''Pool Sharks'' (also sometimes known as ''The Pool Shark'') is a

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January *January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 ...

silent

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

. The film is notable for being the film acting and writing debut of W. C. Fields and also features early instances of

stop-motion animation Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

during a game of

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky pool ...

Plot summary

Following a standard style of the era, the film is a

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...

short. Fields and his rival (played by

Bud Ross Aaron Crawford "Bud" Ross (November 8, 1868 – March 19, 1932) was an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter. Career Ross began his career in the 1880s, performing in musical comedies and vaudeville. He made his screen debut in the silent ...

) vie over the affections of a woman (played by

Marian West Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places *Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queensla ...

). When their antics get out of hand at a picnic, it is decided that they should play a game of

. Both of them are pool sharks, and after the game turns into a farce, a fight ensues. Fields throws a ball at his rival, who ducks. The ball flies through the window and breaks a hanging

goldfish The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the wild have b ...

bowl, soaking the woman they are fighting over and leaving goldfish in her hair. She storms into the pool hall and rejects both men.

Production

Casting

Fields helped make this film in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, taking time off from the

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Follies of the ...

, as publicity for the film pointed out. Vaudeville was Fields' primary vocation, and it would be nine years before he made his next known film, 1924's ''

Janice Meredith ''Janice Meredith'', also known as ''The Beautiful Rebel'', is a silent film starring Marion Davies, released in 1924 and based on the book and play of the same name written by Paul Leicester Ford and Edward Everett Rose. The play opened at the ...

''. Fields wore his obviously

fake moustache A fake moustache or false moustache is an item of prosthetic make-up used in dressing-up, acting, espionage and crime. Fake moustaches are made in different ways, but usually require the wearer to use adhesive to affix the moustache to their fac ...

in this film, as he did in all of his silent films. His character and mannerisms bear some resemblance to Charlie Chaplin's, although the persona Fields later developed in his sound comedies is foreshadowed during the picnic scene, when Fields's character dumps a small child out of a chair so that he can steal it to get closer to the woman he is chasing.

Animation

Fields was an expert juggler. As with his early films, ''Pool Sharks'' was intended to highlight a pool ball juggling act that featured in the actor's

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic compositio ...

show. In the final film, however, there is only a brief shot of Fields juggling several billiard balls, as his act was largely replaced with several poorly edited

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames ...

sequences depicting impossible shots, such as the balls jumping off the table and re-racking themselves on the wall. Though innovative for the time, they are poorly animated, with obvious edits, and the animator's hand can actually be seen moving the balls along in one of the frames.

Reaction

Today, ''Pool Sharks'' is best remembered as Fields' first film effort. Film historian William K. Everson critiques the film as an "auspicious debut", with Fields' routines and pacing already finely honed. It was one of two short films Fields made for a company called Gaumont, distributed by Mutual. He and Ross made another short around the same time, '' His Lordship's Dilemma.''

References

*''The Films of W.C. Fields'', by Donald Deschner, The Citadel Press, New York, 1966. *''The Art of W.C. Fields'', by William K. Everson, Bonanza Books, New York, 1967.

External links

* * *
''Pool Sharks''
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

''Pool Sharks, with soundtrack''
on

{{Edwin Middleton 1915 films American silent short films American black-and-white films 1910s romantic comedy films 1910s sports comedy films Cue sports films American films with live action and animation 1910s stop-motion animated films Films directed by Edwin Middleton Films with screenplays by W. C. Fields American sports comedy films 1915 animated films 1915 short films 1915 comedy films Articles containing video clips Films shot in New York City 1910s American films Silent American comedy films Silent sports comedy films