He's in Again
| He's in Again | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Charley Chase |
| Written by | Vincent Bryan |
| Produced by | Milton Cohen |
| Starring | Oliver Hardy |
Release date |
|
Running time | 24 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | Silent film English intertitles |
He's in Again is a 1918 American silent comedy film starring Billy West and featuring Oliver Hardy.[1] It is one of the several films where West imitates Charlie Chaplin. The director was Charles Parrott, later known as Charley Chase.
Plot
[edit]A restaurant is offering a female floor show: "Girls Direct from Paris (Texas)". A Chaplinesque fellow (Billy West) tries to crash the door, and eventually gets past the bouncer.
The waiter (Oliver Hardy) gives Billy a seat at a small table and offers him the menu. Billy rips up the menu and asks for a large beer. The waiter brings it but wants his five cents. The penniless Billy keeps trying to sneak a sip of beer while the waiter is distracted, but the waiter always catches on and ejects Billy.
Back inside, the boss tells the waiter to bring the tramp back in to work for the five cents. Billy goes to work at the bar, where a patron tries to con him out of a drink. Next, a floor-show dancer (Blanche Payson) orders a cocktail, but Billy shakes and the cocktail stays still.
A dancer, Beda Thara (a play on silent-screen vamp Theda Bara) takes the stage. She flirts with a drunk and dances with a fake snake. The drunk asks the manager to invite her to his table. She was wearing a veil, so Billy disguises himself and takes her place.
Next Billy serves a young couple, but disapproves that the man is trying to get the girl to drink strong spirits. Billy disposes of the girl's drink, and then swaps a second one for a soft drink.
The next attraction in the show is a boxing match. Prizefighter Kid Bogan has not turned up. The boss offers Billy $5 to fight in his place. He has to fight Battling Gink - the man who was with the girl. Billy fumbles and stumbles in the ring but manages to score two knockouts.
Billy wins the prize money. The Gink, taking out his own bottle of spirits, tries to kiss the girl. The tramp grabs him and knocks him out again.
Cast
[edit]- Billy West as A Customer
- Oliver Hardy as Head Waiter (as Babe Hardy)
- Leo White as The Prize Fighter
- Ethelyn Gibson as The Girl
- Blanche Payson as The Dancer
- Charley Chase as Piano Player (as Charles Parrott)
- Bud Ross as A Drunk (as Budd Ross)
- Stanton Heck
Production
[edit]He's in Again was produced by Louis Burstein's King Bee company, and was one of a series of popular Billy West comedies. By late 1918 King Bee was in financial trouble and was bought out by Milton Cohen's Bulls Eye [sic] company. Cohen acquired He's in Again from King Bee[2] and made it Bulls Eye's first Billy West release.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ He's in Again at silentera.com
- ^ Exhibitors Herald, June 7, 1919, p. 10.