''Ring Up the Curtain'' is a 1919 American

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

featuring

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films.Obituary ''Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influential film co ...

. The film survives and is available on DVD.Progressive Silent Film List: ''Ring Up the Curtain''
at silentera.com

Plot

A troupe of performers arrives for a performance at a local opera house. Shortly before their arrival, the opera house's short-tempered manager fires the majority of the stage hands for drunkenness, leaving only Harold. Harold agrees to try to run the activities behind the stage by himself. Trouble starts when Harold accidentally sets a snake charmer's animal free. Harold is smitten by the attractive Leading Lady who openly flirts with him. A jealous Harold enters the stage and ruins a dramatic scene where the villainous Leading Man tries to kiss the Leading Lady. This starts a wild brawl onstage. The show ends abruptly and the Leading Lady sadly informs Harold that she is now destitute. Harold gives her some money. Seconds later she leaves arm-in-arm with the actor who had played the villain. Harold realizes he has been conned: "There's a sucker born every minute--and I must have been twins!" The film ends with Harold turning on the gas in a dressing room, seemingly to commit suicide.

Cast

as The Stage Hand *

Bebe Daniels Phyllis Virginia "Bebe" Daniels (January 14, 1901 – March 16, 1971) was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer, and producer. She began her career in Hollywood during the silent film era as a child actress, became a star in musicals such ...

as The Leading Lady *

Snub Pollard Harold Fraser (9 November 1889 – 19 January 1962), known professionally as Snub Pollard, was an Australian-born vaudevillian, who became a silent film comedian in Hollywood, popular in the 1920s. Career Born in Melbourne, Australia, on 9 No ...

as The Leading Man *

Bud Jamison William Edward "Bud" Jamison (February 15, 1894 – September 30, 1944)Okuda, Ted, and Edward Watz. 1999. The Columbia Comedy Shorts: Two-reel Hollywood Film Comedies 1933–1958'. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. . was an American film actor. ...

as An Actor *

Noah Young Noah Young, Jr. (February 2, 1887 – April 18, 1958) was a champion weightlifter and actor. Biography Young was born in Cañon City, Colorado. His father, Noah Young, was a foreman of the Glenrock coal mine who later became a coal mine in ...

as An Actor * Edith Depew * Florence Depew * Billy Fay * William Gillespie * Oscar Larson *

James Parrott James Parrott (August 2, 1897 – May 10, 1939) was an American actor and film director; and the younger brother of film comedian Charley Chase. Biography Early years James Gibbons Parrott was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Charles and Blanch ...

* William Petterson * Emmy Wallace (as Emmylou Wallace) *

Dorothea Wolbert Dorothea Wolbert (April 12, 1874 – September 15, 1958) was an American film actress. She appeared in more than 140 films between 1916 and 1957. She appeared on the television series ''I Love Lucy'' (with her character named Dorothea Wolbe ...

Sammy Brooks Sammy Brooks (July 10, 1891 – May 16, 1951) was an American film actor. He appeared in 218 films between 1916 and 1938. He was born in New York City and died in Los Angeles, California. Selected filmography * Luke, the Candy Cut-Up (19 ...

as Troup Manager (uncredited) *

Helen Gilmore Helen Gilmore (born Antoinette A. Field, c. 1872 – April 1936) was an American actress of the stage and silent motion pictures from Louisville, Kentucky. She appeared in well over 100 films between 1913 and 1932. Early life and career In a ...

as Manager's Wife (uncredited) * Estelle Harrison as Actress (uncredited) *

Wallace Howe Wallace Howe (March 4, 1878 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts – November 23, 1957 in Los Angeles, California), born Orlando Wallace Howe, was an American film actor. He appeared in 104 films between 1918 and 1936, including many films with Harold Llo ...

as Conductor (uncredited) *

Dee Lampton Dee Lampton (October 6, 1898 – September 2, 1919) was an American film actor of the silent era. Lampton was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and died of appendicitis in Los Angeles on September 2, 1919. He appeared in 52 films between 1915 and ...

as Actor (uncredited) *

Marie Mosquini Marie Mosquini (born Marie de Esy; December 3, 1899 – February 21, 1983) was an American film actress. Biography Born in 1899, Mosquini appeared in more than 200 silent films between 1917 and 1929. After leaving high school she became the res ...

as Actress (uncredited) * Fred C. Newmeyer as Stagehand (uncredited) *

Charles Stevenson Charles Stevenson may refer to: *Charles Stevenson (philosopher) (1908-1979), American philosopher. *Charles Alexander Stevenson (1855–1950), Scottish lighthouse engineer * Charles A. Stevenson (1851–1929), Irish-born American stage and movie a ...

as Stagehand (uncredited)

References

External links

* 1919 films American silent short films 1919 comedy films 1919 short films American black-and-white films Films directed by Alfred J. Goulding Silent American comedy films American comedy short films Surviving American silent films 1910s American films {{1910s-short-comedy-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links