''A Couple of Down and Outs'' is a 1923 British silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Walter Summers Walter Summers (1892–1973) was a British film director and screenwriter. Biography Born in Barnstaple to a family of actors, British motion picture director Walter Summers began his career in the family trade; his first contact with filmmaki ...

and starring

Edna Best Edna Clara Best (3 March 1900 – 18 September 1974) was a British actress. Early life Born in Hove, Sussex, England, she was educated in Brighton and later studied dramatic acting under Miss Kate Rorke who was the first professor of Drama at ...

Rex Davis Captain Reginald Graham Davis (7 November 1890 – 1 December 1951), known as Rex Davis, was a British soldier, silent film actor and sportsman. Biography Davis was born in Keymer, Sussex, in 1890. According to one source, he got his start ...

and George Foley.

Production

It was made at

Isleworth Studios Isleworth Studios is the common name of two former film studios in Great Britain. __TOC__ Worton Hall Studios 1913–1952 Worton Hall Studios were based on Worton Hall, in Isleworth. This house was built in 1783 and rebuilt and extended in the ...

.Harris p.67 The film sought to raise public sympathy for veterans of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

struggling in the years of peace as well as animals who had undergone war service. Summers, who had himself served during the conflict, made a number of films using the war as backdrop.

Synopsis

Danny Creath, an unemployed war veteran, is passing through the docks when sees his old horse 'Jack' being maltreated before it is shipped to Belgium to be turned into

horsemeat Horse meat forms a significant part of the culinary traditions of many countries, particularly in Eurasia. The eight countries that consume the most horse meat consume about 4.3 million horses a year. For the majority of humanity's early existen ...

. They had previously served together in the

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link ...

, both being wounded in action, and Creath decides to rescue him with the assistance of crowd of passers-by. Pursued by the police he takes shelter in a house where a young woman, reminded of her own brother who was killed during the war, helps him to escape.

Cast

as Molly Roarke *

as Danny Creath * George Foley as P.C. Roake *

Philip Hewland Philip Hewland (12 December 1876, Gravesend, Kent, England – 1953, Ealing, London) was a British actor. He had one son Ivor and a granddaughter Domini. Selected filmography * '' The Christian'' (1915) * '' His Daughter's Dilemma'' (1916) * ''Ar ...

References

Bibliography

* Harris, Ed. ''Britain's Forgotten Film Factory: The Story of Isleworth Studios''. Amberley Publishing, 2013.

External links

* 1923 films 1920s war drama films British war drama films British silent feature films 1920s English-language films Films directed by Walter Summers Films shot at Isleworth Studios Films set in England Films set in London British World War I films British black-and-white films 1923 drama films 1920s British films Silent drama films Silent war films {{WWI-film-stub