In the 1930s Pathescope decided to sell 9.5mm films for home use.They brought out sound films using optical sound.they made a deal with British Lion.This allowed them to release cut down versions of features normally between 35 and 45 minutes long.During the war the film archive of British Lion was bombed and many of their pre war films were destroyed forever.that is with the happy exception of the films released by Pathescope,albeit in their truncated form. In this film Gee plays the son of a Lord who decides to get a job as a vacuum salesman.He falls for actress Betty Anstell.He follows her to the theatre where she works.By accident he appears on stage with his cleaner.The audience think its an act and applaud him.The management decide to engage him and buy 49 cleaners!Because of his success at selling the cleaners Gees boss decides to back the show he is appearing in.Gees father becomes reconciled to his sons new career and daughter in law.There are some lively chorus routines.Given that the film is now only 35 minutes long there are subtitles used to bridge the gaps in the plot. Gee,now totally unknown,is what in those days would have been called a "silly ass" type of the sort perfected by Claude Hulbert.He wears a monocle to add to th effect.For those interested in films of this era it is a really rather enjoyable little film.
2 Reviews
Looking Through The Dust Bag Of Preservation
boblipton17 October 2020
The copy of this movie that I just looked at was a Pathescope print cut down from 70 minutes to 35, losing some of the story in the process. George K. Gee is a noble twit who decides to break with family tradition and go to work selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door. Through a series of mishaps, he finds himself demonstrating his product in the middle of a leg show, becoming the surprise comedy star of the revue, and selling a lot of vacuum cleaners in the process. He also has to pretend to be the husband of Betty Astell, who is the petite ami of Alfred Wellesley, whose wife, Barbara Gott, has dark suspicions of what is going on. Things end happily.... or at least I imagine they do, given the way this movie is cut down. The gag sequences look like they might in a longer version.
It's all that remains of this collaboration between writer Michael Barringer and director Leslie S. Hiscott. They worked together in these roles on eleven movies from 1932 through 1943, some of which are quite good. This one was produced by British Lion, and their negatives and theatrical prints were destroyed during the Second World War, leaving only a few of these home-movie cutdowns.
It's all that remains of this collaboration between writer Michael Barringer and director Leslie S. Hiscott. They worked together in these roles on eleven movies from 1932 through 1943, some of which are quite good. This one was produced by British Lion, and their negatives and theatrical prints were destroyed during the Second World War, leaving only a few of these home-movie cutdowns.
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