Kid Boots is a 1926 American silent feature comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle, and based on the 1923 musical written by William Anthony McGuire and Otto Harbach.[1] This was entertainer Eddie Cantor's first film. A print is preserved at the Library of Congress.[2][3][4][5]
| Kid Boots | |
|---|---|
 Lobby card | |
| Directed by | Frank Tuttle |
| Written by | Luther Reed (adaptation) Tom Gibson (screenplay) George Marion Jr. (titles) |
| Based on | Kid Boots by William Anthony McGuire and Otto Harbach |
| Produced by | Adolph Zukor Jesse L. Lasky |
| Starring | Eddie Cantor Clara Bow |
| Cinematography | Victor Milner |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 9 reels |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Plot
editKid Boots is a put-upon clerk in a men's tailor shop. When Big Boyle storms in to buy a new suit, the service he receives is so inept that he destroys the shop trying to throttle Boots.
Boots flees for his life, stopping only to make Clara McCoy's acquaintance. Attempting to hide in a hotel, Boots becomes an accidental witness to the infidelity of a rich man's wife. The rich man, Tom Sterling, has a $100,000.00 settlement suit at stake. So he keeps Boots close to him as a character witness.
Boots and his new friend lie low at a posh golf resort, and all is well until it is discovered Clara McCoy and the bullying Big Boyle also work there. Big Boyle eventually subjects Boots to a brutal massage and electroshock treatments. Boots escapes only when the bully laughs so hard he accidentally sits in his own electric chair.
Boots oversleeps the day of the important divorce hearing. The only way to reach the courthouse on time is on horseback. McCoy follows Boots, and the jealous Big Boyle follows her. This results in a hair-raising stunt chase where the characters take turn dangling from precipices and swaying on teeter-totters.
Boots ends up parachuting onto the courthouse roof, arriving just in time to deliver his vital testimony.
Cast
edit- Eddie Cantor as Samuel (Kid) Boots
- Clara Bow as Clara McCoy
- Billie Dove as Eleanor Belmore
- Lawrence Gray as Tom Sterling
- Natalie Kingston as Carmen Mendoza
- Malcolm Waite as Big Boyle
- William Worthington as Eleanor's Father
- Harry von Meter as Eleanor's Lawyer
- Fred Esmelton as Tom's Lawyer
- Aud Cruster (uncredited)
- William Orlamond as Tailor (uncredited)
- Rolfe Sedan as Physical Therapist (uncredited)
See also
edit- A Few Moments With Eddie Cantor, Star of "Kid Boots" (1924) short film made in the sound-on-film Phonofilm process, with Cantor performing an excerpt of Kid Boots
References
edit- ^ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Kid Boots
- ^ Progressive Silent Film List: Kid Boots at silentera.com
- ^ The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1921-30, The American Film Institute, c.1971
- ^ Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artist Collection at The Library of Congress by The American Film Institute, c.1978
- ^ The Library of congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: Kid Boots
External links
edit
Media related to Kid Boots (film) at Wikimedia Commons
The full text of Kid Boots (film) at Wikisource- Kid Boots at IMDb
- Synopsis at AllMovie
- Kid Boots is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
- Kid Boots on YouTube
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