Fit to Be Tied (1930) User Reviews

The best moments are BEFORE Gracie enters the film

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 16 July 2006]

The film short begins with George Burns at a department store trying to buy a necktie. He tries to get the employees to help him but they are the surliest and least attentive employees I have ever seen. The first two are talking and get angry at George for interrupting! The second time he tries with another employee, he gets his tie cut in half. The third time, the lady gives him a tie box with no tie inside. The utter frustration involved made this sequence pretty funny. Finally, he finds Gracie and the usual Burns and Allen banter begins--and for me, that's when the movie slows to a crawl. It did pick up when Gracie sang a song with very goofy lyrics, though she sang so very soft and was perhaps one of the only people I can think of that sang perhaps worse than George! Only at the end when the characters come out of character and talk about being in the movie and how they should end the film does the film pick up--but this is only at the very end!

Face the camera, Gracie.

[F Gwynplaine MacIntyre · 6/10 · 29 March 2005]

George Burns wants to buy a necktie (hence this film's title) but runs afoul of a shopgirl who speaks in extreme 1920s slang. (He also meets a shopgirl with a very proper English accent.) He claims to be the nephew of the store's owner, but this is clearly a ploy to get some service, as a moment later he asks who owns the store. A floorwalker cuts off the tie George is wearing so he can match it with one in stock. Just when things can't possibly get any screwier, George meets Gracie...

'Fit to Be Tied' is a very crude comedy short: at one point, the camera adjusts itself during a shot. There's a reference to Elinor Glyn's steamy novel 'Three Weeks' that will baffle modern viewers. But the byplay between George and Gracie is funny. Gracie Allen's speaking voice annoys me, but here -- singing 'I'm a Whole Lot Wilder Than I Know' -- she reveals an excellent singing voice. Oddly, the director films her in three-quarter view during this sequence, rather than full-on ... was Gracie perhaps worried that the monochrome film would reveal that her eyes were two different colours? The first nine minutes of this 10-minute short are delightful, but the ending is weak. George and Gracie, having run out of material, simply face the camera and wave goodbye! I'll rate this one 6 out of 10.

Gracieland

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 28 November 2008]

Comedy legends Burns&Allen made their screen debuts in this 10 minute short subject Fit To Be Tied. It concerns poor George Burns who mistakes an insane asylum for a haberdashery simply because they are advertising men's clothes for sale. It's also one of the few times he actually gets more screen time than Gracie.

Burns walks into a haberdashery and goes up to June Clayworth and says he wants to purchase a tie. She just keeps jabbering on the with gossip and absolutely resents the intrusion. Than manager William Browning inquires if he can be of assistance. Burns says yes and Browning asks him if he wants a tie just like the one he has on. When Burns says yes, Browning cuts off the bottom and says he'll try to find a matching pattern.

By this time I'd be walking out of the joint, but George goes to a second saleswoman and it's Gracie. After that it's their usual patter of nonsense as George makes his first screen trip to Gracieland.

For fans like me who think Gracie Allen was the funniest woman God ever put on the planet.

Burns and Allen are Fit to Be Tied

[tavm · 7/10 · 6 July 2006]

George encounters two talkative salesgirls who won't stop talking to each other even after he keeps saying, "I want to buy a tie." He then encounters a salesman who cuts the tie he's wearing to match the one he wants to buy! Then he encounters Gracie and the conversation turns from wanting to buy a tie to asking to guess a word that starts with "W" to George asking Gracie for a date with Gracie replying, "Not tonight, I'm expecting a headache!" He then encounters another saleswoman who mistakes his request for a tie for a towel! He then encounters Gracie at another counter who then sings about how tame people think she is but really how wild she is! Just then George and Gracie break character and mention they don't have much time to go. Gracie suggests telling the pineapple story but George says that would get them off forever so they simply wave to the camera and say goodbye! Amusing first (I'm guessing) short for Burns and Allen. If they seem nervous during their first film, they hardly show it. Allen, especially, seems fine here. Worth seeing for Burns and Allen fans.

My idea of customer service.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 1 December 2016]

George Burns gets more than he bargained for when he goes into a department store and gets the worst customer service possible. Two clerks gossiping ignore him then treat him with contempt when he insists on service. Another clerk cuts the tie he's wearing in half to match it. That's just the appetizer in this one reeler where the rest of the time with the deliciously dizzy Gracie Allen who's been there for five years and confuses a tie with a pie. The conversation switches to her studies, leading to a flirtation and more aggravation. Burns dominates the non Gracie scenes, but she's off, it's all in her court, including a rather forgettable song that she manages to make tolerable.