A silent film where acting IS the plot — meta before meta was cool.
Directing a want to be actor, P. T. Robinson to visually portray emotions, after he told the lady he just met. He tries to emote a variety of human actions for the actress after she asks him to portray some emotions. What an actor.
Acting
Joe E. Brown's elastic face does all the talking.
Direction
Emotion as narrative device — genuinely clever structure.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Joe E. Brown became a massive star in early talkies, known for his wide-mouthed grin — this short shows that physical comedy developing in silence.
This essentially inverts the 'male gaze' — the woman directs, the man performs, a rare dynamic for 1927.
US
