Jack from All Trades

In the silent-era short Jack from All Trades, Felix the Cat finds himself at the center of a domestic financial crisis that feels surprisingly modern. After his wife delivers a blistering ultimatum regarding their empty coffers, Felix is thrust into the role of a desperate entrepreneur. Rather than seeking a traditional job, he leans into the surrealist logic of his universe, inventing a series of increasingly bizarre and physics-defying methods to generate income. Directed by the legendary Otto Messmer, the film is less about the morality of the hustle and more about the elasticity of the animated form as a solution to the rigid demands of 1920s survival.