Despite the image of a barely 21 year old Louise Brooks on the cover of the DVD with a face still covered in a light coating of baby-fat, this is not a starring role she has here but a very supporting one at that. Lois Wilson and Ford Sterling are the main stars of THE SHOW-OFF. This is the story of a pompous, unlikeable buffoon named Aubrey Piper who, even though he works at a nine-to-five office job has a thing for letting co-workers know how important he is, and how he is to marry an heiress who belongs to one of the most important families of Germantown, PA. However, his fiancée isn't even remotely rich. She's Amy Fisher, and loves him dearly despite of his insufferable character flaw or the fact that he's lied to her about being an office manager with 30 people under him. Once they're married, they move into their tenement apartment, and things get rocky for them. Events reach a head when Aubrey wins the company raffle, wins a car which he promptly crashes into a police officer at the same time that Mr. Fisher dies. Aubrey later has to defend his own name in court and make an attempt to win back his now estranged family who see him as an uncaring man oblivious to other people's troubles. THE SHOW OFF is not a very funny movie despite being billed as a comedy, and was remade several times later on, with Lois Wilson playing the less prominent sister in the following remake. A curious note: it doesn't credit another female performer who has two fairly extended appearances in the movie -- the actress playing the secretary in the office where Aubrey works. The only other standout in her all too brief scenes is Louise Brooks who looks luminous in an otherwise thankless role.
Review of The Show-Off
