Pass the Gravy
About Pass the Gravy
Schultz’s prize rooster, Brigham, keeps getting into neighbor Max Davidson’s flower garden. When Schultz’s son becomes engaged to Davidson’s daughter, the fathers call a truce and plan a dinner. Davidson gives his boy Ignatz two dollars to buy a chicken. Ignatz keeps the money and cooks Brigham instead. The first-prize tag is still on the drumstick, and the table tries to hide it from Schultz.
Cast & crew
More about Pass the Gravy
Fred Guiol directed. Leo McCarey supervised and shares the writing credit with Hal Roach, who produced. George Stevens photographed it. Richard C. Currier edited. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released the two-reeler in January 1928.
Themes
Making
McCarey is the supervisor, not the sole director. Guiol staged the dinner.
Look
George Stevens shot the dinner, including the prize tag still tied to the cooked drumstick.
Music
Silent.
Preservation
Selected for the National Film Registry in 1998. A print is on the Internet Archive.
Notes
- Martha Sleeper plays the daughter. Spec O’Donnell is Ignatz. Bert Sprotte and Gene Morgan play the fathers’ generation opposite Max Davidson.
- Ignatz calls an ambulance to stand by before he runs off.
- The engaged couple act out a rooster, including the woman laying an egg, to make Davidson understand.
- The drumstick then becomes a game of keep-away, with forward passes and tackles.
- The Library of Congress placed it on the National Film Registry in 1998.
Awards
- National Film Registry (1998)
Scenes
- Ignatz serves Brigham with the first-prize tag still on the leg.
- The couple mime a rooster until Davidson understands.
- The drumstick is thrown and tackled like a football.
Also available
- Internet Archive (pass-the-gravy_1928)
