This has a pretty good story that works rather well as a send-up of some of the aspects of contemporary movie-making, and Lloyd Hamilton does a solid job as the main character. Roscoe Arbuckle wrote and directed the feature (under a pseudonym, since he was blacklisted at the time), and it's unfortunate that he could not have starred in it, since Arbuckle was one of the best comic actors of his time in performing just this kind of material. But it's not bad as it is, especially since Arbuckle's story contains some clever ideas.
Hamilton plays a boy from the country who finds big city life too fast-paced, getting into a series of altercations with police and with a tough guy played by Arthur Thalasso. The high point comes when Hamilton appears also as himself, which sets up the climax to the movie. The double exposure works seamlessly to make for an amusing scene with Hamilton's two characters. Thalasso and Hamilton work well enough together to make their slapstick scenes generally entertaining.
Beyond the slapstick, it works rather well as an amusing look at the actors and others who make the movies. The sequence in the café has many enjoyable details, and on a lighter level, at least, it works well as a humorous self-referential look at the industry. Only knowing that Arbuckle was behind the camera gives it an additional wistful tone, in its implied comparison between pleasant fantasy and harsh reality.
Hamilton plays a boy from the country who finds big city life too fast-paced, getting into a series of altercations with police and with a tough guy played by Arthur Thalasso. The high point comes when Hamilton appears also as himself, which sets up the climax to the movie. The double exposure works seamlessly to make for an amusing scene with Hamilton's two characters. Thalasso and Hamilton work well enough together to make their slapstick scenes generally entertaining.
Beyond the slapstick, it works rather well as an amusing look at the actors and others who make the movies. The sequence in the café has many enjoyable details, and on a lighter level, at least, it works well as a humorous self-referential look at the industry. Only knowing that Arbuckle was behind the camera gives it an additional wistful tone, in its implied comparison between pleasant fantasy and harsh reality.