Percy Gets a Job

Percy Gets a Job is a 1912 Australian comedy short film starring W. S. Percy, "Australia's greatest comedian".[1] It was one of the first Australian comedy short films.[2] It was also known as Percy at the Lawyers and was released with another local short, Toggle Won't Go to School.[3]

Percy Gets a Job
StarringW.S. Percy
Production
company
Universal
Distributed byUniversal
Release date
30 March 1912
CountryAustralia
LanguageSilent film
English intertitles

Percy's First Holiday
Percy's First Holiday
Directed byCarl Gregory
Written byLloyd Lonergan
StarringW. S. Percy
Fannie Bourke
Muriel Ostriche
Production
company
Thanhouser
Release date
1914
Running time
1,000 feet[4]
CountryAustralia
LanguageSilent film
English intertitles

W.S. Percy later made another, more widely known short, Percy's First Holiday.

Plot

Percy travels from Sydney to New York. He is thrown out of a cinema; fights a 16 stone actor for the privilege of playing the part of an attractive young lady's younger brother; treats a young girl to a plate of spaghetti in a tango restaurant; argues with her infuriated husband; is fleeced of every penny by race course crooks and has to work his way home as a steward. At the end he leans over the side of the vessel and says "I'm just crazy about America, but oh! I love Australia!"[5][6]

Production

Percy had left Australia for the US at the end of 1913. In February 1914 he arrived in New York and met Millard Johnson, the local representative of Union Theatres, who suggested he visit the Thanhouser Film Company Studio. They suggested Percy star in a comedy for the studio, and a scenario was written in 20 minutes.[6][7]

While in New York, Percy also appeared in the Broadway show Maid of Athens.[8]

Release

The movie was supposedly only made for Australian consumption but ended up being released around the world.[6] It was highly popular in Australia.[9]

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References
  1. "PAVILION THEATRE". The Daily News. Perth: National Library of Australia. 4 May 1914. p. 4 Edition: THIRD EDITION. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  2. Graham Shirley and Brian Adams, Australian Cinema: The First Eighty Years, Currency Press 1989 p 48
  3. "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 15 May 1912. p. 2. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  4. "MOVING PICTURES". The Sunday Times. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 29 March 1914. p. 5 Supplement: SUNDAY TIMES GLOBE PICTORIAL. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  5. "Advertising". The Evening News. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 28 March 1914. p. 3. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  6. "THE PAV'S GREAT CATCH". The Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 9 May 1914. p. 10 Section: SATURDAY'S NEWS SECTION. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  7. "MUSIC AND DEAMA". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 10 September 1921. p. 8. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  8. ""LITTLE" PERCY ABROAD". The Evening News. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 13 May 1914. p. 3. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  9. "AMUSEMENTS". The Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 14 May 1914. p. 12. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
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