Helter Skelter

Malcolm Sebastian was getting pretty long in the tooth when he made this -- he was six and showing his age -- and it's pretty much the last of his silent starring roles. He is largely relegated to a supporting role and the gags and acting honors go to his dog. Director Charles Lamont pretty much rings all the changes on the dog gags, and the animal is a cute, Airedale looking mutt. More than good enough, especially considering Lamont -- who would go on to discover Shirley Temple and work for Abbott & Costello -- was expert at this sort of kiddie comedy.

The only known copy is a saved-in-the-nick-of-time Kodascope cutdown found by Ben Model and posted to his Youtube site with a new score that makes it moves like a Fox silent comedy. Go take a look.

Malcolm Sebastian was a child actor who made a string of movies back in the 1920s. One of these, "Helter Skelter" exists today but only in a truncated form. Reel one is missing and only the second one remains. What we miss in reel one is that Malcolm and his mother are poor--so poor that they are forced to sell their dog! However, a crook makes off with the dog without paying. Reel two begins with Malcolm getting his dog back and then trying to find someone else to buy it. Unfortunately for a rich, snooty lady, the boy and dog arrive at her home....and the dog makes a huge mess. Again and again, the white dog ends up in one of the fireplaces and runs amok spreading soot everywhere! It's about the messiest film I can recall having seen and it's all very funny until the dog runs away and is hit by a car!! So, the film goes from being very funny to being rather depressing...though the ending remedies this a bit!

So is it any good? Yes....and it really makes you wish that reel #1 still exists, though you CAN see just the second and still enjoy yourself.

The version of this Big Boy short I watched on YouTube had a piano score by Ben Model with the first reel shaking though you still understood what was going on despite that. It seems Big Boy and his dog are making messes wherever they go including making the mom ruin a client's clothing she was ironing. Since she has to pay for that, she doesn't know where to get the money. BB offers to sell the dog. I'll stop there and just say this was quite funny with all the chases (which seem undercranked most of the time) and the messes made throughout most of the short. It threatens to become tragic but since this was a comedy, the outcome is very touching. So that's a high recommendation of Helter Skelter.