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Like his younger half-brother Charlie, Syd Chaplin was also a successful silent-film comedian and enjoyed a certain notoriety somewhat oversahdowed by his iconic sibling. Here he plays Old Bill, a World War I army private with the British Expeditionary Forces. The film derives its title from a beloved British cartoon strip, hopping from the comics to celluloid in a funny scene where a soldier stuck in a muddy foxhole complains and Old Bill replies in Cockney, "If you knows a better 'ole, go for it!" The plot involves unmasking a traitor in the ranks who, allied with the owner of a local inn, is responsible for the town falling under German control. The most classic scene finds Bill and his buddy sneaking through enemy lines disguised as a horse. Superb slapstick silliness doesn't come any better.
Original Release
10/23/1926
US Release
10/23/1926
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Syd Chaplin | Pvt. William 'Old Bill' Busby / Private William 'Old Bill' Busby |
Harold Goodwin | Bert Chester - British Secret Service |
Jack Ackroyd | Alfie - 'Little Alf' / Alfie 'Little Alf' |
Edgar Kennedy | Cpl. Austin / Corporal Austin |
Charles K. Gerrard | Maj. Russett / Major Russett |
Arthur Clayton | The Colonel |
Doris Hill | Waitress |
Olaf Hytten | German Officer |
Tom Kennedy | The Blacksmith |
Theodore Lorch | Gaspard |
Directors
Writers
Bruce Bairnsfather, Arthur Eliot, Darryl F. Zanuck, Charles Reisner, Robert E. Hopkins
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Syd Chaplin | Pvt. William 'Old Bill' Busby / Private William 'Old Bill' Busby |
Harold Goodwin | Bert Chester - British Secret Service |
Jack Ackroyd | Alfie - 'Little Alf' / Alfie 'Little Alf' |
Edgar Kennedy | Cpl. Austin / Corporal Austin |
Charles K. Gerrard | Maj. Russett / Major Russett |
Arthur Clayton | The Colonel |
Doris Hill | Waitress |
Olaf Hytten | German Officer |
Tom Kennedy | The Blacksmith |
Theodore Lorch | Gaspard |
Hank Mann | German Soldier Tying Up Horse |
Tom McGuire | English General |
Kewpie Morgan | Gen. Stein |
Al Thompson | The Daughter in the Skit |