The Hollywood Kid
About The Hollywood Kid
Charlie Murray and Louise Carver play parents whose small son is spotted by Vernon Dent and pulled into the Sennett studio. The joke is that the boy is photogenic while his parents look permanently sour. On the lot, Phyllis Haver, Madeline Hurlock, Ben Turpin, and Andy Clyde turn up backstage. In Sennett's office the floor is covered with custard pies, two comics fight to prove who is funnier, and Dent pitches a story. A studio lion walks in. Everyone else runs. Sennett finishes his phone call, shoos the lion out, and tells his secretary to keep that cat out of the office.
Cast & crew
More about The Hollywood Kid
Mack Sennett produced it. Roy Del Ruth directed; some credits also list Del Lord. Pathé Exchange distributed it on April 20, 1924. Rotten Tomatoes lists a 15-minute cut and names John A. Waldron as a writer with Sennett. William Hornbeck edited. Wikidata gives the length as 21 minutes.
Themes
Background
By 1924 Sennett was releasing two-reel comedies through Pathé, with Del Ruth directing many of them before he moved on to features.
Making
Sennett's 1920s shorts were still built on pies, bathing beauties, and a studio lion, but this one hangs those gags on a child being talent-scouted. Marie Prevost and Billy Bevan are also named in a cast blurb used by Moviefone.
Preservation
Most prints in circulation were a one-reel shortening. Dave Glass reconstructed a longer cut in 2021 from several sources.
Notes
- Mack Sennett appears as himself, bored behind the desk while the office collapses.
- The line he gives the secretary is 'Keep that cat from coming in my office!'
- Andy Clyde plays more than one part, which the Sennett unit called his usual double duty.
- The lion gag has been lifted into later documentaries as a sample of the studio, often without naming this short.
- For years the picture circulated mainly as a one-reel cutdown.
- In 2021 Dave Glass reassembled a longer version from several sources.
Scenes
- Vernon Dent talent-scouts Murray and Carver's son.
- Two comedians fight with pies on the floor of Sennett's office while Dent pitches a picture.
- The studio lion walks in, the room clears, and Sennett finishes his telephone call before pushing the animal out.
Quotes
Keep that cat from coming in my office!
