Hop Along

Part of Universal's series of one-reel Bluebird Comedies, this one stars Arthur Lake as a student who's confined to his dorm room to study on the night of a big costume party. When Professor Wise (George B. French) comes to check up on him, he finds Lake in a bathrobe, book in hand. As soon as the prof leaves, Lake rips off the robe to expose his Scots costume.

At the dance, Lake meets his sweetie (Nancy Drexel) and fills in her dance card. As the music starts, other guys keeps cutting in for a dance with Drexel and her little brother uses his slingshot to pelt Lake's butt with olives. Eventually the prof shows up at the dance and Lake has to hightail it home before it's discovered he's sneaked out.

Much humor is derived from Lake's wearing a kilt, especially with the slingshot and the wind storm.

The Bluebird Comedies were made between 1925 and 1927 and also featured Neely Edwards and Charles Puffy, among others.

Arthur Lake -- unaccountably dressed in a kilt -- is a college student who has to stay in the dorm and study rather than go to a dance. Hah! He sneaks out to be with his best girl, whose little brother peppers him with a slingshot, giving Lake the chance to do some pratfalls.

I am always surprised at Lake's uniformity of performance from his early dances in the movies as a callow young comic, to the days when he played Dagwood Bumstead to Penny Singleton's Blondie; the only difference was his voice, which turned out to be perfect for his screen character.