife for his roving eyes! Soon after this, he goes to a speakeasy and begins chatting up women. One in particular catches his eye and so he brings her home to meet the wife. And here's where it gets weird. Apparently the Gleasons have an agreement that if either meets another person and falls for them, the marriage will be amicably dissolved and they'll each go their separate ways! Of course, things don't work out the way the hubby expects...and it certainly will come as a surprise to you as well!

While this short hinges on one gag, it was very funny and how this all works out was unusual and very creative. It makes you want to see more of the Gleasons together in the same film.