The Candy Kid
About The Candy Kid
Tony and Hugo run rival candy shops and keep fighting over the cashier who pulls customers from one side of the street to the other. Tony has a bomb made to blow up Hugo's store and advertises for a strong man to throw it. Billy West, got up as a tramp in the Chaplin manner, takes the job. He throws the bomb, then saves Hugo's wife from it. Hugo gives him work in the shop. Billy fights both owners with whatever is at hand and tips a keg of molasses over them. They stick in it while he walks off up the street.
Cast & crew
More about The Candy Kid
Arvid E. Gillstrom directed. Louis Burstein produced for King-Bee Films. Herman Obrock Jr. photographed. The Bee-Hive Exchange distributed it. Silent Era dates the release 15 October 1917. Two reels. A Motography synopsis of 27 October 1917 names the owners Tony and Hugo. Oliver Hardy, billed as Babe Hardy, and Leo White play the rival proprietors. Ethel Cassity, also spelled Cassidy, is the cashier. Bud Ross is the cook. Leatrice Joy is also billed. A print exists. Silent Era lists it as public domain in the United States.
Themes
Making
King-Bee was Louis Burstein's company, set up to star Billy West in two-reel Chaplin imitations. Hardy, still billed as Babe, plays one of the shopkeepers.
Look
Herman Obrock Jr. photographed the facing candy shops and the street between them.
Preservation
A print exists and is in the public domain in the United States. A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- West is imitating Chaplin's tramp, which was the King-Bee line.
- One shop bit has him swatting flies with a carpet beater and hitting Hardy on the head.
- A Moving Picture World item about the shoot has a cat walking into a scene and dropping four kittens at West's feet while he is calling for men.
Scenes
- Tony advertises for a strong man to throw a bomb into Hugo's shop, and West applies.
- The bomb lands on Hugo's wife; West knocks it away and is given a job.
- Tony and Hugo end stuck in a keg of molasses West has overturned.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (The Candy Kid (1917).webm)
