With this wartime comedy, Larry Semon graduated from one to two-reelers. It was also the first Semon film in which Stan Laurel appeared (Laurel would make just three films with the comic, who at the time was almost as famous as Charles Chaplin and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle). To impress Vera (Madge Kirby), Larry (Semon) poses as a man of great wealth. In reality, however, he is just the headwaiter at a beer garden. But nothing in this film is as it appears to be -- the beer garden is really a front for a group of German spies, and Vera is an inventor who has created a new gas mask for the U.S. government. Vera and her father come to the beer garden, where she is not thrilled to learn that Larry is just a waiter. She doesn't have much time to stew over this bit of information -- the Germans kidnap her in hopes of stealing her plans for the gas mask. Though the situation looks bleak, Larry comes to the rescue and saves both Vera and her invention. Laurel's role is a small one -- he is merely one of the gang members.
by Janiss Garza
synopsis
