"The Extra and the Milkfed Lion" was the seventh of a series of eight three-reelers based on the "Buck Parvin and the Movies" stories written by Charles E. Van Loan for the "Saturday Evening Post" magazine, detailing the adventures and mis-adventures of Buck Parvin (Art Acord), a cowboy extra/stuntman working for the Titan Motion Picture Company in Hollywood. The first, beginning in October of 1915, had the one-of-a-kind title called "Man-Afraid-Of-His-Own-Wardrobe", followed by "Buck's Lady Friend", "This is the Life", "Film Tempo", "Author! Author!", "Water Stuff", "The Extra and the Milkfed Lion" and concluding, in March of 1916, with "Snow Stuff."
With few exceptions the casts had Art Acord, and either Ann Little or, primarily, Dixie Stratton as Titan's star leading lady Myrtle Manners; Lawrence Peyton as the Titan director James Montague, whose trials and tribulations were akin to those of monumental Roscoe Dexter in "Singin' in the Rain"; Joe Massey as Buck's pal Ben Lessey, and handsome Ashton "I'm Handsome" Dearholt as Titan's egotistical leading man Dick La Rue (in the first two)that was changed to Jack La Rue (no, not that one) in the others, as that was the name of the character in the Sat.Eve.Post stories written by Van Loan.
The current video available on this film appears to have been taken from the Blackhawk 16mm abridgement---it ain't all there, folks---and may be missing a few of the plot details.
In this one, Buck gets his friend, Tommy Dennis (William Marshall, roman numeral whatever), a job as an extra with the Titan Motion Picture Company, and Tommy promptly falls in love with the film-within-a-film leading lady Myrtle Manners(Dixie Stratton.)Seligman, the company president, wires director James Montague (Lawrence Peyton) that "jungle stuff has been worked to death" but make a picture using all the contract-animals on the lot, minus a jungle. Leading man Jack La Rue (Ashton Dearholt) suggests they make a Circus film, and La Rue tells Montague to be sure and include a "scene" with him "seen" rescuing Myrtle from a lion's den.
Comes time to film Myrtle's rescue, Montague is trying to convince La Rue to enter the lion's den by pointing out that the lion is a show-biz veteran, raised on the lot and milkfed with a bottle. La Rue points out that he too was raised on a bottle but he eats meat now, and kindly get me a double. But Myrtle is game---Myrtle was always a real trouper---and she enters the cage with a whip, and the lion, raised on the lot and a bottle and another real trouper who knows his stuff and never misses a cue, begins to roar and paw the ground and emote in the style of the silent-film animal actors. In fact, Tim the Timid Lion (Himself) plays his role so well, that Tommy is convinced that Myrtle is in extreme danger, and he rushes into the cage to rescue her and, in the process, ruins the scene, knocks over the camera and exposes the film. He also upsets and frightens Tim the Timid (Himself) to such a degree, that Tim (Himself) was never the same poised actor again, and eventually was unable to find any work in the show business. And Myrtle is a bit miffed herself as she claims Tommy spoiled the best piece of acting she ever did.
Buck Parvin has a boxing match with a kangaroo...and loses.
With few exceptions the casts had Art Acord, and either Ann Little or, primarily, Dixie Stratton as Titan's star leading lady Myrtle Manners; Lawrence Peyton as the Titan director James Montague, whose trials and tribulations were akin to those of monumental Roscoe Dexter in "Singin' in the Rain"; Joe Massey as Buck's pal Ben Lessey, and handsome Ashton "I'm Handsome" Dearholt as Titan's egotistical leading man Dick La Rue (in the first two)that was changed to Jack La Rue (no, not that one) in the others, as that was the name of the character in the Sat.Eve.Post stories written by Van Loan.
The current video available on this film appears to have been taken from the Blackhawk 16mm abridgement---it ain't all there, folks---and may be missing a few of the plot details.
In this one, Buck gets his friend, Tommy Dennis (William Marshall, roman numeral whatever), a job as an extra with the Titan Motion Picture Company, and Tommy promptly falls in love with the film-within-a-film leading lady Myrtle Manners(Dixie Stratton.)Seligman, the company president, wires director James Montague (Lawrence Peyton) that "jungle stuff has been worked to death" but make a picture using all the contract-animals on the lot, minus a jungle. Leading man Jack La Rue (Ashton Dearholt) suggests they make a Circus film, and La Rue tells Montague to be sure and include a "scene" with him "seen" rescuing Myrtle from a lion's den.
Comes time to film Myrtle's rescue, Montague is trying to convince La Rue to enter the lion's den by pointing out that the lion is a show-biz veteran, raised on the lot and milkfed with a bottle. La Rue points out that he too was raised on a bottle but he eats meat now, and kindly get me a double. But Myrtle is game---Myrtle was always a real trouper---and she enters the cage with a whip, and the lion, raised on the lot and a bottle and another real trouper who knows his stuff and never misses a cue, begins to roar and paw the ground and emote in the style of the silent-film animal actors. In fact, Tim the Timid Lion (Himself) plays his role so well, that Tommy is convinced that Myrtle is in extreme danger, and he rushes into the cage to rescue her and, in the process, ruins the scene, knocks over the camera and exposes the film. He also upsets and frightens Tim the Timid (Himself) to such a degree, that Tim (Himself) was never the same poised actor again, and eventually was unable to find any work in the show business. And Myrtle is a bit miffed herself as she claims Tommy spoiled the best piece of acting she ever did.
Buck Parvin has a boxing match with a kangaroo...and loses.
