AFI and KPMG Consulting present AFI Catalog of Feature Films
ABOUT THE AFI CATALOG | FAQ | CONTRIBUTORS
 
Search For:
Search In:
Using:
Limited To:
Video Availability
Advanced Search


Movie Detail
Name Occurs Before Title Offscreen Credit Print Viewed By AFI Stub Record
The Show Off
Director: Malcolm St. Clair (Dir)
Release Date:   16 Aug 1926
Duration (in feet):   6,196
Duration (in reels):   7
Print this page
Display Movie Summary

Available Formats
Facets DVD VHS LaserDisk
Image DVD VHS LaserDisk
Kino DVD VHS LaserDisk
Movies Unlimited DVD VHS LaserDisk
Cast:   Ford Sterling (Aubrey Piper)  
    Lois Wilson (Amy Fisher)  
    Louise Brooks (Clara)  
    Gregory Kelly (Joe Fisher)  
    C. W. Goodrich (Pop Fisher)  
    Claire McDowell (Mom Fisher)  
    Joseph Smiley (Railroad executive)  
Summary: Aubrey Piper, a mere clerk at the offices of the Pennsylvania Railroad, poses as an important executive to his sweetheart, Amy Fisher, by blustering, bullying, and showing off continually. Though all the members of her family are contemptuous of Piper, Amy marries him; 3 months later she is fully aware of his faults. To help his son Joe continue work on his invention (a rust-preventing paint), Pop Fisher gives him the money saved for the mortgage and shortly afterward dies of a stroke. Aubrey wins a Ford in a raffle; and while taking it out for a spin, he knocks down a traffic policeman; Joe is forced to pay his fine with the mortgage money. Realizing the tragedy he has brought upon Amy's family, Aubrey visits the directors of a steel company and by bluffing sells them Joe's invention. The coup creates a furore in the Fisher household, happy at last that the "show off" has redeemed himself. 
Production Company: Famous Players-Lasky Corp.  
Distribution Company: Paramount Pictures  
Director: Malcolm St. Clair (Dir)
Producer: Adolph Zukor (Pres)
  Jesse L. Lasky (Pres)
Writer: Pierre Collings (Scr)
Photography: Lee Garmes (Dir of photog)
Film Editor: Ralph Block (Supv ed)
Country: United States
Language: English
Music:
Songs:
Source Text: Based on the play The Show-Off by George Kelly (New York, 5 Feb 1924).
Authors: George Edward Kelly
Copyright Claimant Copyright Date Copyright Number
Famous Players-Lasky Corp. 16/8/1926 dd/mm/yyyy LP23027
Physical Properties: b&w:
  Si:
 
Genre: Comedy
 
Subjects (Major): Clerks
  Egotists
  Ford automobiles
  Inventors
  Marriage
  Paint
  Philadelphia (PA)
  Railroads
Note: Exteriors were photographed on location in Philadelphia. For information on other films based on the George Kelly play, please consult the entry for the 1946 M-G-M production The Show-Off , directed by Harry Beaumont and starring Red Skelton and Marilyn Maxwell (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1941-50 ). 
Bibliographic Sources:   Date   Page
Film Daily   29 Aug 1926.   
New York Times   23 Aug 1926   p. 9.
Variety   25 Aug 1926   p. 18.
Display Movie Summary 


© 2010 American Film Institute

all rights reserved

terms of use