The Show-Off

George Kelly's often-revived witty 1924 play was filmed no less than 4 times, attesting to the durability of its comedy content. This is the first filming, a silent movie with Ford Sterling as the blowhard liar, saying anything to make himself look great at all times. Of course, he fools no one except Lois Wilson, who has stars in her eyes and loves him. Her mother and father dislike him, while the other clerks at the office call him "Carnation Charlie" because he wears carnations like all the executives, which he claims to be outside of his office. So Sterling and Wilson marry, but have trouble paying all the bills. Tragedy strikes when Wilson's father dies, so the couple plan to move back into her mother's house. As luck would have it, Sterling does win a car that was being raffled off. In what is surely the funniest sequence in the movie, he picks the car up not knowing how to drive, causes some accidents by driving in the wrong lane, has the traffic cop running for his life trying the evade his car, and finally crashes the car against a building pinning the cop. At his court hearing, the judge asks for witnesses against him to stand up and most of the packed courthouse stand. To set an example, the judge sentences him to 3 months or $500, but because of Sterling's bluster, doubles the fine. Wilson's brother (Gregory Kelly) pays the fine with the $1000 check his father gave him before he died, to use to pay the mortgage. He feels that it's better to lose the house than to have a family member go to jail. Kelly had been dabbling with a rust-proof paint but was having trouble convincing steel executives to use his process. To make amends, Sterling goes to the steel people to see what he can do, just as the banker comes with papers to foreclose on the mortgage.

The film also features the legendary beautiful Louise Brooks as (literally) the girl next door, sort of Kelly's girl since they are always seen together. It's a small role, but she's a pleasure to watch. Sterling was a knockabout comedian who played the chief of the Keystone Kops under Mack Sennett, but plays this role very much like it was written. I saw a stage production of the play in 1995 at Baltimore's prestigious Center Stage and noted it was a one-set play. This film opens up the play, and we see parts of Philadelphia, and also see the wonderful car episode and and court trial, while you just hear about it in the play. These sequences alone make the film worth watching. Kino International distributes a video with a snappy violin and piano score, which I saw on a cable channel.

This film was based on a play that has been around a long time and been made into films on several occasions. As far as I know, this is the earliest version, though I know they also made a 1930 version as well as an awful one in 1934 (starring Spencer Tracy) and yet another in 1946 with Red Skelton. I've seen the 1934 version and had I realized that this 1926 film was essentially the same plot, I probably wouldn't have watched it! That's because the 1934 film was horrible--with Tracy playing the most obnoxious and detestable character I can think of one film! While the plot is very similar to the 1934 film which I disliked, there is enough different about it so that I do recommend you see this film. First, this is a rare case where a film is better as a silent because listening to the title character brag and talk incessantly really gets on your nerves when it's a talkie. But, silencing the guy made it much more bearable. Also, the intensity of his boorishness is less in this film, as Tracy (still relatively new to acting) actually way over-played the part. Ford Sterling, in contrast, had a performance that was a bit more comical as well as not so unlikable.

I won't say much about the plot, as I don't want to spoil it. However, here's the basic outline: Sterling plays a braggart who is always making it sound as if he's a big-wig with the railroad. In reality, he's just another clerk. He manages to convince a dim girl from a nice family that he's rich and successful, so she marries him. Only after the wedding does she realize who he really is. Unfortunately, like for them is tough, as Sterling can't support them with his meager salary and extravagant spending. What happens next and how he manages to turn things around is just something you'll need to see for yourself.

A good film, though one that you don't need to rush to see. And please, do NOT see the 1934 version unless you are a glutton for punishment!

The chief reason to see Malcolm St. Clair's production of The Show-Off today is the presence of luminous Louise Brooks, who (as usual) lights up the screen with an intensity and beauty that far exceeds the requirements of her small "girl next door" role. Ford Sterling (best known as the chief of the Keystone Kops) plays the title part, and he does very little (until it is far too late) to make the character even remotely likable. His Aubrey Piper is such an insufferable blowhard that Brooks' vicious admonishment of his boorish behavior is one of the film's highlights.

Viewing photos of young women living during the Jazz Age, with their flapper attire and bob haircuts, today's viewers could easily select actress Louise Brooks as the prototype modern female of the Roaring '20s. In photos and in the movies, Ms. Brooks possessed the definitive swagger and confidence of that wild era. Along with her looks and unique style, Brooks rode the wave of stardom in the mid-to-late 1920s.

No finer example of her unique screen persona while she was just getting into cinema is on full display in August 1926's "The Show-Off." Brooks plays the girlfriend of a next door neighbor family's son whose sister is dating a braggart, loud-mouth phony. The entire clan, including Brooks, knows the sister Amy's (Lois Wilson) boyfriend is a complete ass. She ends up marrying Aubrey (Ford Sterling) almost to spite her parents, who detests the man. Things get interesting when Aubrey wins a car at a raffle, but is clueless how to drive it. An amusing sequence of him trying to maneuver the vehicle all over the place, including driving the wrong direction in a one-way street, lands him in court.

The movie and the 1924 play, which has been adapted four times for film, is set in North Philadelphia. The George Kelly Broadway stage play was a huge hit and ran for 571 performances. "The Show-Off' was voted for a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, but its sponsor, Columbia University, withdrew the sure win, citing a comedy was not becoming of the illustrious prize, despite an immediate uproar to reverse decision.

"The Show-Off" stayed pretty close to the play even though the inter titles were spare, despite evidence of the yapping in the silent movie being extensive. Brooks is the first to call Aubrey out with her honesty and decisive demeanor. The Kansas-born actress was 15-years-old when she became a member of a Los Angeles modern dance troupe, globetrotting throughout London and Paris before latching on to the Ziegfeld Follies two years later. A Paramount Pictures' producer noticed her and signed her to a five year contract. The producer, Walter Wanger, invited her to a cocktail party where she met Charlie Chaplin, recently married to Lita Grey. The two hit it off and had a two-month affair. "The Show-Off" was her fifth movie for Paramount, exhibiting a unique screen presence like no other actress had done before.

Actor Gregory Kelly plays Brooks' boyfriend in the movie, where he has invented a formula for a rust-inhibitor. Kelly was the first husband to actress Ruth Gordon, meeting her on the New York stage. Kelly, primarily a stage actor, was in only two movies, "The Show-Off" being his last. He died of heart disease a year after making the movie at 35.

Ford Sterling, as the show-off, was the original police chief in the Keystone Cops in 1912. Many critics who have seen the remakes of the George Kelly play, including the 1934 "The Show-Off" with Spencer Tracy, and the 1946 version with Red Skelton, claim Sterling's portrayal of a loud-mouth was the best. Talkies tend to make obnoxious blowhards unbearable to hear constantly. Sterling reputation as being the best blowhard may be because members of the audiences are spared with his constant loud harping ringing the ears of the most patient viewer.

The earliest film adaptation of George Kelly's Broadway comedy, and is the only silent version. (There are three other versions in 1934, 1946, and "Men Are Like That" by Herman Mankiewicz in 1930). It tells the story of a bragger, causing his family to fall into a dreadful situation, and finally make it up. The story is very old-fashioned and so has not been adapted since the 1950s, it is "expired" like the playwright. Though the protagonist is annoying, the narrative is smooth and Louise Brooks is gorgeous too, it is still worth watching. (04/07)