Jimmy Aubrey Movies

Jimmy Aubrey's films for Vitagraph were the studio's lower-budget offerings (their other comic, Larry Semon, had a bad habit of running way over budget. Because of this -- and because Semon was clearly the superior comic -- Semon films commanded a heftier fee). The plot to this Aubrey two-reeler is disjointed and even the amusing presence of Oliver Hardy can't do much to bring it a sense of cohesion. It begins in a park (the low-budget comedy background of choice), where Jimmy is seen flirting with the ladies and causing trouble with the cops. After rescuing one woman's dog, he falls asleep on a park bench and dreams he is staying at a hotel whose swindling proprietor, Mr. Jipper (Hardy), lives up to his name. Although Jipper throws Jimmy out of the hotel at first, he lands a job as a bellhop. He gets involved with some crooks and the police go after him. He tries to hide by impersonating a model at a bathing suit show, but he's easily recognized. In the midst of the chase, a real-life cop wakes Jimmy up from his dream. A panicked Jimmy runs away from the puzzled policeman. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Comedian Jimmy Aubrey's films tried to make up in gags what they lacked in originality, but this particular two-reeler has little of either. Any bright moments it may have had are offered either by a Model T with elliptical wheels or Oliver Hardy, who even at this relatively early stage in his career, was being acknowledged as an exceptional talent. The girl who owns the local sweet shop can't come up with the mortgage and the landlord, Al K. Hall (Hardy), suggests marriage in lieu of cash. Jimmy becomes determined to help the girl out, and when he finds out that Hall stashes his "strew drops" (the secret ingredient of a valuable recipe) in a safe, he breaks into it. Even though he uses far more explosives than are needed to blow up the safe, he manages to get the drops to the girl, and her business picks up. Jimmy, however, is arrested, along with another man who had also tried to get the drops. The two of them escape from jail and get a ride back to the shop from a woman with a bunch of kids. The woman, it turns out, is the real Mrs. Hall, and she puts a halt to her husband's dirty dealings. Jimmy wins the girl. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Although it is widely assumed that Oliver Hardy had no desire to work behind the camera and left the offscreen creative tasks up to his partner, Stan Laurel, this may not have always been the case. Earlier in his career, Hardy directed a number of shorts in which he also starred, and afterwards, his name would occasionally appear in behind-the-scene credits. He's credited, along with Budd Ross, for the story to this Jimmy Aubrey two-reeler. Hardy plays the villain here, a mean-spirited Mexican who is determined to have a pretty señorita (Maude Emory), even though neither she nor her father want to have anything to do with him. To convince them otherwise, the villain kidnaps the father and refuses to let him go unless he is allowed to marry his daughter. Jimmy comes to town and decides to help the girl. At first, he wins the villain's trust through a drinking contest. The two wind up coming to blows, and their fight is interrupted only by a bullfight. The villain makes sure that Jimmy ends up in the bullring, but to his surprise (and no doubt Jimmy's), he kills the bull. The villain's henchmen have set up a bomb near the father, but Jimmy and the girl manage to save him just in the nick of time. The villain and his men arrive at the empty shack just as the bomb explodes. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Because comedian Larry Semon had a bad habit of running over budget, Vitagraph had no choice but to offer his films at a premium (and theaters were willing to pay because he turned out quality films). But this meant that the studio needed to offer less expensive comedies too, and they filled this need with Jimmy Aubrey, who was once a part of Fred Karno's theatrical troupe alongside Charles Chaplin and Stan Laurel. While Aubrey's two-reelers were certainly cheaper than Semon's, they were also a lot less funny, and this particular film was even lower in quality than his normal fare. Aubrey plays a hapless husband whose wife (Maude Emory) ignores him, preferring instead to flirt with the artists (Oliver Hardy and Dick Smith) across the hall. To say this makes Jimmy insecure is putting it mildly, and he's even jealous of the plumber -- until he discovers that he's also the brother of the missus. One of the artists wants to steal the wife away from Jimmy, so he forges a letter from her uncle, mentioning that if she divorces Jimmy, she will inherit a fortune. The wife, who doesn't really want to get rid of Jimmy, makes a pact with him to divorce and than remarry. Unfortunately, they don't tell her brother who beats him up for supposedly cheating on his sister. The wife shows up before too much damage is done and they remarry, ruining the artist's little scheme. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Jimmy Aubrey -- Vitagraph's low-rent answer to their star comedian, Larry Semon -- starred in this two-reel knockoff of Charles Chaplin's Easy Street. Jimmy lives in a tough neighborhood by the name of Paradise Alley. The only time everyone toes the line is when the neighborhood boss (big Oliver Hardy) appears. On one end of the street, the Boss is flirting with a cashier who works for the local beanery; at the other end of the street, Jimmy is at a mission, listening to a sermon. He decides to steal the poor box, but thinks better of his plan and puts it back. This wins him favor with the cashier, who happens to see his act. Jimmy and another man put on a fat man's suit and go to the beanery, hoping they'll both get fed for the price of one. Their ruse is discovered, however, and Jimmy winds up paying for his meal by working in the kitchen. The Boss and an associate try to rob the joint, but Jimmy saves the day, and earns the cashier's affection. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Before he teamed up with Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy co-starred with a number of other comedians. Often he was more talented than those he appeared with, as is obvious in this two-reeler with Jimmy Aubrey in the lead. It is Hardy (wearing a walrus mustache and caterpillar-like fake eyebrows), not Aubrey, who elicits the most laughs. Aubrey is a waiter at a fashionable nightclub and Hardy plays the appropriately named I.M. Ruff, an irascible customer. While Jimmy is waiting on Ruff (or getting on his nerves), another patron picks Ruff's pocket and, after taking the money, places the wallet in Jimmy's pants. The theft is discovered when Ruff tries to pay his bill and Jimmy is thrown in jail. Unfortunately for him, the prison warden happens to be Ruff. He manages somehow to escape, and Ruff goes in pursuit. Both of them are chased by a bear. Jimmy heads back to the nightclub where he has a rendezvous with his favorite dancer before being caught. Eventually his innocence is proven, and Ruff gives him some money as restitution. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This two-reel comedy is one of Vitagraph's more amusing vehicles for their second-string comic Jimmy Aubrey (their first-stringer at the time was Larry Semon). Aubrey plays a mechanic who goes to work for the village blacksmith (Dick Dickinson), but spends more time mooning over the blacksmith's daughter (Dixie Lamont). Because of Jimmy's ineptitude, the blacksmith can't pay his rent and the landlord (Oliver Hardy, looking appropriately villainous) threatens to marry the daughter to settle the debt. The blacksmith goes after the cause of his trouble -- Jimmy -- who escapes by hiding in the landlord's limo. There, he finds a strongbox and takes out enough money to help out the girl. The only problem is that she has already agreed to marry the bad guy. Jimmy chases after them and the pursuit ends when they all go over a cliff. In the end, Jimmy manages to hand over the money and earn the girl's love. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Comedian Jimmy Aubrey thwarts a Spanish revolution in this two-reel Vitagraph comedy. The favorite toreador (Oliver Hardy) of a sleepy little Spanish town is the mastermind behind the planned overthrow. The government, aware of his plot, has sent a spy to investigate. When Jimmy arrives in town, he is mistaken for the spy (which clearly doesn't say much for the current regime). The revolutionaries put him behind bars to keep him out of the way, but he escapes, dressed in the warden's outfit. At a tavern, he is busy rescuing the ladies from a threatening mouse when he's seen by the toreador and his henchmen. A bull breaks loose and charges into the plaza, scaring off the bad guys before they can do Jimmy any damage. Jimmy, who knows nothing about bulls, leaps on its back and squelches the revolution. For his efforts, he wins the village's prettiest maiden (Maude Emory). ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Jesse Robbins, who oversaw Charles Chaplin's films for Essanay, directed this Jimmy Aubrey comedy, which has something of a Chaplinesque feel about it. Aubrey plays a tramp whose thieving ways are cured by a pretty settlement worker (Dixie Lamont), who convinces him to go straight. Still hungry, the tramp sits down at a food-laden table only to discover that the family who is sitting down to eat is about to be evicted for non-payment of rent. The landlord (Oliver Hardy) hires Jimmy to help him oust the unwanted tenants. Jimmy, however, takes pity on them and steals the money from the landlord to help them pay the rent. Later, he saves the settlement worker from a kidnap attempt and she has him over for dinner to reward him. Unfortunately, it turns out that her father is the mean landlord. The landlord goes after Jimmy, but his punches are thrown wild and hit everything but his target. Finally he knocks down a post that supports the house and it comes crashing down. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In the first two dozen films comedian Jimmy Aubrey made for Vitagraph, his foil was a pre-Stan Laurel Oliver Hardy. By the time they were working on the second dozen films, the studio was giving Hardy quite a bit of room in their press kits, something that likely did not please Aubrey, whose talents paled beside what Hardy later accomplished. Here, Aubrey plays a park janitor whose antics frustrate and annoy the park commissioner (Hardy). A thief who has already robbed the commissioner (with Jimmy's inadvertent help) decides to also kidnap his baby. While the commissioner and his wife are following the instructions on the ransom note, Jimmy picks up the infant with the trash and later finds it in his garbage can. Everyone winds up at the designated meeting place and a fracas ensues. Jimmy winds up returning the baby to its mother, and the grateful commissioner rewards Jimmy...with a brand-new broom. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Although this Jimmy Aubrey comedy was shot on Catalina Island, all that is ever really seen of the lovely surroundings is the pier and the ocean, where Aubrey constantly gets dunked. Aubrey plays a tourist who is more interested in checking out the bathing beauties than he is any other sort of scenery. While attempting to flirt with a nursemaid (Estelle Harrison), he falls into the water and is rescued by the reluctant lifeguard (Oliver Hardy). Two crooks try to make their getaway in a motorboat, but their mooring line drags a baby carriage into the ocean. Jimmy leaps onto a whale's back to save the child, but he is swallowed by the whale. He escapes from the whale and saves the baby from an octopus. Just then he wakes up and realizes it was all a dream -- the octopus' tentacles turn out to be a rope. Jimmy tries to flirt with the nursemaid again, but the lifeguard -- who happens to be her sweetheart -- picks him up and tosses him in the water. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

As usual, this Jimmy Aubrey comedy makes little sense, but it contains a lot of gags. Jimmy is a dentist's assistant who turns the office upside down while the dentist is away. After using a variety of ways to extract teeth, including a mallet and a hammer and chisel, he has to chase after a floating patient who has taken too much laughing gas. Eventually, a basic plot emerges -- the bad guy (Oliver Hardy) lusts after the dentist's wife, whom the assistant also fancies. They're both trying to court her when the dentist -- an extremely jealous guy, and apparently with some reason -- gets home. They hide, none too successfully, and when the dentist finds them, chaos ensues. The bad guy abducts the wife and drives off, while the dentist and the assistant give chase on a motorcycle. Eventually the wife is rescued and returns home with her husband. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This two-reel comedy starring Jimmy Aubrey was shot on location at a Ventura farm, 60 miles north of Vitagraph's studio in Hollywood. Oliver Hardy, who plays opposite Aubrey in many of his Vitagraph films, is the villain here -- known as the Walrus, he is courting a widow (Rosa Gore) in order to steal her land. When he mistreats her cats, however, she pulls out her shotgun and dispatches him. Two of the Walrus' associates (Jack Lloyd and George Fox) come out from the city to kidnap the widow's pretty daughter (Leila McCarthy). Jimmy, who was the one responsible for giving the two their ride out to the country, learns of their scheme and beats them to the train depot in order to rescue the girl. After returning the girl to her mother, Jimmy gets a job helping out around the farm. In spite of his complete ineptitude, he manages to win the girl's love. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide