The Musical Marvel

1917
11m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

The piano player falls in love with the wife of the bad man. The bad man meets the piano player and tells him that his wife is in the east; and so they decide to go and find her, the pianist... Read allThe piano player falls in love with the wife of the bad man. The bad man meets the piano player and tells him that his wife is in the east; and so they decide to go and find her, the pianist not realizing who the girl is. Later Ben, the pianist, becomes the leader of the orchestr... Read allThe piano player falls in love with the wife of the bad man. The bad man meets the piano player and tells him that his wife is in the east; and so they decide to go and find her, the pianist not realizing who the girl is. Later Ben, the pianist, becomes the leader of the orchestra and gets into a fight with the violinist. The comedy ends with a chase, a wrecked theate... Read all

Directors
- Ben Turpin
- Robin Williamson
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

4.5/10

YOUR RATING

Directors
- Ben Turpin
- Robin Williamson
Stars

1User review

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos

Featured review

6/10

Ben Turpin at a Distance

Ben Turpin is the piano player -- actually a one-man band in a saloon. In comes Edward Laurie, twenty-guns a-blazing, to tell him of how he loved his wife and she left him to go on stage with a tempter. When her company stops at the saloon and Ben falls in love at first sight, both men leave in pursuit of Gypsy Abbot.

Sources claim this is the best comedy that Turpin did for Vogue Comedies, where he spent some time between leaving Essanay and Mack Sennett getting through the Vogue switchboard to speak to him. Turpin's handling of the one-man band at the beginning is indeed quite funny, but the film is never shot to emphasize his goofy looks and crossed eyes. Instead, every shot is in medium or long distance, except for one medium close-up of Miss Abbot. That may be good for the flow of the story, but who on earth watches a comedy for the story?