Wise Guys Prefer Brunettes is an American silent comedy film directed by F. Richard Jones and Stan Laurel, starring James Finlayson, Ted Healy, Charlotte Mineau, and Helene Chadwick. It was released by Pathé Exchange on October 3, 1926."Pathe's October 3rd Releases". Motion Picture News. October 2, 1926. Retrieved February 13, 2022."Pathe Program for Week of October 3". Moving Picture World. October 2, 1926. p. 290. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
Plot Helene Chadwick plays a like-named student at Pinkham University who runs a shop selling sexy gowns. The dean (James Finlayson) believes that Helene's shop is behind the recent breakdown of campus discipline and wants her expelled. Meanwhile, Ted Healy—portraying Napoleon Fizz, PU's "11-year freshman"—has been developing a rejuvenating plaster. He and Helene conspire to test it on the dean. It works, transforming Finlayson into the campus Romeo. Helene and Napoleon promptly usher him into a compromising situation at a women's sorority house, and he is found emerging from the plaster's effects just as the university's president (Burr McIntosh) shows up.
Cast James Finlayson as Stan Pincher (credited as Jimmie Finlayson) Ted Healy as Napoleon Fizz Charlotte Mineau as The Matron Helene Chadwick as Helene (uncredited) Burr McIntosh as The President (uncredited) Tyler Brooke as Faculty member (uncredited) Sammy Brooks as Undetermined secondary role (uncredited) Clarence Courtright as Faculty member (uncredited) Helen Gilmore as Undetermined secondary role (uncredited) Clara Guiol as Co-ed (uncredited) Martha Sleeper as Waitress (uncredited)
Production The film's title, clearly a play on the 1925 comic novel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, by Anita Loos, was the brainchild of H. M. Walker, as were all of the film's title cards."Pathe Program is Diversified; Six Units Working on Hal Roach Comedy Lot". Motion Picture News. July 10, 1926. p. 145. Retrieved February 13, 2022. Perhaps returning the favor, Loos dubbed her novel's sequel, published in December 1927, But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes."Eagle's Fall Book List". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 26, 1927. p. 51. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
Vaudevillian Ted Healy made his screen debut here, as well as his only pre-talkie appearance.Cassara, Bill (2015). Nobody's Stooge: Ted Healy. Duncan, OK : BearManor Media. .Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (2007). Vaudeville Old and New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America, Volume 1. New York: Routledge. p. 496. . As for Stan Laurel, this may have been his final credited directorial assignment; shortly after the film's release, he was starting to be paired onscreen with Oliver Hardy,Cassara, Ch. 14. en route to the team's official debut on October 8, 1927, in The Second Hundred Years.Everson, William K. (1973). The Films of Laurel and Hardy. Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel Press. p. 50. .
Reception Despite some positive reviews in the trades,Sewell, C.S. (October 9, 1926). "Reviews of Little Pictures with a Big Punch". Moving Picture World. p. 357. Retrieved February 13, 2022."Four Ideal Comedies". The Daily Film Renter. November 4, 1927. p. 2. Retrieved February 13, 2022.Miss Exray (aka Mrs. Ray Schader). "Rubberin' Round; Laughs in 'Wise Guys'". Variety. November 3, 1926. p. 41. Retrieved February 13, 2022. the film failed to generate much interest and Healy's fledgling film career was put on hold for another four years."The First and Best Talkie Reviews". Photoplay. October 30, 1930. p. 55. Retrieved February 13, 2022. Likewise, the film did little to alter the downward trajectory of its curiously uncredited leading lady, Helene Chadwick."Helene Chadwick, Silent Film Star, Dies of Injury, 41". The Tampa Tribune. September 6, 1940. p. 2. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
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