The Show Off

Gregory Kelly (Joe) with Louise Brooks (Clara)

The Show Off (U.S., 1926) directed by Malcolm St. Clair

Despite the crisp, clean print that I rented from zip.ca, this a cinematic trifle which merely interests the filmgoer (well at least me) because Louise Brooks has a small role in it as the girl next door. Directed by the prolific director/actor/producer Malcolm St. Clair, one wishes the Louise had a more substantial role and more screen time. This was one of her first films and the sixth one she made in 1926 as her career in Hollywood was just beginning.

Finding Lulu on film has been a challenging task. It's difficult to find an American film that has the moral complexity of the Germans films Pandora's Box or The Diary of a Lost Girl.

The main character, Aubrey Piper (the unbearably boorish and untalented Ford Sterling), is a inveterate liar and braggart who works as a clerk yet convinces Amy Fisher (Lois Wilson) his fiancee that he is an up and comer at the Pennsylvania Railroad. He annoys the girl's family with his mooching, braying and bravado, including Amy's brother Joe's girlfriend Clara (Louise Brooks). Much of the film involves the Fisher family bailing Aubrey out of his various economic difficulties.

It does give you a tiny glimpse into urban life in the 1920s - witness Aubrey's driving of his new car in the city - it rattles your teeth just watching him navigate the traffic and other cars in his new jalopy.

I can't help gushing over Brooks, looking beautiful and impossibly glamorous as the working class girl next door in stunning dresses and her shining helmet of black hair. She's utterly wasted here merely presenting a sympathetic and pretty foil to the more central character of Joe Fisher (Gregory Kelly), the aspiring inventor with little luck. Her sweetness, as the good-hearted Clara, is communicated so simply and naturally that it is impossible to watch the other actors without shuddering.

Does Aubrey redeem himself? I will save you the rental fee and say, yes, he does. But it is not worth the effort of watching the film for its almost ninety minutes to see the resolution.