Summary
In the silent short Open House, the domestic tranquility of Mr. and Mrs. Brown is dismantled by a misguided sense of social responsibility. Mrs. Brown, swept up in a wave of performative altruism, decides that her home should serve as a sanctuary for the local vagrant population. As the living room fills with disheveled 'knights-of-the-road,' Mr. Brown finds himself marginalized in his own house, his comfort sacrificed at the altar of his wife's charity. Rather than engaging in a verbal dispute, Mr. Brown launches a retaliatory strike under the guise of a 'Be-Kind-to-Animals' initiative. What begins with a few intrusive ducks quickly escalates into a full-scale barnyard invasion, culminating in the arrival of an elephant that finally forces Mrs. Brown to reconsider the merits of writing a check instead of opening her front door. It is a cynical, high-energy exploration of marital one-upmanship and the chaos of early 20th-century philanthropy.
Synopsis
Mr. and Mrs. Brown were a happily-married couple until she decided to get into charity work and, believing that charity begins at home, shoe started feeding and housing a large numbers of passing tramps and knights-of-the-road. This works many hardships on Mr. Brown until he decides to enter the charity works with a Be-Kind-to-Animals program, and begins by bringing home several ducks, a goat and several other types of barnyard animals. When he brings home an elephant, Mrs. Brown yields and promises to make her charity acts by a check.
