At Your Service

Apparently the main characters in this silent short, James and George, were based on comic strip characters though I have never seen this strip. The pair are seen driving down the street in an extremely dilapidated vehicle and they stop when they see a sign on a restaurant window asking for buyers OR someone willing to trade for the business. Well, given that the car is a mess, they figure to make a killing by trading it for the restaurant. The deal is made, but the boys soon see why the guy was so eager to make the trade--the business is very, very poor. Heck, after giving it a try, they couldn't get a single customer. And, by the time the film ends, they're back to where they started.

Nothing particularly earth-shaking here, but the film is amiable and worth watching if you are a fan of the genre.

I was once asked if all of the silent film comedians were named Billy. "No," I replied, "Several are named Sid Smith" and the Sid Smith who appears in this one is one of the best. Along with ex-Keystoner Harry MacCoy, he shows up in this short for Columbia based on a wildly popular comic strip of the era, 'The Hall Room Boys.' Their gags are inventive and fairly unusual, like the way MacCoy gets a customer in their diner to take off his hat.

This Sid Smith lasted until 1927, leaving a body of very strong comedies, particularly in the work he did with Paul Parrott in the two years previous to this one. No much of his work, alas, survives, but this one does and it well worth your time.