''You're Fired'' is a 1919 American silent

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 ...

directed by

James Cruze James Cruze (born James Cruze Bosen; March 27, 1884 – August 3, 1942) was a silent film actor and film director. Early years Cruze's middle name came from the battle of Vera Cruz. He was raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

and starring

Wallace Reid William Wallace Halleck Reid (April 15, 1891 – January 18, 1923) was an American actor in silent film, referred to as "the screen's most perfect lover". He also had a brief career as a racing driver. Early life Reid was born in St. Louis, M ...

. The film was produced by

Famous Players–Lasky Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and t ...

and distributed by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

on June 8, 1919.

Plot

As described in a film magazine, old Gordon Rogers (Roberts) believes in working 18-hour days while Billy (Reid), who is in love with Gordon's daughter Helen (Hawley), does not believe in working at all. The hard-hearted father will accept Billy as a son-in-law on one condition: that he earn his own living for one month and if, during that time, he hears the fatal words "You're fired!" addressed to him, then Helen, sole heiress of the Rogers' millions in gold, can never be his. While this is a terrible test, Billy is game. His first job as a stenographer he resigns at the end of his first day to avoid being fired. Job number two is at a restaurant where he is required to wear the garb of an ancient warrior known to all readers of historical novels as a

halberd A halberd (also called halbard, halbert or Swiss voulge) is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The word ''halberd'' is cognate with the German word ''Hellebarde'', deriving from ...

ier, and then pose as a statue on the landing of the stairs. To the restaurant comes fair Helen, her father Gordon, and Tom (Woodward), a young gentleman willing to do anything short of murder the sake of the young lady and her golden prospects. Old Gordon has arranged a merger of a stray railroad he owns with another company, and is fighting Tom's uncle, an unscrupulous financier who has promised his nephew a supply of ready cash if he can obtain the papers for the deal. Tom known that the papers are in a safe at the Old Rogers' home, and hires two experts to open the safe and get the papers. All of these people are meeting at the restaurant. Helen catches sight of Billy in his ancient garb and recognizes him. She tries to find out why he is so dressed, but Bill is sworn to secrecy and dare not tell her. To show her anger she insists that he wait on her party, and is almost fired when he spills soup on her gown. Previously Billy had worked as a

xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in the ...

player at a dance where Helen was a guest, and hid behind a false mustache. Her great anger when he would not do as she demanded shows her true love for him. Billy manages to stick out the thirty days without being fired and also obtains the merger papers stolen from the safe, and returns them to Gordon, who hands over his daughter at once.

Preservation status

''You're Fired'' was considered to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

for decades until a copy was repatriated from the

Gosfilmofond Gosfilmofond is a state film archive in Russia. It is the main film archive of the Russian Federation and a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF). It is a state cultural institution — curator of films collection and othe ...

film archive in Russia to the United States in 2010.Progressive Silent Film List: ''You're Fired''
at silentera.com

Cast

- Billy Deering Jr. *

Wanda Hawley Wanda Hawley (born Selma Wanda Pittack; July 30, 1895 – March 18, 1963) was an American actress during the silent film era. She entered the theatrical profession with an amateur group in Seattle, and later toured the United States and Can ...

- Helen Rogers * Henry Woodward - Tom *

Theodore Roberts Theodore Roberts (October 8, 1861 – December 14, 1928) was an American film and stage actor. Early life Roberts was born in San Francisco, California. He was a cousin of the stage actress Florence Roberts. His choice of a career disapp ...

- Gordon Rogers * Lillian Mason - Mrs. Oglethorpe *

Herbert Pryor Herbert Prior (2 July 1867 – 3 October 1954) was an English silent film actor. He appeared in more than 260 films between 1908 and 1934. He was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, and died in Los Angeles, California. Prior was married to actress ...

- Horace Graham *

Raymond Hatton Raymond William Hatton (July 7, 1887 – October 21, 1971) was an American film actor who appeared in almost 500 motion pictures. Biography Hatton was born in Red Oak, Iowa. His physician father steered him toward a career in medicine. Howev ...

- orchestra leader *

William Lesta William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

- restaurant proprietor

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:You're Fired 1919 films American silent feature films Films directed by James Cruze Famous Players-Lasky films 1919 comedy films Silent American comedy films American black-and-white films 1910s rediscovered films Rediscovered American films 1910s American films

Plot

Preservation status

Cast

See also

References

External links