''Nuts in May'' (1917) is a

silent comedy Silent comedy is a style of film, related to but distinct from mime, invented to bring comedy into the medium of film in the silent film era (1900s–1920s) before a synchronized soundtrack which could include talking was technologically ava ...

short, directed by

Robin Williamson Robin Duncan Harry Williamson (born 24 November 1943) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and storyteller who was a founding member of The Incredible String Band. Career Williamson lived in the Fairmilehead area of Edinbu ...

, produced by

Isadore Bernstein Isadore Bernstein (November 26, 1876 – October 19, 1944) was an American screenwriter. He wrote screenplays for more than 60 films between 1914 and 1938. He was born in New York, New York and died in Hollywood, California from a heart a ...

, and featuring Stan Laurel, billed as Stan Jefferson, in his onscreen debut. The short was filmed at Bernstein Studios, in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

. "A fragment" of the film survives (a little over 60 seconds).

Plot

Stan plays a resident of "Home for the Weak-Minded", apparently a lunatic asylum. Stan's particular delusion is that he thinks he's Napoleon. Stan walks the grounds of the cuckoo-hatch sticking his right hand into his shirt and wearing a Napoleon hat. He thinks he's Napoleon, but he gives the salute of the British army. Stan has his own personal keeper in the asylum: a taller moustached man who wears a kepi so that Stan will think he's a French officer. Stan gets out and finds some local boys, who eagerly join him in playing soldier. Stan's kepi-wearing keeper pursues him through the film. Stan hijacks a steamroller, and Stan nearly runs down some workers in a road crew. The surviving footage consists of Stan in various scrapes with a steamroller, ending with him in a straw boater being dragged off to the asylum.

Cast

* Stan Laurel (as Stan Jefferson) *

Mae Dahlberg Mae Charlotte Dahlberg (24 May 1888 – 1969), also known as Mae Laurel, was an Australian-born vaudeville performer and actress. She was Stan Laurel's professional partner and common-law wife from 1917 to 1925. Childhood and career in Austral ...

* Lucille Arnold * Owen Evans *

Charles Arling Charles Arling (22 August 1875 – 21 April 1922) was a Canadian actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1909 and 1922. He was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and died on 21 April 1922 from pneumonia at the age ...

References

External links

*
''Nuts in May'' at SilentEra
1917 films American silent short films American black-and-white films 1917 comedy films 1910s English-language films 1917 short films Silent American comedy films Lost American films American comedy short films 1917 lost films Lost comedy films 1910s American films {{1910s-short-comedy-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links