Top-Tier Alternatives Exploring the Legacy of The Grocery Clerk: Cu...

Dir: Larry Semon

Larry is the booby sheriff of a Western town named Beer Bottle Bend, whose lawlessness matched his witlessness. A demure little thing from the East arrives on the same stage with a consignment of $100,000 to the sheriff, and the town proceeds to celebrate. After reforming the champion "elbow-bender" of the community, the demure one inspires the sheriff to action against the lawless element. The $100,000 changes hands in rapid and humorous fashion, and finally comes into the possession of the demure thing who had followed the cash all the way from New York. Larry proceeds to make a few cursory remarks on women.

Dir: Larry Semon

A bumbling detective lands alongside the crooks even the police are afraid of. He makes his escape through the window to a woman's apartment, where the misadventures continue.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Dull Care perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Larry Semon

A woman and her daughter are throwing a party, and Larry Semon is in the kitchen, joined by some monkeys and jewel thieves. What could go wrong?

Dir: Larry Semon

Larry Semons is sent to collect unpaid rent in a rough neighborhood where "Babe" Hardy as the local boss won't give up easily.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of His Home Sweet Home perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Larry Semon

Larry falls afoul of wanted criminal Gentleman Joe, who runs a saloon full of tough guys and gunslingers.

Dir: Larry Semon

What with pretty women lounging around the lobby, Larry's existence as a secret guardian of a hotel is all roses until a valise filled with jewels is left in his hands for safekeeping. Larry locks it up in the hotel safe, but not before crooks have caught a glimpse of the gems. Thenceforth every art and artifice is employed by them to separate Larry and the hotel from the jewels.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Rent Collector perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Larry Semon

Larry Semon plays a salesman whose stuttering provides a comedic hurdle as he interacts with various characters.

Dir: Larry Semon

Larry's absurdly plush life of ease as a convict comes to an end when his sentence is up. Tossed out, he tries several ways, including a stickup to get back in the comfortable jail. Exchanging clothes with a lookalike escaped prisoner, he goes back, only to find he's to be hung. Now desperate to leave again, he joins other cons in a jailbreak.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Fall Guy perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Larry Semon

A lawman out to get moonshiners runs into a female director filming a movie with a female cast. Chaos ensues.

Dir: Larry Semon

Larry, the stage hand, invariably is missing when there is work to be done. But when he's missing things run smoothly. Inadvertently, the rug is unrolled, on the stage and he appears, the stage manager loses control of himself and upsets Larry and everything else, including a can of gun powder which he is gallant enough to carry for the leading lady to her dressing room. The stage hand disobeys the rules of the house and lights a cigarette, dropping the match in the string of gunpowder. The explosion eliminates the seat of the stage manager's ample trousers. Striving to change to another pair he rushes into the dressing room of the chorus, from which he is rapidly thrown out - out onto the stage in his checkered lingerie. To escape his retaliation Larry nails the manager down the basement, but opens a stage trap by accident. The primadonna in the midst of her act is precipitated from the stage down into a cask of black paint. Larry seeks safety in the loft from which altitude he manages to ruin all the acts on the bill. When the star calls for artificial fog, he gives him a barrel full of it and wrecks the show. They all strive to get after him, but Larry comes out victor as the picture fades.