| The Stolen Jools | |
| Director: | William C. McGann |
| Producer: | Pat Casey |
| Starring: | Wallace Beery Buster Keaton Edward G. Robinson Joan Crawford Fay Wray Gary Cooper |
| Distributor: | Paramount Pictures |
| Runtime: | 20 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
The Stolen Jools is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy short produced by the Masquers Club of Hollywood, featuring many cameo appearances by film stars of the day. The stars appeared in the film, distributed by Paramount Pictures, to raise funds for the National Vaudeville Artists Tuberculosis Sanitarium. The UCLA Film and Television Archive entry for this film says—as do the credits—that the film was co-sponsored by Chesterfield cigarettes to support the "fine work" of the NVA sanitarium.
When the film was shown in theaters in 1931, a speaker would appear after the film to ask the audience for donations. Being made for charity, the film has an unusually large cast of actors who volunteered to appear gratis. Studios represented included Paramount, Warner Bros., RKO, MGM, and Hal Roach Studios.
This film was retitled The Slippery Pearls in the United Kingdom. In spite of copies being sold by Blackhawk Films throughout the 1970's on 16mm and Super 8 stock[1] the film was thought by some to have been lost until a print was found in the UK in the 1990s. Another print was later found in the US under the alternative title.
At the "Screen Stars Annual Ball", Norma Shearer's jewels are stolen. The police must find them and return them to her.
The original film did not include credits. Blackhawk Films later added credits to identify the actors in the film by scene, stating "a good cast is worth introducing."
Farina, Stymie, Chubby,
Mary Ann Jackson, Shirley Jean Rickert,
Echo, Wheezer, Pete the Pup