MovieChat Forums > The Better 'Ole (1926) Discussion > Clean-up routine with the chairs

Clean-up routine with the chairs


There's a moment in this film just before the performance for the troops, in the improvised auditorium, when Syd is cleaning up the stage. I was a little surprised to see him fling several chairs over his arm, to the point where he looks like a porcupine. Then, for good measure, he hoists a piano with his free arm, and carries it off stage, along with the many chairs.

Why was I surprised? Because this routine is identical to one performed by Syd's brother Charlie in Behind the Screen, a two-reeler made for Mutual ten years earlier. Charlie's short was well known, and still in circulation in the '20s. You'd think that Syd would want to avoid comparisons with his brother, unless this was intended as some kind of inside joke.

reply