The Show-Off

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.

This is another good film to add to your Lulu collection. This is a screen adaptation of George Kelly's play "The Show Off - A transcript of life in three acts" by George Kelly in 1923. The title tells it all. A show-off Aubrey Piper, (Ford Sterling) through misleads, misdeeds a family into ruin.

Louise Brooks plays Clara, Joe's Girl.

This 82-minute film is backed up with a violin and piano score, directed and compiled by Timothy Brock. Timothy Brock is a composer of concert hall and film music, and the conductor/music director of the Olympia Chamber Orchestra in Olympia, Washington, USA.

You may notice one of the filming locations as Broad Street Station - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

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.

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)

It would appear that the 2000 Image DVD and the Amazon streams of these two titles are currently not available which is unfortunate as both movies have more to offer than simply Louise Brooks and Clara Bow. Both films are middle-of-the-road Paramount releases from the mid-1920s and are great examples of the type of everyday fare available to the audiences of that time. Both movies were directed by solid studio craftsmen who held no pretensions of creating high art, Malcolm St. Clair who would later work with Laurel & Hardy, and Wesley Ruggles (brother of character actor Charlie Ruggles) who went on to direct the Oscar winning adaptation of Edna Ferber's CIMMARON in 1931.

THE SHOW OFF was made in 1926 as a rare starring vehicle for Ford Sterling. Sterling began his career as a circus clown before drifting into movies around 1912. He is best remembered today as the harried Police Chief of the Keystone Kops. In this movie he plays an obnoxious braggart who, after nearly destroying his in-laws' lives, is given one last chance to prove himself. This was Louise Brooks' second supporting part for Paramount after IT'S THE OLD ARMY GAME with W. C. Fields. The plot hinges on her key scene with Sterling that leads to his redemption. An added bonus is the location shooting in Philadelphia showing the city as it was at that time. In his characterization, Sterling looks and comes across as a silent film version of Dan Ackroyd.

THE PLASTIC AGE dates from 1925 and was based on a best selling book about college students. As such it provides a fascinating time capsule of campus life back then. While the settings and fashions have certainly changed, the "party hearty' attitude of young people away from home has not. This was the role that landed Clara Bow her contract at Paramount where she would go on to make 19 films before the advent of sound in 1929. She naturally plays a party girl who diverts a Freshman athlete (Donald Keith) from his studies which nearly leads to his ruin. Also on hand are D. W. Griffith regulars Mary Alden and Henry B. Walthal as the concerned parents. A young, easily recognizable Clark Gable can be spotted as an extra in the locker room scenes.

The quality of the two prints utilized for this release could not be more different. THE SHOW OFF is in excellent condition, having been taken from an original 35mm print. THE PLASTIC AGE comes from a worn 16mm print that was originally part of the Killiam Collection. The Killiam Collection pioneered silent film preservation back in the 1960s. The movie follows the standard pattern of tinting day scenes sepia while night scenes are tinted blue. While it suffers in comparison to THE SHOW OFF, THE PLASTIC AGE is more than watchable and it preserves a quintessential Clara Bow performance. The idea of combining Louise Brooks and Clara Bow on a DVD double feature was inspired. Hopefully these movies will return to circulation soon...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.