''Nuts in May'' (1917) is a

silent comedy Silent comedy is a style of film, related to but distinct from mime, invented to bring comedy into the medium of film in the silent film era (1900s–1920s) before a synchronized soundtrack which could include talking was technologically avai ...

short, directed by Robin Williamson, produced by

Isadore Bernstein Isadore Bernstein (November 26, 1876 – October 19, 1944) was an American screenwriter. He wrote screenplays for more than 60 films between 1914 and 1938. He was born in New York, New York and died in Hollywood, California from a heart att ...

, and featuring

Stan Laurel Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, writer, and film director who was one half of the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Ha ...

, billed as Stan Jefferson, in his onscreen debut. The short was filmed at Bernstein Studios, in Hollywood, California. "A fragment" of the film survives (a little over 60 seconds).

Plot

Stan plays a resident of "Home for the Weak-Minded", apparently a lunatic asylum. Stan's particular delusion is that he thinks he's Napoleon. Stan walks the grounds of the cuckoo-hatch sticking his right hand into his shirt and wearing a Napoleon hat. He thinks he's Napoleon, but he gives the salute of the British army. Stan has his own personal keeper in the asylum: a taller moustached man who wears a kepi so that Stan will think he's a French officer. Stan gets out and finds some local boys, who eagerly join him in playing soldier. Stan's kepi-wearing keeper pursues him through the film. Stan hijacks a steamroller, and Stan nearly runs down some workers in a road crew. The surviving footage consists of Stan in various scrapes with a steamroller, ending with him in a straw boater being dragged off to the asylum.

Cast

(as Stan Jefferson) *

Mae Dahlberg Mae Charlotte Dahlberg (24 May 1888 – 1969), also known as Mae Laurel, was an Australian-born vaudeville performer and actress. She was Stan Laurel's professional partner and common-law wife from 1917 to 1925. Childhood and career in Austral ...

* Lucille Arnold * Owen Evans * Charles Arling

References

External links

*
''Nuts in May'' at SilentEra
1917 films American silent short films American black-and-white films 1917 comedy films 1910s English-language films 1917 short films Silent American comedy films Lost American films American comedy short films 1917 lost films Lost comedy films 1910s American films {{1910s-short-comedy-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links