Show-Off (1926)

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This first film version of George Kelly's stage comedy The Show Off stars former Keystone Kop Ford Sterling in the title role. Though he's only a thirty-dollar-a-week clerk, Aubrey Piper (Sterling) is an incorrigible braggart, brimming full of grandiose get-rich-quick schemes. Quickly ingratiating… More This first film version of George Kelly's stage comedy The Show Off stars former Keystone Kop Ford Sterling in the title role. Though he's only a thirty-dollar-a-week clerk, Aubrey Piper (Sterling) is an incorrigible braggart, brimming full of grandiose get-rich-quick schemes. Quickly ingratiating himself with the family of his fiancee Amy Fisher (Lois Wilson), Aubrey inveigles them into an investment scheme that nearly results in ruination for all concerned. Even though he and his victims are saved from penury by a last-minute miracle, Aubrey shows no signs of having learned his lesson by film's end -- but Amy loves him anyway. Critics in 1926 were amused by Ford Sterling but impressed by the coolly authoritative performance of up-and-coming Louise Brooks in a minor role. The Show-Off was remade with Spencer Tracy in 1934 and with Red Skelton in 1947. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi