Wow, this was sure a creative little silent comedy! The film starts with a meeting of the Liars Club. Each member is trying to outdo each other with their fanciful tales, but they really aren't that good, so one of them stomps off in disgust. He meets an odd little man (Charley Bowers) with his head stuffed in the end of a cannon (why, they never really seemed to adequately explain). Charley is so weird and tells the strangest stories, so the guy takes him back to the Liars Club to show him off! Charley's story concerns a wonderful scientific potion he's created. Just a few drops can do almost ANYTHING! And, using the best visual tricks of the day I have ever seen, he does the most astounding and unbelievable things!! For example, when he meets a lady in a house infested with mice, he uses the formula to make a plant that grows cats! It looks pretty real as the cats begin rapidly sprouting one after the other! Even today, such a scene would be very difficult to replicate without computers. It took immense patience and skill to do all the amazing camera tricks in the film. You really MUST see them to believe it! In the end, not surprisingly, he wins the admiration of the liars but he's very upset when they announce he is the champion liar. The problem is that everything he told them is TRUE!
By the way...look for the mouse who is packing heat. What a great tiny segment!
By the way...look for the mouse who is packing heat. What a great tiny segment!
