Movie Age (1927)

DECEMBER 24, 1927. PAGE 27 SHORT SUBJECTS Spice of the Box Office Honest and Truly Universal — One Reel. A group of children playing Indians ask Puffy to tell them a story. He pic¬ tures to them his experience as an early adventurer in the far west. Wild Oscar, a desperado, has put a number of sher¬ iffs out of business. A $5,000 reward is offered for his capture. The last of the sheriffs quits his job, intimidated by the outlaw. Puffy puts on the badge. He make Wild Oscar wilder and then tames him. For this he is taken into the pony express service. While riding with the mail bag a band of Indians waylay him. His horse refuses to cross a stream that will cut him off from the red men. He carries the steed across and is repaid by the animal with a kick that drops Puffy into the midst of the Indians, but he outwits, outfights and especially outruns the tribe. A Run for His Money Universal — Two Reels. Harold Highbrow is entrusted by his employer to deposit the day’s receipts in the bank. Harold is nothing if not absent minded! On the way to the bank he drops the bank book and money into the hat of a blind beggar. The beggar is not too blind to take advantage of his luck and tries to make a get away. He is chased by the crowd and sudden¬ ly encounters Harold, who is surprised to have the money, which he hadn’t missed, returned to him. Annie, the charwoman, has visited the bank in the meantime to find it closed. She decides the cashier has absconded with her em¬ ployer’s funds and starts with her neigh¬ bors in hot pursuit. They ruch to the bank and mob the cashier, who has just returned. When the dust clears they discover that it is “National Prune Day,” for which celebration the bank has been closed. Harold doesn’t yet know what it is all about! Fiddlesticks Pathe — Two Reels Harry Langdon made this comedy long before the joined the ranks of First National. But the picture has been held up for various reasons. It is a typical old timer Langdon comedy with plenty of fun. Harry is a lover of music and takes up the bass violin with the ambi¬ tion to become an accomplished musi¬ cian. Harry’s family can stand the ter¬ rible groans of the instrument no long¬ er and he is told to leave his happy home. He joins a street band, but he is so unskilled in his art that the band fires him. At last Harry decides to sell his instrument and he goes to a junk dealer for a price. The dealer asks Harry to play the big violin first be¬ fore the purchase. Harry obliges and a rain of junk descends from disgusted listeners. The junk dealer sees Har¬ ry’s possibilities so he hires him to play. When the junk is thrown, the dealer gathers the pots and pans for his busi¬ ness. The Bull Fighter Pathe Two Reels Madeline Hurlock and Billy Bevan supply the comedy action in this Pathe two-reeler. Madeline is a nice young girl who resents the efforts of her fam¬ ily to marry her off to a man Madeline doesn’t like. So our heroine decides to leave home and is chased by her irate parents. Madeline becomes a hobo, dis¬ guising herself as a man. She falls in with a bevy of tramps after disguising herself as a scare-crow to elude her folks. A burlesque on the bull fight stories takes place when the angry bull is fought in a farmyard. Billy Bevar. is the comic toreador but he fails to win the heart of Madeline. It’s a typical Mack Sennett. The Stork Exchange Paramount — One Reel Krazy Kat works a new angle in this single reel Paramount cartoon. Krazy interrupts the stork who is making speed in delivering a baby. After many hu¬ morous situations, Krazy accidentally falls down the chimney of a house and is mistaken for the expected child. He is welcomed with great gusto by the parents. Rats In His Garret Pathe — One Reel Here we have the old time Aesops fable cast in a very typical round of fun with Farmer A1 Falfa, as usual, having his trouble with the animal neigh¬ bors. The farmer’s load of wheat is stolen by some mice and so he decides to get rid of the pests. He hires a dog to chase the mice into a trap. The dog succeeds partly as the mice escape and the close-out shows the mice disappear¬ ing down the road with the dog at their heels. Hello Sailor Educational — Two Reels The fleet is home from a foreign cruise, with every sailor anxious to visit his sweetheart. Nip and Wally come ashore in the same boat, each with a note in his pocket from a sweetheart inviting him to call. Nip takes a bus, but finds riding it is harder than a de¬ stroyer in a storm. Arriving at the girl’s address, Wally comes up. Both think the same girl has written to both, when they find one who says she wrote the note. Each proposes, but Wally is accepted. Nip is furious, but hunts up the girl again and is accepted. Wally then gets mad, reproaches the girl for jilting him and she tells him she never accepted him. Nip also is told the same thing and there is a merry mix-up in which he gets a black eye. Wally then gets one, too, the room being wrecked in the fracas. While they are sitting in the ruins, they look up and see two girls exactly alike. They think they have gone crazy until the girls explain they are twins. Lupino Lane is the star of “Hello Sailor.” Oh, What a Man Educational — Two Reels Larry Semon has just joined the de¬ tective force when there comes a call from headquarters for aid in catching Desperate Della, the toughest gal that ever packed a gun and a lipstick in the same handbag. Larry volunteers and is assigned to bring in the wild woman. He finds her and she is as beautiful as an ace full of kings, but so hard that she knocks Larry’s two aides horizontal with one sweep of her manicured hand. She twists Larry’s handcuffs into pretzels and in the chase leads him to a night club, where he is spotted by Della and her gang. He is the target for their guns, but the bullets hit everything but Larry. The hero and his bunch corner the crooks in the cellar and in the slug¬ ging match that follows Larry slugs every head that shows — and finds he has laid out his own crew. Della falls in love with him and tries to vamp him. Larry is tricked in the cellar when Dirty Dan cops the jewels, double cross¬ es Della and starts away. Della and Larry start pursuit on a motorcycle, in a ride that has plenty of thrills. But Larry captures the crook, recovers the jewels and the picture ends with every¬ thing under control.