Well, they saved money on extras…

Comedian Lupino Lane plays every last part in this comedy short. The plot? A tipsy, top-hatted fellow and a really horrible child manage to disrupt an evening at the music hall. The material is old but Lane manages to keep things fun.

A little Chaplin, a little Keaton, a little… Lupino?

Lupino Lane is a pretty obscure performer but I love him. Second cousin of Ida Lupino, he was an accomplished stunt comedian who made a series of comedy shorts in the mid-to-late twenties before graduating successfully to the talkies. Lane’s reputation rests on his stage performances which, for obvious reasons, we are now unable to enjoy. Fortunately, we can see him in his silent shorts, as well as his supporting role in the Griffith film Isn’t Life Wonderful?

Every comedian who was worth his salt had to make one of these multiple-roles-in-the-theater…