The Nickel-Hopper

As someone who's enjoyed both Laurel and Hardy's and Boris Karloff's work for years, it's a fun novelty to see this film where, by chance, Stan Laurel directs and Oliver Hardy and Karloff both play small roles. It's Mabel Normand's starring comedy, though, of course, and she fills the star's shoes admirably. She signed on at Hal Roach from features and shorts, and though this was one of the shorts Mabel's was a big name it was given a longer-than-usual three reels at forty minutes.

This was made as her career was nearing it's end but she is still attractive, cute, and magnetic -- an automatic star and natural comedian. The three reels and a simple story allow this comedy to take its time and develop scenes and characters; this allows for plenty of humor to be drawn from character jokes about Mabel's loafing father, &c., and for her to utilize her subtle acting and comedy skills for laughs and substance in a way that wouldn't always have been possible in the fast-paced output of Mack Sennett's studios.

This means we get the full benefit of her never-dull reactions and expressions, in a demure yet feisty and also ironic performance with plenty of perfectly-timed eye-rolling. One delightfully minimalist scene that consists entirely of Mabel sitting on her front porch next to a boring date who says almost nothing becomes hilarious due to the time given her to react.

Oliver Hardy gets a good amount of screen time without much specific to do as a wildly enthusiastic drummer at the club where Mabel works as a dime-a-dance "instructor." He seems to be having a blast, though, and it's fun to see him so ridiculously animated. Karloff gets the chance to be creepy in a different way than we are used to see him, appearing in a couple of very funny scenes as an overly forward "masher" who forces himself on Mabel. In a great sequence she shakes him by tricking him into stealing from a blind beggar, then demurely tries to steal his car.

A sequence with a baby eating soap features some interesting early animation on live action and doesn't have much to do with what else is going on but is too charming not to like. In all this is a great showcase for its star and, like the best Hal Roach comedies, pure ebullient fun.

The Nickel Hopper is a true museum piece. It hearkens back to a time and place which have no relevance in todays' world. Old values and customs fairly make this film creak, but it is a chance to see first-hand the comedic genius of Mabel Normand. She had a true gift for comedy, with superb timing and subtle facial and body gestures - and she was in her element in this picture.

I haven't seen a lot of her films but having read about her career and judging from comments in discussions with others, I imagine this is pretty typical of her style. There is a humorous bit or two in almost every shot and here she is backed up by some Hollywood heavyweights in Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson and Boris Karloff. Stan Laurel is also given a writing credit for this one.

It may be dated but it's great fun.

Mabel Normand was the darling of the teens, starring in scores of short films with the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Roscoe Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, and Marie Dressler. Of course she co-starred with Dressler and Chaplin in the first feature-length comedy, Tillie's Punctured Romance, in 1914.It was a smash hit.

In 1918, Normand had the biggest hit of her career as the star of Mickey. In the early 20s she was peripherally involved in a few scandals and her career dried up. Despite the superb film, The Extra Girl in 1923, Normand was basically washed up. She tried Broadway; she went to Europe.

In the mid 20s she tried for a comeback and this 1926 short film, The Nickel-Hopper, was an attempt to return to her comedic roots. She was also backed by some major talent.

She plays a taxi dancer at a nickel a dance and supports her family. The dance scenes, thought brief, are very funny as she is hauled around the dance floor by a number of ridiculous men (including Boris Karloff as a masher). At home her father is a deadbeat, and poor Mabel doesn't even have a boy friend.

There are several terrific bits in this 37-minute film, and Normand is very good. She had a great deadpan delivery and made great use of her large eyes. The lady knew comedy.

Oliver Hardy (at the drums), James Finlayson, Margaret Seddon, Gus Leonard, Theodore von Eltz, and Michael Visaroff co-star. Stan Laurel co-scripted.

Mabel Normand was still in her early 30s when she signed with the Hal Roach Studio for a new series of comedies in 1926, but it's fair to say she'd already packed a lot of living into those years, perhaps more than she could handle. Where the movie business was concerned Mabel herself represented practically the whole history of the medium: she'd been directed by D.W. Griffith at Biograph, played opposite John Bunny at Vitagraph, starred in features for Sam Goldwyn, and of course, she'd made her name clowning for Mack Sennett at Keystone. Unfortunately, however, Mabel was also a trouble magnet, and since the early '20s her reputation had been repeatedly stained by scandal. She left Hollywood in 1924 to try her luck on the New York stage, but when that venture failed she returned to make short comedies for Roach, Sennett's No. 1 rival in the comedy field.

The Nickel-Hopper is the best known of Mabel's later films, with a leading role tailored to fit the sympathetic image the Roach staff had shaped for her. As in her previous vehicle, Raggedy Rose, Mabel's character is a downtrodden, woebegone working girl, a "taxi dancer" named Paddy who pairs off with clumsy men at the Happy Hour Dancing Academy for two-and-a-half-cents a dance (which makes that bluesy lament of later days, "Ten Cents a Dance," sound like a boast). We're told that Paddy "has been chasing the bluebird of happiness all her life-- but never got close enough to pull a tail feather." She still lives with her parents and her kid brother, but while her mom and the little boy are pleasant enough her father is an awful man, a selfish loafer who lives off his wife and daughter's earnings. Pa also makes a point of chasing off any suitors who might lure Paddy away. The family scenes are more harrowing than funny, but nonetheless this role suits the older Mabel and engages our sympathy. A thirty-something son or daughter still living with parents is an emotional minefield situation many viewers can relate to, and we root for Paddy to stand up to her infantile father.

The funniest scenes in the picture all take place at the dance hall, and this is where we meet two uncredited supporting players whose presence gives this comedy a real boost: where else can you find Oliver Hardy and Boris Karloff in the same movie? (Well, aside from the French-language version of Pardon Us, and that elusive title is not likely to pop up on TCM any time soon.) Hardy is the very first character we meet in the opening scene, a jazz drummer at the Happy Hour club who attacks his drum kit with crazed abandon. Meanwhile, Paddy fends off various oafs who step on her toes or yank her about the dance floor, but one of these guys, a tall fellow with a gaunt face, is more lecherous than the rest. He's a cad, in fact, who grins while he squeezes Paddy roughly. The cad is Boris Karloff, 39 years-old and menacing in a way that's quite different from the Karloff we're accustomed to! Boris has a couple of scenes before our leading lady manages to get rid of him in a clever and appropriate fashion. Eventually a proper young man takes an interest in her, and although Pa once again tries to chase the fellow away, love wins out (after a few more complications) and Paddy is rescued from her life of drudgery.

The ending is abrupt, and a little on the surreal side. In fact the first time I saw The Nickel-Hopper I thought the final twist would turn out to be a dream of some sort. I don't know if footage is missing from the last reel, but the conclusion may leave you startled and a bit confused. Even so, this film stands as one of Mabel's most enjoyable and representative comedies from her final years before the cameras. It's said that she was suffering from pneumonia during much of the time she was at the Roach Studio, but if so there is little sign of it on screen, although I believe a stand-in doubled for her in long shots during some of the more strenuous dance sequences. In any case, there's greater emphasis here on Mabel's eloquent facial expressions than on physical slapstick, in keeping with the Roach Studio house style. Despite the dysfunctional family material that makes some of the early scenes a little painful, The Nickel-Hopper is essentially a sweet, whimsical comedy that offers a good sample of its legendary star's appeal.

In "The Nickel-Hopper", Paddy (Mabel Normand) is a young working girl who babysits and works in a dance hall to make ends meet. This is made all the tougher by her ne'er do well father, who is lazy and refuses to work. Instead of the film focusing on gags, however, Roach Studios chose to instead have the story be more plot-driven...making for a nice sort of story that just happens to have a few laughs.

In addition to a nice performance by Normand in one of her later films (she tragically died in 1930...at just 37), you can see Oliver Hardy playing a rather unhinged drummer and Boris Karloff playing a masher who refuses to take no for an answer. All in all, an enjoyable old silent...and a sweet little film with a bizarro and surreal ending.