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A silent comedy featuring the luminescent Louise Brooks in a secondary role, “The Show off” is the story of Aubrey Piper - a self-promoting windbag full of bluff and blunder. A man of half-truths and self-delusion but much humour, he woos a young woman from a working class family, Amy Fisher, much to the chagrin of her parents. Aubrey lies to her about his income and status within the company for which he works as a clerk and Amy’s parents worry that he is falsely building up their daughter’s dreams of wealth. Clara (Louise Brooks), a neighbour and the girlfriend of Amy’s brother Joe, distrusts Aubrey and seeks an opportunity to expose his deception. Aubrey’s talent for dishonesty and offending the authorities lands him in hot water and the ensuing scandal threatens the ownership of the family home. Social mores and manners of the 1920s are delightfully recreated here in an agreeable combination of satire and melodrama. Ford Sterling - the corpulent funny man best known for his work in Keystone cops - is excellent as the delusional Aubrey. Silent film with intertitles in English and musical score. Note this copy is NTSC, please check your equipment.
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Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
317472
Subject categories
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Family - United States
Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Swindlers and swindling
Feature films → Feature films - United States
Literature → American literature - Film and video adaptations
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)