Back at my favorite very local film cult. And Comedy shorts night is always crowded, it was nearly sold out last night. On to the movies:
THE CURE (1916): Charlie Chaplin (shortly after he left Niles) ditches his tramp character for a bit to play an inebriate. He checks into a sanitarium (with a trunk full of liquor) and immediately causes problems. Common Chaplin foil Eric Campbell plays a man suffering from gout, who becomes the target for most of Chaplin's shenanigans. Edna Purviance (whom Chaplin met while working in Niles) plays a girl who convinces him to go sober. Too bad his entire stash of liquor was accidentally dumped into the well of healing water. Very funny.
GET OUT AND GET UNDER (1920): Harold Lloyd is late for his big amateur stage role. No problem, he has his beloved automobile. Problem is, stuff keeps getting in his way. Stuff like arguing with a neighbor, the car stalling, and lots of police chases. But if he doesn't get there in time, his rival will step into the role of the masked prince and he'll lose his girlfriend (Mildred Davis, his future wife).
Then after intermission...
MY WIFE'S RELATIONS (1922): Buster Keaton (rounding out the night of the Big Three) is accidentally married to a rather hefty woman (Kate Price). See, the magistrate in the ethnic part of town only speaks Polish and thought they were the couple coming in to get married. Actually, she was turning him in for breaking a window. But a marriage certificate is issued, and she takes him home to her large, abusive family. Abusive, that is, until they learn he's set to inherit a fortune, and then they have to treat him nice. Pretty funny.
PAS THE GRAVY (1928): A Thanksgiving tradition at the Niles Film Museum, and one of the funniest things I've ever seen (twice now). Neighbors feud, but agree to bury the hatchet for their children's engagement. In fact, they'll have a grand feast. Unfortunately, that feast is accidentally Brigham, one neighbor's prize rooster (BTW, naming the rooster Brigham is an intentional and at the times common dig at famous Mormon polygamist Brigham Young). I've already said too much, you can't describe it you've gotta see it.
And that was last night in Niles.
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