The Pest (1922)

Director:

Jess Robbins

Stars:

Stan Laurel, Glen Cavender, Vera Reynolds

Cast

Credited cast:
Stan Laurel	...	Jimmy Smith
Glen Cavender	...	The landlord
Vera Reynolds	...	The poor tenant
Joy Winthrop	...	The pest
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mae Laurel	...	A woman in court

Storyline

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Genres:

Comedy | Short

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Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

4 December 1922 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Booklegger

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Quality Film Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

The Pest has some good and bad moments for an early Stan Laurel short

Despite being the star of this pre-teaming with Oliver Hardy short, Stan Laurel is not the title character. That happens to be a woman played by Joy Winthrop who follows Stan as he tries to sell a book about Napoleon. I found this rarity on the "Saved from the Flames" DVD collection. There's three gags that I found really funny: The time a dog that Stan's trying to get away from jumps high enough to his window to bite him in the neck, Laurel's inadvertently punching a judge because of his tripping on the floor, and a stop motion scene of Stan getting away from that lady I mentioned by immediately sliding down the banister of a large set of steps that looks similar to the one he and Ollie pushed a piano (and fell with it) on in The Music Box. Not everything works, for instance, Stan's tiger disguise leads to an unconvincing chase between police and dogcatchers not to mention a tasteless racist gag involving a chauffeur. And his suddenly becoming a heroine's boyfriend also is unbelievable. Still, for anyone that's a fan of Stan Laurel, The Pest is worth a look. P.S. Stan's common-law wife, Mae, is credited on IMDb as appearing as a woman in court but I found no such scene.