The Man on the Box
About The Man on the Box
Bob Warburton hires on as a gardener for Colonel Annesley so he can be near Betty. She finds him out and, to punish him, wants the new gardener to serve at an important lunch. Bob refuses and is replaced by Count Karaloff's butler, Badkoff, who is after the colonel's secret helicopter plans. Disguised as a waitress, Bob stops the theft and wins Betty.
Cast & crew
More about The Man on the Box
Charles Reisner directed and also plays the butler Badkoff. Charles Logue wrote the screenplay from Harold MacGrath's 1904 novel. Ray Enright edited. Warner Bros. released it on 11 October 1925. Warner records list domestic earnings of $425,000 and foreign earnings of $63,000. Wikipedia gives the running time as 80 minutes.
Themes
Making
Reisner is both director and the spy-butler. The budget on Wikipedia is $163,000.
Audiences
Warner Bros. records put the gross at $425,000 domestic and $63,000 foreign.
Preservation
Abridged copies are held by George Eastman House and the UCLA Film & Television Archive. A file is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Sydney Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin's brother, plays Bob Warburton.
- Alice Calhoun plays Betty Annesly. David Butler plays Bob's brother-in-law. Helene Costello plays Bob's sister.
- Charles K. Gerrard plays Count Karaloff. E. J. Ratcliffe plays Colonel Annesly.
- The documents Badkoff is after are secret helicopter plans.
- Abridged copies are at George Eastman House and the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Scenes
- Betty makes the gardener serve at lunch after she catches Bob's disguise.
- Bob, dressed as a waitress, stops Badkoff from taking the colonel's plans.
Influenced by
- Harold MacGrath's 1904 novel The Man on the Box
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (The Man on the Box (1925).ogv)
