Summary
Sea Scamps is a maritime comedy of errors that follows the well-meaning but hopelessly overwhelmed Mrs. Bullock, a socialite who decides to treat a local orphanage to a day at sea. The narrative quickly shifts from a charitable gesture to a survival exercise as the children smuggle a menagerie of pets onto the vessel, including the persistent Pal the dog. Once the ship leaves the safety of the harbor, the orphans transform the commercial vessel into a floating playground of destruction. The film peaks when a bizarre encounter with a flying fish triggers a full-scale 'rescue' operation involving fire axes and buckets of water, culminating in a literal explosion of chaos when a traveling salesman mistakenly gifts the children a suitcase full of industrial-grade fireworks. It is a cynical yet hilarious look at the collision between high-society philanthropy and the unbridled energy of youth.
Synopsis
The children of the orphanage are elated over the outing, given to them by Mrs. Bullock, a rich lady charitably inclined. She doesn't know what she's undertaken, though, when she volunteers to be chaperone and guide to the youngsters on their sea trip. She loads them all in her auto, and when she comes to count noses she finds that the party has been swelled by the addition of several miscellaneous animals, pets of the children. She orders them all left behind. But "Pal" decides that he wants an excursion, too. At the dock the kids get into mischief. Pal shows up on the dock and he is thrown off, chased off and locked off the boat, but that does not discourage him. Before the boat sails he climbs the hawser and makes his appearance when the ship puts to sea. The life on the bounding main seem to incite the kids to more mischief, and things are going merrily when a wild flying fish comes aboard and forms an attachment for "Ginger." The rest of the gang go to the rescue with fire-axes and water pails. When the flying fish is finally chased back to the waves the cabins of the ship look like they had been visited by the big wind of 1889. To keep the kids quiet a, traveling man kindly offers them the contents of his sample cases to play with. It is a good thought--except that the cases are full of fireworks and the kids think it is Fourth of July. Rockets ricochet through the cabins. Roman candles roam through the portholes; pinwheels puff and firecrackers crack, until the Captain takes a hand and puts the entire gang to work cleaning the decks. It's been a great day for the orphans, but a greater one for Mrs. Bullock and the ship's crew.
Review Excerpt
"Is Sea Scamps a hidden masterpiece of silent-era juvenile comedy? Short answer: yes, but only for those who appreciate the raw, unpolished anarchy of early slapstick where safety was clearly a secondary concern.This film is for anyone who finds joy in the chaotic energy of the 1920s 'kid gangs' and those who enjoy seeing high-society pretension dismantled by sticky-fingered orphans. It is decidedly NOT for viewers who require a tight, logical plot or those who are sensitive to the sight of child..."
