Double Trouble

A peculiar cinematic artifact from 1922, "Double Trouble" eschews a conventional linear narrative in favor of a fascinating, almost archaeological, reconstruction. This feature-length offering is not born from an original script but rather from the ingenious, if opportunistic, hand of Ralph Spence, who meticulously re-titled and reassembled five distinct two-reel comedies previously released by Fox. These earlier shorts, starring the effervescent Lee Kiddies, are thus transmuted into a new, albeit fragmented, entity. It represents a curious exercise in early film recycling, a meta-narrative woven from disparate comedic threads, presenting a mosaic of pre-existing gags and juvenile antics. The film's 'plot' is therefore less about what happens on screen in a sequential sense, and more about the industry's burgeoning practice of repurposing content, creating a pastiche that reflects the economic and creative pragmatism of the era.