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James Parrott
From Wikipedia
James Parrott (August 2, 1897 – May 10, 1939) was an American actor and film director; and the younger brother of film comedian Charley Chase.
James Gibbons Parrott was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Charles and Blanche Thompson Parrott. In 1903, his father died from a heart attack, leaving the family in bad financial shape, which forced them to move in with a relative. Charley Jr. quit school, so he could go to work, in order to support his mother and brother. Eventually the call of the stage beckoned him, and Charley Jr. left home at age 16 to travel the vaudeville circuit as a singer and comedic performer. By the time James had reached his teens, he too, had quit school, and became involved with the street gangs of Baltimore.
Later, Charley's connections in the film industry helped get his younger brother established in movies, and he would appear during the 1920s in a series of relatively successful comedies for producer Hal Roach. He was billed first as "Paul Parrott," then "Jimmie Parrott." Approximately 75 comedies were produced from 1921 to 1923, with titles continuing to be released through Pathé until 1926. Frequent co-stars included Marie Mosquini, Jobyna Ralston, Eddie Baker, and Sunshine Sammy.
Parrott is probably best known as a comedy director. As "James Parrott," he specialized in the two-reel misadventures of Laurel and Hardy, including the Oscar-winning classic The Music Box, and Helpmates.
During the 1930s Parrott had acquired serious drinking and drug problems (his diet medications were really addictive amphetamines) and although still able to direct quality shorts, he had developed a reputation as unreliable. By the mid-1930s his work was spotty: Stan Laurel used him sporadically to contribute gags to the Laurel and Hardy features, and he would direct an Our Gang short in 1934, plus several acceptable entries in Thelma Todd-Patsy Kelly series.
By 1937, Parrott was accepting any jobs that came his way. He could no longer be counted on to direct or write, and relied on his brother to support him financially. There was a brief marriage to Ruby Ellen McCoy in 1937, but as his various addictions worsened, so did his state of mind.
Parrott died at the age of 41 of heart failure. His brother Charley was devastated, and died 13 months later.
Known For | Directing |
---|---|
Most Rating | 3.754 |
Birthday | 1897-08-01 |
Place of Birth | Baltimore, Maryland, USA |
Also Known As | James G. Parrott, Jimmie Parrott, Jimmy Parrott, Paul Parrott, James Gibbons Parrott, |
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1921
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Big Town Ideas
0/0
A woman and her dog defend an innocent man.
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Big Town Ideas
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1920
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Way Out West
0/0
Way Out West silent comedy
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Way Out West
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1926
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Between Meals
0/0
James Parrott & Ernest Morrison gets chased around a lot. Filmed in 1921 and copyrighted in 1922, but not released until 1926.
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Between Meals
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1922
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Shine 'Em Up
5/4
Paul's career as a shoeshine man is interrupted when he is mistaken for an escaped convict, but after the Station Master gives him a job at the train...
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Shine 'Em Up
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1923
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Paste and Paper
0/0
Well executed but unexceptional one-reeler about a couple of incompetent paperhangers. James Parrott, brother of Charley Chase, was an equally skilled...
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Paste and Paper
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1923
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Post No Bills
5/1
Paul Parrott plays an obsessive-compulsive bill poster in this thoroughly average Hal Roach comedy from 1923. Hired to help publicize a new Gloria Sno...
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Post No Bills
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1925
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Are Parents Pickles?
0/0
James Parrott joins every lodge in town to get in good with people as he tries to sell his fire extinguishers.
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Are Parents Pickles?
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1918
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An Ozark Romance
0/0
Harold visits the Ozarks, where he has some funny experiences with a mountain girl and her eccentric family.
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An Ozark Romance
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1923
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The Uncovered Wagon
5/1
Hal Roach short is a spoof of the 1923 Western COVERED WAGON, which was a huge hit for Paramount. In this film a group of people are heading out West...
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The Uncovered Wagon
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1923
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Shoot Straight
0/0
SHOOT STRAIGHT - starring Paul Parrott, with Jobyna Ralston, Eddie Baker and George Rowe. A rarely-seen comedy short. Parrott is a hapless hunter in t...
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Shoot Straight
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1922
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Blaze Away
0/0
Paul is practicing the art of being a cowboy. He consults a book before firing his gun, climbing onto a saddle on top of a chair and then falling off...
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Blaze Away
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1922
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Harvest Hands
5/1
Paul, a great college athlete, is sent to his uncle's farm to be developed, but turns against the continual round of chores. And at the table he is co...
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Harvest Hands
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1919
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Young Mr. Jazz
5.8/21
While running away from his girl's father, Harold's car breaks down in front of a dance hall run by crooks. Harold has to not only stay one step ahead...
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Young Mr. Jazz
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1920
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Don't Park Here
4/1
Not one but two of Charlie Chaplin impersonators, Harry Mann and Monty Banks, a film directed by Charley Chase still under the name of Charles Parrott...
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Don't Park Here
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1922
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The Sleuth
0/0
Paul Parrott stars as a detective in a hotel trying to recognize a fake sheik
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The Sleuth
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1923
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Dear Ol' Pal
0/0
Two lifelong friends vie for the affection of the same woman.
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Dear Ol' Pal
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1926
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Soft Pedal
0/0
An opportunistic umbrella salesman attempts to save a musician and his daughter from blackmail.
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Soft Pedal
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1922
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The Golf Bug
5.5/1
The Golf Bug,1922, directed by James D. Davis, starring James "Paul" Parrott and Jobyna Ralston, is a short silent comedy film.
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The Golf Bug
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1923
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Jailed and Bailed
0/0
A silent comedy short starring Jobyna Ralston and James Parrott.
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Jailed and Bailed
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1924
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A Deep Sea Panic
0/0
A cruel sea captain shanghais Jimmie to work on his ship, but Jimmie's girlfriend also stows away on board, disguised as a sailor.
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A Deep Sea Panic
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1919
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Count Your Change
5/2
Harold becomes the victim of a clever bulldog pup who chases him in and out of various places.
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Count Your Change
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1919
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An Auto Nut
5/1
A crooked lawyer sells his car.
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An Auto Nut
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1930
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The King
4.3/3
The king is a juvenile dolt who tries the patience of the shrewish queen. While she's in the throne room awaiting him, he's outside playing with guns,...
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The King
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1918
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Hey There
6.9/7
In this early short Harold Lloyd sneaks into a movie studio in order to locate an attractive young lady he's just met at a snack bar. He's retrieved a...
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Hey There
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1919
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Don't Shove
5.5/6
Harold and his rival fight over Bebe on her birthday, first at her home and then at a nearby skating rink.
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Don't Shove
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1922
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Shiver and Shake
0/0
A landlord is attending his new tenants' rollicking and well-attended housewarming party. As midnight arrives, a ghostly apparition appears outside th...
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Shiver and Shake
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1919
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Do You Love Your Wife?
5.7/3
Stan plays a janitor at a hotel dropping letters and trying to retrieve them with a vacuum, getting wet, helping a lady shoot her cheating husband and...
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Do You Love Your Wife?
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1922
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Touch all the Bases
0/0
After many difficulties getting into a baseball game with his girl, Paul is pressed into service as a pinch hitter.
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Touch all the Bases
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1923
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Watch Your Wife
0/0
A James Parrott comedy short.
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Watch Your Wife
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1922
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The Landlubber
3/1
Paul Parrott comedy produced by Hal Roach.
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The Landlubber
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1919
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Hustling for Health
5.1/11
Stan Laurel is picked up at the train depot and brought back by the husband to the family home where the wife is having a suffragette meeting. None to...
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Hustling for Health
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1925
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The Caretaker's Daughter
3.5/2
The two-reel silent film comedy The Caretaker's Daughter was distributed by Pathe in 1925. Produced by the prolific Hal Roach, the film stars the grea...
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The Caretaker's Daughter
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1924
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Sittin' Pretty
5/1
When Charlie borrows the policeman's uniform of his girl's father and captures a lunatic, his prospective father-in-law dons the uniform just in time...
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Sittin' Pretty
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1922
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Take Next Car
0/0
In this 1922 Pathe-distributed, Hal Roach silent-era comedy, the owner of a local streetcar business is in danger of losing his franchise, but the str...
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Take Next Car
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1922
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Bone Dry
0/0
Paul plays at being a detective until dad, who is a revenue officer, sends him out to prove his worth by rounding up some desperate moonshiners.
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Bone Dry
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1918
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Hit Him Again
0/0
A short film starring Harold Lloyd.
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Hit Him Again
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1918
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Fireman Save My Child
5.5/4
In this popular two reeler where Harold runs to the rescue of a woman on a fire engine, he is seen hanging on the moving vehicle by the released water...
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Fireman Save My Child
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1918
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Look Pleasant, Please
5/2
A photo studio operator seems only interested in flirting with women. Hilarity ensues.
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Look Pleasant, Please
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1918
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Just Rambling Along
5.2/9
A nervy young man follows a pretty lady into a diner to flirt with her, but winds up getting stuck with the tab.
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Just Rambling Along
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1926
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Pay the Cashier
0/0
The penniless tourist, "Appetite Andy" (Paul Parrott) stops by at the Hollywood Cafateria (sic) where the gullible boss (Mark Jones) welcomes him in t...
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Pay the Cashier

1918
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Bride and Gloom
0/0
A short film starring Harold Lloyd.
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Bride and Gloom
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1920
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His First Flat Tire
0/0
Sid Smith plays a chauffeur to James Parrott who helps a vamp captivate his boss while foiling a bank robbery.
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His First Flat Tire
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1923
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No Pets
0/0
James Parrott having a lot of pets destroying the place.
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No Pets
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1923
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Take the Air
0/0
James Parrott, little Sammy Brooks, Baker and Jones ("the strong guy" = the drunk) are all workers on a construction-sit run by violent and exploitati...
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Take the Air
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1923
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Join the Circus
0/0
'Snub' Pollard wants to hang himself but figures joining the circus was better idea.
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Join the Circus
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1923
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Tight Shoes
0/0
The setting is a shoe store and the action is pretty frenetic. You get to see Paul lose the store's money, catch a shoe thief, knock down a bunch of s...
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Tight Shoes
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1924
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Get Busy
5/1
A couple of pals tries to stay out of trouble, without much luck.
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Get Busy
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1926
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Don't Butt In
0/0
James Parrott doing all kinds of handy work.
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Don't Butt In
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1923
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The Smile Wins
0/0
James Parrott as a very persistent book salesman.
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The Smile Wins
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1925
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The House of Flickers
0/0
The troubles of a movie projectionist in a newly-purchased theater are chronicled in this two-reeler starring Paul Parrot and Mildred June.
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The House of Flickers
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1922
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Face the Camera
0/0
Hapless photographer James Parrott attempts to shoot a bathing beauty pageant.
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Face the Camera
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1919
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A Sammy in Siberia
5.2/6
A bumbling American soldier saves a girl from a bunch of Cossacks.
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