The Show-Off (1926) User Reviews

Ford Sterling shows off his comedic talents in this funny silent comedy.

[Art-22 · 7/10 · 15 December 1998]

George Kelly's often-revived witty 1924 play was filmed no less than 4 times, attesting to the durability of its comedy content. This is the first filming, a silent movie with Ford Sterling as the blowhard liar, saying anything to make himself look great at all times. Of course, he fools no one except Lois Wilson, who has stars in her eyes and loves him. Her mother and father dislike him, while the other clerks at the office call him "Carnation Charlie" because he wears carnations like all the executives, which he claims to be outside of his office. So Sterling and Wilson marry, but have trouble paying all the bills. Tragedy strikes when Wilson's father dies, so the couple plan to move back into her mother's house. As luck would have it, Sterling does win a car that was being raffled off. In what is surely the funniest sequence in the movie, he picks the car up not knowing how to drive, causes some accidents by driving in the wrong lane, has the traffic cop running for his life trying the evade his car, and finally crashes the car against a building pinning the cop. At his court hearing, the judge asks for witnesses against him to stand up and most of the packed courthouse stand. To set an example, the judge sentences him to 3 months or $500, but because of Sterling's bluster, doubles the fine. Wilson's brother (Gregory Kelly) pays the fine with the $1000 check his father gave him before he died, to use to pay the mortgage. He feels that it's better to lose the house than to have a family member go to jail. Kelly had been dabbling with a rust-proof paint but was having trouble convincing steel executives to use his process. To make amends, Sterling goes to the steel people to see what he can do, just as the banker comes with papers to foreclose on the mortgage.

The film also features the legendary beautiful Louise Brooks as (literally) the girl next door, sort of Kelly's girl since they are always seen together. It's a small role, but she's a pleasure to watch. Sterling was a knockabout comedian who played the chief of the Keystone Kops under Mack Sennett, but plays this role very much like it was written. I saw a stage production of the play in 1995 at Baltimore's prestigious Center Stage and noted it was a one-set play. This film opens up the play, and we see parts of Philadelphia, and also see the wonderful car episode and and court trial, while you just hear about it in the play. These sequences alone make the film worth watching. Kino International distributes a video with a snappy violin and piano score, which I saw on a cable channel.

Aubrey Piper's obnoxiousness heard loud & clear in this silent film

[stwhite · 8/10 · 11 January 2004]

I enjoyed stepping back in time to the 1920s to view this film. The story is fairly predictable, but is given a strong shot in arm with an outstanding cast and direction of Malcolm St. Clair. I think we've all known someone similar to the main character, Aubrey Piper, "The Show Off". Aubrey Piper not only exaggerates his own self importance, but is incredibly loud and obnoxious in the process- From his loud bursts of laughter at inappropriate moments, to his backslapping, to his bragging and lying, Ford Sterling does not need sound to portray Aubrey Piper in this manner. Louise Brooks is superb and makes the most in her supporting role as the girl friend of Aubrey's girl friend's brother. The scene where she catches Aubrey, whose invited himself to dinner at the Fisher house, counting the portions during the prayer before dinner is priceless in a hilarious way. Again, no words needed, Louise's expression says it all. I was also impressed with the way that Louise and her co-star Gregory Kelly played the scene in which they react to the death of "Pop Fisher". No words or subtitles were needed, it was not overplayed, and was quite convincing. It was a bit of a stretch to believe that Aubrey's fiancee played by Lois Wilson, Amy Fisher (no, not that Amy Fisher) didn't see Aubrey as what he was and remained devoted to him, but hey I guess love can make us blind to the obvious faults of the ones we love. This is evident when she tells her mother that she'll marry Aubrey "out of spite." POSSIBLE SPOILER: It's even more difficult to believe the final conflict resolution, when Aubrey, a $30 per week railroad clerk, takes the rust free paint invention of Amy's brother to the board of a company and persuades them to buy it after her brother was unsuccessful in finding a buyer. But hey, this isn't Lawrence of Arabia or any epic like that, but rather a light comedy with a bit of drama done over 75 years ago and I think it stands up well over the test of time. If only more silents like this would have been preserved, especially Louise Brooks and Clara Bow Paramount films. 8/10

What a Find! A Fun and Easy to Watch Silent Gem!

[Chance2000esl · 8/10 · 31 January 2008]

Wow! What a find! I saw this movie as part of a 'double feature' with Clara Bow's formulaic 'The Plastic Age,' (1925) and this is clearly the better film!

It stars Ford Sterling (Ford Sterling? Of the Keystone Kops?)-- yes! Ford Sterling -- who gives a bravura performance as Aubrey Perry, a boastful, lying, pompous, windbag blowhard. Today, it's easy for us to get quickly caught up in this kind of character's boastful story telling, because we watch 'George Costanza' every night on the TV sitcom 'Seinfeld,' waiting and hoping for him to get his comeuppance.

It's easy to play the character too broadly and make Perry unsympathetic and boring, but the good script and Malcolm St. Clair's tight direction keep Sterling under control. St. Clair is best remembered as the director of a wide load of forgotten films, but he did direct the best of the six (!?) Lum and Abner pictures, 'Two Weeks to Live' (1943).

Aubrey Perry is a big meaty role -- no wonder it's been done four times! This was the first version of the play "The Show Off," by George Kelly, the others featured Spencer Tracy as Perry in 1934, Red Skelton in 1946 and the Great One, Jackie Gleason himself, in the TV version in 1956. In all these versions we can easily imagine and hear how they would do the part. But here, in the 'quaint' Silent Era, Sterling knows how to makes full use of his mastery of mime, body language and facial expressions to bring the character to life, and he carries the whole film easily.

During the whole movie you need to do a lot of lip reading for dialog not in the intertitles, but it's worth it. When he is explaining how he wrecked his new car (which he won in a raffle, but says he bought by selling automobile stock given to him by his uncle -- and it wasn't Art Vandelay!), Perry's story telling and gestures look so effortless and natural.

This Paramount film has no stagy or herky-jerky motions that we associate with the films of Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, the Sennnett Keystone Kops or early films of the teen years. In fact, if you look at movies from the major studios of MGM or Paramount during the twenties, you won't see any -- just quality film making.

There's only one slapstick sequence, the clichéd out of control automobile (driven by Perry) careening wildly down a main street sending cops scurrying; it goes on a little too long, and seems out of place, given the mood and style of the rest of the film (of course, the scene wasn't in the play). Because of that I can only give the movie an 8. If you watch it either as an introduction to the glories of quality silent films, or to see Ford Sterling's best film performance, you won't be disappointed by picking this one. It's great!

Note: Also featured is Louise Brooks, with her trademark bangs, a few years before she made Pandora's Box (1929).

Very enjoyable--unlike the later sound version with Spencer Tracy

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 31 July 2008]

This film was based on a play that has been around a long time and been made into films on several occasions. As far as I know, this is the earliest version, though I know they also made a 1930 version as well as an awful one in 1934 (starring Spencer Tracy) and yet another in 1946 with Red Skelton. I've seen the 1934 version and had I realized that this 1926 film was essentially the same plot, I probably wouldn't have watched it! That's because the 1934 film was horrible--with Tracy playing the most obnoxious and detestable character I can think of one film! While the plot is very similar to the 1934 film which I disliked, there is enough different about it so that I do recommend you see this film. First, this is a rare case where a film is better as a silent because listening to the title character brag and talk incessantly really gets on your nerves when it's a talkie. But, silencing the guy made it much more bearable. Also, the intensity of his boorishness is less in this film, as Tracy (still relatively new to acting) actually way over-played the part. Ford Sterling, in contrast, had a performance that was a bit more comical as well as not so unlikable.

I won't say much about the plot, as I don't want to spoil it. However, here's the basic outline: Sterling plays a braggart who is always making it sound as if he's a big-wig with the railroad. In reality, he's just another clerk. He manages to convince a dim girl from a nice family that he's rich and successful, so she marries him. Only after the wedding does she realize who he really is. Unfortunately, like for them is tough, as Sterling can't support them with his meager salary and extravagant spending. What happens next and how he manages to turn things around is just something you'll need to see for yourself.

A good film, though one that you don't need to rush to see. And please, do NOT see the 1934 version unless you are a glutton for punishment!

First film version of George Kelly play mildly entertaining

[pooch-8 · 7 January 1999]

The chief reason to see Malcolm St. Clair's production of The Show-Off today is the presence of luminous Louise Brooks, who (as usual) lights up the screen with an intensity and beauty that far exceeds the requirements of her small "girl next door" role. Ford Sterling (best known as the chief of the Keystone Kops) plays the title part, and he does very little (until it is far too late) to make the character even remotely likable. His Aubrey Piper is such an insufferable blowhard that Brooks' vicious admonishment of his boorish behavior is one of the film's highlights.

"Expired" but worth watching

[Man-cheong · 6/10 · 26 June 2022]

The earliest film adaptation of George Kelly's Broadway comedy, and is the only silent version. (There are three other versions in 1934, 1946, and "Men Are Like That" by Herman Mankiewicz in 1930). It tells the story of a bragger, causing his family to fall into a dreadful situation, and finally make it up. The story is very old-fashioned and so has not been adapted since the 1950s, it is "expired" like the playwright. Though the protagonist is annoying, the narrative is smooth and Louise Brooks is gorgeous too, it is still worth watching. (04/07)

Overall well made and appreciable, if undercut by an almost senseless ending

[I_Ailurophile · 7/10 · 30 August 2023]

By the tone it carries and the scenes of the most significant silliness one can suppose that this was originally intended to be a comedy, or at least a comedy-drama. Just shy of one hundred years later, however, it doesn't come off quite the same way. Protagonist Aubrey is a recklessly self-important, boastful, lying buffoon with such an extraordinarily inflated sense of self that he puts everyone around him at risk of home and hearth and life and limb. Most any given instance of his incredible, dangerous arrogance is intended to be funny, but instead it simply comes off as appalling as he believes himself incapable of doing any wrong, and those around him to be at fault for his every folly. Rest assured that 'The show-off' is well made and appreciable, but even before the more plainly dramatic turn in the latter half, "entertaining" is perhaps an inappropriate descriptor for how it looks in 2023.

Whether or not one perceives the humor with which it may have been shaped, the story is firmly compelling - if decidedly dour - as we follow the woes of the wholly vexing protagonist, and of the unfortunate family into which he has somehow been able to marry. The scene writing, and dialogue as imparted through intertitles, relate one bad turn after another, ever lowering the depths to which Aubrey sinks and drags down his betters. Even at that the writing is generally smart, rich, and flavorful, including some choice language in the dialogue, and one can see the wit that would feasibly earn laughs if the feature were built that way. With that said, the most distinct problem with this also lies in its writing, whether that's attributable to playwright George Kelly or adapting screenwriter Pierre Collings. It's one matter to say that the protagonist's oafish behavior and attitude is intended to funny, even if it's not. Far worse than this, however, is that we are supposed to believe that Aubrey has learned something at the end, yet not only has his behavior not meaningfully changed, but the same behavior that has made him a wrecking ball all the while is now what allows him to succeed and come off as a hero. Excuse me? I guess the producers wanted a happy ending, but the one we get is neither realistic nor sensible from a storytelling perspective, and establishes a very backwards, ill-considered "moral" for the tale.

To be perfectly honest, the climax and ending makes my favor take a substantial hit. I still think this is worthwhile on its own merits for the strength of everything else about it, but it's hard to give 'The show-off' an especially recommendation when it shoots itself in the proverbial foot right when it matters the most. Those who do come across this and choose to watch, however, will at least be greeted by excellent cinematography and direction. The cast give commendable performances of emotion and personality, with no one necessarily standing out above another - though as I've seen Claire McDowell elsewhere and admired her, and am already a huge fan of Louise Brooks, naturally I'm most inclined to look to them. The sets, costume design, and hair and makeup are all lovely, and it's worth observing that in terms of its production values the title has scarcely aged a day since 1926 - the image is as crisp and clear as could be. All this is well and good. I just wish that we were given a resolution to the plot, no matter how depressing, that was reasonable for what the narrative had otherwise been building for the entire rest of these eighty-two minutes.

In light of that final fatal flaw I'm likely being more generous in my assessment than I should be. Still, if one is a fan of the silent era, or of those involved, this retains value both for what is mostly done well and as a surviving movie of the time - and especially of Brooks, whose list of credits is all too few. 'The show-off' deserves a look if you have the chance, but don't go out of your way for it, and keep in mind that it is much less than perfect.

Early Louise Brooks Movie Shows She Has Style

[springfieldrental · 8/10 · 7 March 2022]

Viewing photos of young women living during the Jazz Age, with their flapper attire and bob haircuts, today's viewers could easily select actress Louise Brooks as the prototype modern female of the Roaring '20s. In photos and in the movies, Ms. Brooks possessed the definitive swagger and confidence of that wild era. Along with her looks and unique style, Brooks rode the wave of stardom in the mid-to-late 1920s.

No finer example of her unique screen persona while she was just getting into cinema is on full display in August 1926's "The Show-Off." Brooks plays the girlfriend of a next door neighbor family's son whose sister is dating a braggart, loud-mouth phony. The entire clan, including Brooks, knows the sister Amy's (Lois Wilson) boyfriend is a complete ass. She ends up marrying Aubrey (Ford Sterling) almost to spite her parents, who detests the man. Things get interesting when Aubrey wins a car at a raffle, but is clueless how to drive it. An amusing sequence of him trying to maneuver the vehicle all over the place, including driving the wrong direction in a one-way street, lands him in court.

The movie and the 1924 play, which has been adapted four times for film, is set in North Philadelphia. The George Kelly Broadway stage play was a huge hit and ran for 571 performances. "The Show-Off' was voted for a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, but its sponsor, Columbia University, withdrew the sure win, citing a comedy was not becoming of the illustrious prize, despite an immediate uproar to reverse decision.

"The Show-Off" stayed pretty close to the play even though the inter titles were spare, despite evidence of the yapping in the silent movie being extensive. Brooks is the first to call Aubrey out with her honesty and decisive demeanor. The Kansas-born actress was 15-years-old when she became a member of a Los Angeles modern dance troupe, globetrotting throughout London and Paris before latching on to the Ziegfeld Follies two years later. A Paramount Pictures' producer noticed her and signed her to a five year contract. The producer, Walter Wanger, invited her to a cocktail party where she met Charlie Chaplin, recently married to Lita Grey. The two hit it off and had a two-month affair. "The Show-Off" was her fifth movie for Paramount, exhibiting a unique screen presence like no other actress had done before.

Actor Gregory Kelly plays Brooks' boyfriend in the movie, where he has invented a formula for a rust-inhibitor. Kelly was the first husband to actress Ruth Gordon, meeting her on the New York stage. Kelly, primarily a stage actor, was in only two movies, "The Show-Off" being his last. He died of heart disease a year after making the movie at 35.

Ford Sterling, as the show-off, was the original police chief in the Keystone Cops in 1912. Many critics who have seen the remakes of the George Kelly play, including the 1934 "The Show-Off" with Spencer Tracy, and the 1946 version with Red Skelton, claim Sterling's portrayal of a loud-mouth was the best. Talkies tend to make obnoxious blowhards unbearable to hear constantly. Sterling reputation as being the best blowhard may be because members of the audiences are spared with his constant loud harping ringing the ears of the most patient viewer.

Louise lights up the screen

[jimi99 · 8/10 · 18 March 2011]

I also saw this on the DVD double in which it is paired with Clara Bow's "The Plastic Age". That is the one I mainly wanted to see, as I only recently became aware of the incredible talents of Bow in "It" and "Wings". But "The Show Off" was the better of the two, solely for the talent and charisma of Louise Brooks in a supporting role.

I thought of Bix Biederbeck, popular at the same time, the Jazz age of the '20s, in watching Louise in this rather trifling comedy. Bix played in some competent bands, but when he began playing his solo, it had the glitter of a diamond that still has the power to excite to this day and elevated the material to greatness. And Louise Brooks, playing the good and sensible girl next door, has that same brilliant quality in every gesture and expression, however subtle. She would of course go on to star in some much heavier films as a vamp or a "fallen woman" and is considered one of the great silent stars because of those roles, but her early performance here is just a joy to behold.

BTW, Clara Bow is also wonderful in "The Plastic Age". It's a shame that more of her films aren't available for viewing, she was a great actress and a groundbreaking star.

Before She Became an Icon

[nycritic · 5/10 · 4 July 2006]

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.

Louise "Mixed In"

[tedg · 2 May 2008]

This is a rather unremarkable movie made remarkable by the presence of Louise Brroks as a secondary character.

She really was a remarkable presence, someone who affected women, all women by mere being.

The interesting thing is that she was never seductive in a fleshy sort of way. Her figure is rather ordinary, which is to say realistic.

She had a pretty face, but no more so than hundreds of others from the era. What she had instead was a sense of self that seemingly by accident was conveyed by the camera. Even today, it is remarkable, though it surely has a different effect. She seems to have been one of the smartest women to pass through Hollywood. She's famous for crediting her success merely on knowing how to dress, carry herself, and maintain an attitude. All three of these were emulated, especially the hair style.

So she is of historical interest and is worth seeing on that score alone. But she still controls the whole movie, even though here she literally is the girl next door and is engaged to a nerdy inventor runt. There are some interesting long shots in this, every one of them built around her presence. One is at the hospital where a key character has died. The set was built in such a way that a long shot could frame Louise and a few others with the space forming a set of frames, all centered on her. Its amazingly powerful in an otherwise vacuous movie.

But somehow the way the story ends might have had her in mind. A plot device has Louise's boyfriend as the inventor of an antirust mixture that he can't sell — presumably because the steel companies know it would flake off. The blowhard successfully sells it for a fortune by suggesting that it be mixed into the smelt. That's Louise. Its from the inside.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

Louise Brooks makes the film

[Bernie4444 · 8/10 · 10 April 2024]

This is another good film to add to your Lulu collection. This is a screen adaptation of George Kelly's play "The Show Off - A transcript of life in three acts" by George Kelly in 1923. The title tells it all. A show-off Aubrey Piper, (Ford Sterling) through misleads, misdeeds a family into ruin.

Louise Brooks plays Clara, Joe's Girl.

This 82-minute film is backed up with a violin and piano score, directed and compiled by Timothy Brock. Timothy Brock is a composer of concert hall and film music, and the conductor/music director of the Olympia Chamber Orchestra in Olympia, Washington, USA.

You may notice one of the filming locations as Broad Street Station - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

A wonderful silent comedy

[Paularoc · 8/10 · 5 April 2015]

Having only seen a couple of Keystone Kops comedies, I hadn't realized what a gifted comedic actor Ford Sterling was before seeing this movie. He's great as the loud mouthed, pompous, lying braggart Aubrey Piper. For some inexplicable reason, the much younger and beautiful Amy Fisher (Lois Wilson) falls in love with and marries him. Piper pretends to be a railroad executive when in fact he's a lowly crook. His colleagues laugh behind his back, calling him "Carnation" Charlie for the airs he puts on. But Amy loves and supports him even though her family and every one else finds him obnoxious. There's a great scene where Aubrey explains in gestures how an automobile accident happened - no title cards, yet it was perfectly understandable and amusing. Also top notch and funny was the court room scene. In spite of all logic, Aubrey actually saves the family from financial ruin (but he was the one who got them into the financial mess in the first place). It's unlikely that Aubrey learned anything positive from this near disaster and he probably becomes even more of a braggart. Poor Amy. As Ma Fisher so aptly puts it in the last title card line: "Heaven help me from now on!" Highly recommended.

A must for both Ford Sterling and Louise Brooks fans!

[JohnHowardReid · 9/10 · 3 April 2015]

Although he is little remembered today, dramatist George Kelly won the Pulitzer Prize twice! The Show-Off was his first award, but the Pulitzer trustees didn't like the idea of awarding the prize to a comedy, so they diverted the 1924 award to Hell-Bent for Heaven instead! At least this unexpected publicity brought the long-running play (571 performances on Broadway) to the attention of Paramount's Astoria Studios where this delightful comedy was directed by Mal St Clair who also did wonders on location in Philadelphia. (I would select the street scene in which the camera tracks with Ford Sterling as one of the Ten Best location set-ups ever made). Of course, the movie's main attraction today is fifth-billed Louise Brooks and it's pleasing to report that despite her billing, she does enjoy a reasonable amount of screen time. In fact all the players (except the plainly ill Gregory Kelly who died on July 9, 1927) render very agreeable performances, particularly ever-reliable Ford Sterling and Broadway actor Charles Goodrich in his second and final movie appearance. Available on a superb Image DVD.