Series: Paul Parrott

Director: James D. Davis
Producer: Hal Roach
Titles:
Photography:
Editor:

Stars: James Parrott, Jobyna Ralston
Company: Pathé Exchange
Released: 10 September 1922
Length: 1 reel
Production No.: C-53
Filming dates: June 5-10, 1922
Rating: -/10


The Landlubber
From 4 minutes 18 seconds of footage available for review:

Captain (EDDIE BAKER) is conversing with the father of the woman he wants to woo (JOBYNA RALSTON). When the father tries to pursuade her to talk to the captain she refuses and even dives off the deck and into the sea! On the beach, Paul (JAMES PARROTT) is buried up to his neck in the sand with his arms and feet protruding from the surface. All of a sudden, three men get up from underneath the sand to expose the fact it was them providing the extra limbs, as a group of giggling girls look on from nearby. The girl who had jumped into the sea is saved by the brave Paul, who rushes in to rescue her. As he carries her out of the sea, she is taken out of his arms and grabbed by the captain and the father and ushered into a waiting car.
Later, on the boardwalk, Paul meets up with the girl again at a kiosk which is selling hula dolls. Once again the father and the captain intervene and warn Paul to focus his attentions elsewhere. The girl realises that Paul was the man who saved her from the sea when a photographer hands her a photograph he took of her unconscious and being rescued by him. Paul returns to the girl's boat and leads her away along the dock, where he pays a stocky seaman to protect him from the girl's father and the captain. On board the boat, the sailor does as instructed, and roughs up the men keeping the girl away from Paul. The two men are put to work scrubbing the deck, but in a fit of laughter, the jolly-sized sailor falls off the guard rail and into the sea. Paul realises that without the seaman on his side he is now vulnerable, especially as the captain grabs his axe in a threatening manner. He thinks about throwing a life buoy into the water to save his new friend, but instead puts it around himself and jumps in! The girl is prevented from jumping into the sea (again) by her father, who pulls her back onto the boat. The film ends with Paul in the water with a paddle, sitting on Marvin Loback's shoulders and using him as a lifeboat!

Favourite bit
Buried up to his neck in the sand, Paul (James Parrott) appears to pull of a great illusion of using his arms and legs to move around until it is revealed those limbs in fact belong to three other men. A nice sight gag.

Trivia
Copyrighted October 4, 1922.
The print of the film is tinted in yellow/gold. The shots of the girl in the water are shown in a blue tint.
The name of the boat is the GYPSY, from Los Angeles.

James Parrott
Paul
Jobyna Ralston
The girl
Eddie Baker
Captain
Sammy Brooks
Dolls vendor
Wallace Howe
The girl's father
Marvin Loback
Seaman
George Rowe
Photographer
Lincoln Stedman
[?]
UNIDENTIFIED
Girls on beach
UNIDENTIFIED
Guys on beach

This page was last updated on: 10 September 2023