Every Man For Himself

Production Notes[]

Length: Two Reel
Producer: Hal Roach
Director: Robert F. McGowan
Photography:
Editor:
Titles: H. M. Walker
Writer: Hal Roach
Released: October 19, 1924
Studio: Pathe Exchange

Main Cast[]

Supporting Cast[]

Charles DeBriac
Dick Gilbert - Customer
Earl Mohan - Jimbo Johnson
Gabriel Saienz - Toughy
George B. French - Drunk customer
Helen Gilmore - Pedestrian with rings around eyes
Martha Sleeper - Pedestrian with rings around eyes
Monty O'Grady - Monty
Ray DeBriac
Rolfe Sedan - customer
Vera White - Bookworm with wrong shoes
William Gillespie - Customer with rings around eyes

The Short[]

Plot: The Gang supports their athletic club, a "gymnasium" rented "for two dollars per month," with a sidewalk shoeshine parlor using a contraption to shine shoes. The building features a boxing ring where the kids take turns refereeing matches between each other, and lots of fancy "equipment" obtained "when nobody was looking." The elaborate contraption is named the "Wireless Shoe Shining Machine," and is operated by Mickey, Sing Joy, and Powder-Puff, with Mary as "cashear," but unfortunately some customers are left with the wrong shoes. A separate gag involves getting unwitting passers-by to look through binocular eyepieces, set in a fence, that are coated with a material that leaves black circles around the viewers' eyes.

At one point Toughy comes by to take back his boxing gloves, perhaps because he was kicked out of the club as his name is crossed off a list. Wanting to see if they have enough money for new gloves, Mickey then opens the safe by turning a fake combination dial before opening a padlock with a key. The safe contains a cigar box with a small amount of change and two mice. One mouse jumps on Farina's head and then when Farina shakes the mouse off his head, gets into the back of his shorts, while the second lands on the floor near Joe's feet and jumps up into his shorts. This sends both boys into a long series of frenetic convulsive movements, jumping around to the others' amusement. Eventually Jackie holds Joe's head down while Andy swats Joe with a board to get the mouse, and Farina soon afterward digs his mouse from out of his shorts, examining it before flinging it away, where it or another mouse crawls up Mickey's leg. Mickey then goes into similar frenzied motions for a while before Monty and un unknown help him rid himself of that mouse.

Now the rent is due, wiping out the Gang's treasury. In deperate need of funds, Joe, Farina, Jackie, and Andy drum up business by squirting pedestrian's shoes from behind a fence with loose boards with a white paint-like substance as Mickey pops up to offer a shoeshine. The money they are earning is going toward the purchase of a set of boxing gloves and rent. This works for a while, until the Gang is caught when they squirt a police officer in the face. When Mickey explains their actions, bystander Jimbo Johnson, a professional prize fighter, steps in to donate enough money to pay for the shoeshines, new boxing gloves, and rent.

Some prints end here, but in a new, unrelated development twins named Sissy and Scrappy move into town. When Sissy befriends Mary, Mickey beats him up, and he runs home, where the tough Scrappy assures his timid brother that he will take care of Mickey. They scheme so that Sissy lures Mickey to where Scrappy is waiting in hiding, so he can pummel Mickey. This leads into a war between the other kids, where the twins scheme to have Sissy lead the Gang (excluding Mary) repeatedly around a block, and Scrappy picks them off one at a time, grabbing them as they round a corner and knocking them down into a pile in a field. Farina is the sole Rascal to avoid the pummeling by veering off and taking refuge in a cactus field. Mickey is saved for last, when he comes face to face with both twins, finally realizes what is going on, and gets hit by both, falling into the pile of his defeated friends. However, this ends in peace in the neighborhood as they shake hands once the gang recovers enough to stand up. Lastly, Farina emerges from the cactus field covered in needles, and everyone helps him "unstick" himself.

Quotes:

""Scrappy" - He begain collecting bloody noses and black eyes when he was six months old --" - title card
""Sissy" - Afraid in the dark - And scared in the daytime --" - title card
"This is a new gentleman friend of mine--" - Mary
" You get 'em to chase you - I'll do the rest -" - Scrappy
"He mus' be that Mister Jeekal an' Doctor Hide I read about --" - Mickey

Notes/Trivia:

None known

Sequence[]

Previous Short: The Sun Down Limited
Next Short: The Mysterious Mystery