Series: Will Rogers

Director: Fred L. Guiol
Producer: Hal Roach
Titles: H.M. Walker
Photography: Robert Doran
Editor: Thomas J. Crizer

Stars: Will Rogers, Marie Mosquini
Company: Pathé Exchange
Released: 22 June 1924
Length: 2 reels
Production No.: R-12
Filming dates: February 21 - March 9, 1924;
retakes March 1-12, and April 12, 1924

Rating: 4/10


Don't Park There!

Available on DVD:
 

Jubilo (Will Rogers) lives out in the woods on his White Horse ranch with his wife (Marie Mosquini). His mother tells him he has to go into town to buy some horse liniment so he jumps in his horse-drawn wagon and heads off down the road where angry motorists complain about him being in their way. Jubilo arrives in town to find heavy traffic clogging the roads as he attempts to find someone to park. A cop is dishing out parking tickets when Jubilo plonks his horse in the middle of the road and ties it to a post. A car crashes into the back of Jubilo's cart and causes all of his chickens to escape into the street.
A drunk crossing the street tries to comminucate with the chickens as one flies off and lands on a woman passenger's head in the back of an open-roofed car. She shoos it away and it lands in the back of a black driver's car. He quickly grabs it and tucks it away inside his jacket. Jubilo manages to grab hold of one chicken and enters a Ford Lincoln car showroom to buy a car which he then drives out into down town Culver City. He drives erratically through the streets, swerving through traffic and telling a chicken in the back seat that he needs to find a parking space close to the drug store. That's right, he talks to a chicken. Jubilo manages to park but another car backs into his car and leaves it on two wheels. Jubilo drives off when he spies a vacant spot and tries to park in it but another driver beats him to it so he tries for another spot but again he keeps getting shut out by other drivers taking the empty spots.
After a while Jubilo finds a spot and clashes with another driver as they try to share the spot and manage to get their cars hooked together. He challenges the other driver and threatens to hit him but the much taller driver gets out of his car, lifts up Jubilo's car and throws it across the street! Jubilo finds a parking spot at last but he is soon dragged back into street when his car is hooked by another car. The sequence keeps getting repeated until he is told off by a cop for parking in front of a fire hydrant and given a ticket for being insubordinate. Jubilo drives on looking for a parking spot and is told by a cop that there is supposedly one going in San Francisco so he heads off for it but finds the cops there are not so friendly and tell him he must obey their traffic laws and follow all the white arrows on the ground.
So he tries that and it makes him (and us) dizzy. Next stop is Los Angeles. Jubilo thinks he has found a spot but this time it's in front of a fire department and they quickly move him on. As he swerves all over the road Jubilo is pursued by a fire truck who urge for him to move out of their way. Eventually he pulls over and stops at an interchange when he sees one of his escaped chickens. He picks it up in the middle of the road but brings a streetcar to a standstill in the process. Then it's on to Seattle where Jubilo finally finds the drug store he set out for to begin with but his bad luck continues as he accidentally drives his car straight through the shop and crashes. Despite this he still has the audicty to ask the store owner for the liniment but he is told that the product has long been discontinued. Jubilo heads for home and his car completely disintergrates so he finishes the journey on foot, holding his last chicken.

Favourite bit
Jubilo threatens to bust a fellow driver in the nose for taking his parking space. The fellow driver doesn't take too kindly to the threat and gets out of his car, picks up Jubilo's and throws it across the street.

Trivia
Copyrighted May 28, 1924.
Also known as "No Parking There".
When reviewing this film I ran 2 copies of the film side-by-side for comparisons and found that the 2011 DVD from Looser Than Loose was missing a short amount of footage compared to a 9.5mm print I was able to view, though it did retain the ending which was absent from the 9.5mm. The DVD version is also completely missing the flashback sequence at the beginning and the entire scene with Earl Mohan as the drunk.
My opinion
For a Will Rogers film it isn't the worst I have seen. If you love seeing downtown Culver City you will certainly relish the ample amount of shots in the film. I do have to get credit to the cameraman for setting up so many of those locations shots because it adds to the realism of the film. A couple of good gags but overall it's the same basic boring formula and pretty pointless.

Will Rogers
Jubilo
Marie Mosquini
Jubilo's wife
Chet Brandenburg
Motorist
Charlie Hall
Pedestrian by mail box
William Gillespie
Druggist
Dick Gilbert
Policeman

Jack O'Brien
Bystander/
Policeman in San Francisco
Jack Gavin
Policeman
Charles Lloyd
Jubilo's dad
Ed Brandenburg
Motorist
Martin Wolfkeil
Onlooker
Jack Hill
Motorist getting ticket
Earl Mohan
Drunk
Curtis McHenry
Driver who swipes chicken
Al Ochs
Guy who lifts car
Sam Lufkin
Motorist *[UNCONFIRMED]

UNIDENTIFIED CAST
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CREDITS
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INTERTITLES
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LOBBY CARDS
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GLASS SLIDE
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STILLS
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TITLE CARD FROM 9.5MM PRINT
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SHOT ON LOCATION
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Chris Bungo's 3-part "Then & Now" video presentation

Acknowledgements:
Chris Bungo (3 YouTube videos)
Jesse Brisson (identification of Jack Gavin, Charles Lloyd, Ed Brandenburg, Martin Wolfkeil, Jack Hill, Earl Mohan, Curtis McHenry, Al Ochs and Sam Lufkin)
Cliff Aliperti (selection of stills)

This page was last updated on: 06 October 2021