Ezra Hull and his classmates get into some mischief in school, hang out at the "old swimmin' hole," and go on a school picnic.
This was a mixed bag for me. There is no plot, which is not necessarily a weakness. One comes to expect the same formula from a Charles Ray film; the country boy who makes good and wins the girl. Here, he is a country boy, but he never goes anywhere, and does not win the girl. He teases the girl sitting in from of him (Laura La Plante) while the girl he really likes (Marjorie Prevost) strings him along. In fact, his love interest dumps him for another guy.
Some of the schoolhouse scenes are mildly amusing, like when Ezra lets a mouse loose. This causes the schoolmaster to toss him out.
His fight with another classmate is funny; the two swing wildly at each other without ever landing a punch, yet they seem to agree they had a good fight.
The film runs around an hour, and moves at a leisurely pace. It's never boring, but if you're expecting any action or thrills, forget it.
An unusual aspect of the film is that there are no title cards. At least two trade journals claimed that the director's name, as well as the cast of characters, was shown on a schoolboy's slate. However, I never saw this, so it was either missing from the print, or the articles were in error. How then can one determine the names of the characters? Well, the schoolmaster, who signs his name as Professor Payne, writes a letter to Mr. Hull about his son Ezra. And Ezra writes "Myrtle" on the side of his rowboat when he invites his girl onboard. Despite the lack of titles, it is generally easy to follow the flow of events, such as they are.
This was a mixed bag for me. There is no plot, which is not necessarily a weakness. One comes to expect the same formula from a Charles Ray film; the country boy who makes good and wins the girl. Here, he is a country boy, but he never goes anywhere, and does not win the girl. He teases the girl sitting in from of him (Laura La Plante) while the girl he really likes (Marjorie Prevost) strings him along. In fact, his love interest dumps him for another guy.
Some of the schoolhouse scenes are mildly amusing, like when Ezra lets a mouse loose. This causes the schoolmaster to toss him out.
His fight with another classmate is funny; the two swing wildly at each other without ever landing a punch, yet they seem to agree they had a good fight.
The film runs around an hour, and moves at a leisurely pace. It's never boring, but if you're expecting any action or thrills, forget it.
An unusual aspect of the film is that there are no title cards. At least two trade journals claimed that the director's name, as well as the cast of characters, was shown on a schoolboy's slate. However, I never saw this, so it was either missing from the print, or the articles were in error. How then can one determine the names of the characters? Well, the schoolmaster, who signs his name as Professor Payne, writes a letter to Mr. Hull about his son Ezra. And Ezra writes "Myrtle" on the side of his rowboat when he invites his girl onboard. Despite the lack of titles, it is generally easy to follow the flow of events, such as they are.