Summary
In the lean streets of a nondescript small town, Paul (Roy Brooks) exists as a man whose ambition is dwarfed only by his hunger. Penniless and desperate, he infiltrates 'A-La-Cafeteria,' a temple of self-service that offers the perfect cover for a serial sampler. His methodology is as brazen as it is meticulous: he tastes nearly every dish on the line before the proprietor (Mark Jones) realizes the 'tasting' has become a feast. Forced into labor to pay his debt, Paul doesn't just wash dishes; he attempts to disrupt the entire food service industry. He convinces the owner to install a 'Lunch Basket Order' system—a locked-down automated delivery mechanism designed to prevent theft. The irony is total when a fire alarm triggers a mass exodus, turning his anti-theft invention into a convenient carry-out container for every fleeing customer. The film concludes not with a laugh, but with Paul staring down the barrels of the proprietor’s dual revolvers, a stark reminder that in the 1920s, comedy often shared a border with tragedy.
Synopsis
Paul finds himself alone and penniless in a small town and to add to his discomfort, he is exceedingly hungry. He enters a restaurant A-La-Cafeteria and before selecting the items that would make up an ordinary meal, he samples nearly everything on the layout before the proprietor gets wise to him. In revenge, the proprietor outs him to work and all would have gone well until Paul's inventive brain exerts itself and he induces the proprietor to install a new system, namely one of the LUNCH BASKET ORDER which automatically locks as the goods are put into it. The scheme worked nicely until one day with an unusual lunch hour rush, the baskets are all filled and a cry of fire soon empties the restaurant, guests baskets and all. This so annoys the proprietor that the last we see of Paul is his being flattened against the wall with the proprietor's two revolvers pointing at him.
