Released in 1924 as “The Hollywood Kid” and then truncated, retitled and released in 1961 as a “Comedy Caper” as “Going Hollywood!”, this comedy short stars Charlie Murray and Louise Carver, with Jackie Lucas as “the Hollywood kid”. The film’s plot centers around a producer’s troubles in selecting and “making” a new kid star. The film begins with a husband and wife (Murray and Carver) in their modest home; Murray is washing clothes while his wife works nearby. Some Little Rascals type kids outside are goofing around, launching potatoes using a slingshot. When one of the potatoes hits Murray on the noggin, he resorts to giving the kids a lecture and a spanking. Later they get revenge by siking a pack of dogs on the hapless Murray. At 3:17, an aerial shot of the Mack Sennett Studios changes up the plot — a producer named Max Katz is seen reading a letter addressed to a Mr. Claude Climax. The letter is from Sennett himself, asking Climax to sign a child for a starring role in a new movie. Another producer becomes aware of Katz’s mission and decides to try to sign the kid first. At 4:00 Katz is seen on the phone at the Gold Brick Film Co. while his rival is on the phone in the lobby. The race to sign the kid is on — with Katz and his rival in different jalopy type race cars. After a ridiculous chase scene, Katz’s rival shows up at Murray’s house. Murray is busy spanking the hapless child, when Katz shows up and both he and his rival attempt to sign “the kid”. Katz succeeds in his mission and at 6:00 the kid is now a star! He is shown on the set of a silent movie, surrounded by beautiful women, a director (played by Vernon Dent) and cameraman (Jack Cooper). The rest of the plot is a bit of a muddle. At 11:06, further mayhem ensues on the set as a wind machine is used with Mack Sennett’s cyclorama. This was a spinning scenic backdrop used in silent films. (It’s essentially a large, rotating, curved wall that was used to create a sense of depth and movement, often simulating chases or other action sequences. The cyclorama would rotate clockwise while actors ran counter-clockwise, allowing a fixed camera to keep them in frame.)

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com