Summary
Albert Herman’s 'Scared Stiff' functions as a kinetic exploration of collegiate anarchy, where the boundaries of social decorum are pulverized by a literal and metaphorical sphere of chaos. The narrative ignites with two university students, portrayed with a frantic, rubber-limbed intensity by Henry Murdock and Al Alt, whose competitive drive for notoriety culminates in the deployment of a gargantuan push-ball. This massive orb, dwarfing its handlers, becomes an instrument of urban demolition, carving a path of architectural and social ruin through the town until the inevitable academic guillotine falls in the principal’s office. Following their expulsion, the duo descends into the liminal space of a cabaret—a site of further humiliation orchestrated by a seemingly sentient clam-shell. This crustacean catalyst, through a series of improbable bounces and anatomical incursions, leads to a violent confrontation with the establishment's proprietor. Relegated to the curb, the protagonists find redemption in the plight of a young heiress, played by Bessie Welch. The film’s final act transmutes from slapstick to a proto-Gothic mystery, as the boys navigate a labyrinth of simulated hauntings and spectral machinations designed to dispossess the lady of her ancestral home. What follows is a frantic synthesis of bravery and cowardice, where the boys ultimately dismantle the fraudulent supernatural threats to secure the inheritance.
Synopsis
Two college boys vie with each other to make the most trouble in college. They have a large push-ball larger than the average sized man, which they push around town, breaking everything in their path. They finally land in the principal's office, where they are reprimanded and expelled from college. Disconsolate, they enter a cabaret, where they get into a lot of trouble on account of an impudent clam-shell. The clam-shell bounces from Al Alt's plate, skips along the floor and lands down a lady's back. After he rescues it, it decides to pinch a lady's leg. This is too much for the proprietor and he throws them out. Sitting on the curbstone, they hear cries for help and discover a charming little lady in deep distress. They find out what the trouble is and learn that her relatives are trying to scare her out of the house which she has inherited from her grandfather. They decide to help her. Many ghostly and ghastly things happen to scare the boys away, but they stick and win the home for the little lady.
Review Excerpt
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The Architecture of Anarchy: Revisiting Scared Stiff (1924)
In the pantheon of silent-era slapstick, certain films exist as frenetic blueprints for the evolution of physical comedy. Albert Herman’s 1924 effort, Scared Stiff, is one such relic—a work that oscillates between the puerile joy of destruction and the eerie tension of the "old dark house" trope. While modern audiences might initially perceive the film as a simple sequence of gags, a closer inspection reveals a sophisticated understa..."
