Smith's Pony

"Smith's Pony" is a sweet little domestic comedy from Mack Sennett. It stars Raymond McKee as the father, Ruth Hiatt as the mother and young Mary Ann Jackson as 'Baby' (though she appears a bit old for this). If you watch a lot of old films, you may just recognize Jackson, as she'd later appear in a bunch of Our Gang comedies. However, less well known today are these Smith Family films and she and the rest of the cast made quite a few--as they were rather popular. And, if the rest are like "Smith's Pony", they sure should have been.

The film begins with the Smiths visiting San Francisco. A variety of silly things occur there (such as Baby mixing rubber bands into lo mein at a Chinese restaurant) but the highlight was the family's trip to the races. There, Baby wanted a horse of her own and Dad decided to get her one. He meets with a cute lady (Carole Lombard) and she sneaks a pony onto the boat that the family is taking home from the vacation. However, through a variety of mix-ups, Mother thinks that Dad is seeing another woman. After all, just who is this 'Lillian'. Lillian, of course, is the baby horse.

The film has lots of wonderful gags that work well. I think this is mostly because the emphasis is more on making a genial domestic comedy that pushing too hard for cheap laughs. Very sweet and well worth a look--especially so you can see Jackson and Carole Lombard in these early roles.

SMITH'S PONY is a two reel comedy in Mack Sennett's The Smiths series, a silent era equivalent to a family sitcom with Raymond McKee as the hapless husband, Ruth Hiatt the forever suspicious wife, and four-year-old Mary Ann Jackson as the precocious toddler "Bubbles" (an odd name given little Mary Ann seems as dour as Ned Sparks). In this episode the Smiths and their giant dog take to sight-seeing in San Francisco. Mrs. Smith is so determined to keep tabs on her husband and he so often distracted by this and that, they frequently lose their kid! This is played for gags but in an era more conscious of the dangers of such neglect it's a little unsettling. While in San Francisco, Bubbles becomes infatuated with ponies prompting her father to buy one from beautiful young horsewoman Carole Lombard. Pops names the miniature pony "Lillian" after Lombard's character and decided to keep the purchase a secret for the time being from both wife and child which leads to more marital suspicions from the Mrs. via notes and phone calls over the transaction.

This comedy short is quite gentle, very atypical for a Sennett comedy but it does have slapstick touches in it. Little Mary Ann has as much to do here as anyone and she does it very well, clearly opening the door to her "Our Gang" stardom a few years later.

Always on the lookout for something new, Mack Sennett said let there be a family series with a large dog and lo! There was the Smith Family starring Raymond McKee as the father, Ruth Hiatt as the mother, three year old Mary Ann Jackson as the child and Omar the Dog as the dog. It was all very good casting and the presence of Carole Lombard in this, the fourteenth of the series, adds to the fun. Ever wonder where she got such good comedy chops? Working for Sennett.

The Smith family visits San Francisco and then takes an ocean trip where everyone gets mildly seasick and the eponymous pony shows up. In fact, all of the Smith Family movies are mild, at least by the rugged standards of Sennett's studio. Australian Alf Goulding directs a series of gags that never get much rougher than a shot of people leaning over the rail of a ship in this comedy of middle-class foibles.

Smith's Pony (1927)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Jimmy Smith (Raymond McKee) takes his wife (Ruth Hiatt) and young daughter (Mary Ann Jackson) on a trip to San Francisco where they end up at a horse and pony show. Soon the kid is wanting a pony of her own so the father makes a deal with a worker (Carole Lombard), which his wife mistakes as them two having something else going on. SMITH'S PONY isn't a great film but it's certainly quite watchable. This was just one film in a very popular series and even though it's the first one I've seen, I will say that I enjoyed it enough to where I'd want to watch some of the others. There are a couple reasons that this film will remain interesting to film buffs. For one, Mary Ann Jackson appears here years before she'd get really famous for her work on Hal Roach's Our Gang series. There's also Lombard who gets a special billing here even though her role is pretty small. Most people seem to forget that Mack Sennett was the one who really found her and begin pushing her into bigger roles. She's certainly watchable here, although there's no question that she's not given too much to do. Both McKee and Hiatt have some nice chemistry together, which leads to some fun moments. I thought the best stuff happened during the first half of the film and especially a sequence in Chinatown were some Chinese men have their noddles replaced with something less tasty.

In this episode, "The Smith Family" visit San Francisco for a vacation. They have lunch in Chinatown, where toddler Bubbles (Mary Ann Jackson) wanders off to another table. She tries to get the local Chinese kids to slurp their noodles, without luck. Hapless father Raymond McKee (as Jimmy) struggles with his chopsticks. At a horse show, Mr. McKee has trouble admitting "Cap" (the family dog). Impressed by the horses, Bubbles asks McKee for pony. He decides to oblige, but wants to keep the purchase a surprise. Wife and mother Ruth Hiatt (as Mabel) suspects an affair when she sees McKee with beautiful teacher and horsewoman Carole Lombard (as Lillian Saunders). McKee is only buying a horse from Ms. Lombard, of course. The humor is based on this misunderstanding. There is also a fair amount of time spend on Miss Jackson's young muggings.

Smith's Pony (9/18/27) Alf Goulding ~ Raymond McKee, Mary Ann Jackson, Ruth Hiatt, Carole Lombard