Summary
A corpulent, imperious wife, whose formidable presence alone seems to bend the very air around her, issues an ultimatum to her meek, beleaguered husband, Lee: secure gainful employment this very day or face immediate expulsion from their domestic sphere. Dragged by her sheer force of will to a bustling blacksmith's forge, Lee, a man clearly unsuited for manual labor, grudgingly obtains work. His subsequent attempts at equine pedicures are a masterclass in comedic futility, culminating in a particularly belligerent mule's well-aimed kick that sends Lee careening into a cash register, its sudden jingle demanding restitution from his already meager pockets. The farcical ballet continues with Queenie, a horse of discerning taste and destructive tendencies, who, humorously misinterpreting Lee's exasperated instructions, procures and then utterly demolishes the blacksmith's personal footwear. The inevitable happens: Lee is summarily dismissed. Despondent on his homeward journey, he acquires a potent elixir named "Nervo." A quick gulp transforms the timid Lee into a temporary titan, barking orders at startled gossips and imperiously commanding his once-domineering spouse to fetch wood. Yet, the fleeting magic of "Nervo" dissipates with comedic abruptness, and as his wife's familiar authority reasserts itself, Lee, in a final act of desperate, unbridled escapism, hurls himself through a window, landing squarely upon Queenie's back, and gallops off into an uncertain, yet undoubtedly freer, horizon.
Synopsis
Lee, the henpecked husband of a wife weighing about three hundred or so, is pounded by his worthy spouse and warned to get a job that day or out he goes. The wife accompanies Lee to a blacksmith shop where Lee secures work. Lee has a hard time shoeing horses and a mule that persists in kicking Lee's head - one kick lands Lee on the cash register which rings up some money. Lee has to put up some money out of his pocket to make good. Queenie, the horse, comes in for shoeing. Lee tells her to get a pair of shoes for another little horse there. Queenie brings the blacksmith's shoes and mutilates them. The blacksmith becomes furious at Lee. Lee loses his job. On his way home, Lee buys a bottle of Nervo. He drinks some, goes into his home and orders the gossiping women there out and commands his wife to go out into the barn and get some wood. Just then the Nervo wears off; the wife asserts herself again and Lee jumps out the window onto Queenie and rides away.
Review Excerpt
"The Enduring Appeal of 'Henpecked': A Slapstick Saga of Marital MayhemIn the annals of early 20th-century cinema, certain short films stand out not just for their technical ingenuity but for their sheer, unadulterated comedic vitality. Fred Hibbard's 1924 gem, 'Henpecked,' is a quintessential example, a boisterous, relentless exploration of domestic subjugation and the desperate measures one man takes to reclaim a modicum of agency. Starring the inimitable Lee Moran as the beleaguered husband an..."
