Series: Paul Parrott Director: James D. Davis Producer: Hal Roach Titles: Photography: Editor: Stars: James Parrott, Jobyna Ralston Company: Pathé Exchange Released: 19 November 1922 Length: 1 reel Production No.: C-63 Filming dates: August 9-14, 1922, with retakes August 28, 1922 Rating: 3/10

Harvest Hands

Available on DVD:

The owner of a farm retrieves several live animals from his post box whilst 'the son' (James Parrott) drives around the farm in a tank-like tractor! The farmer's daughter, Sophie (Jobyna Ralston) rings a bell and a dozen farm hands rush into the house to eat dinner. Farm hand (Eddie Baker) and the son compete for a chair at the table, with Eddie coming out as victor. When Sophie brings a platter of food into the room the son picks items from it whilst Eddie objects before they go into an adjoining room where the son places a tack on a seat, hoping Eddie will sit on it. But Eddie is ushered out by the farmer before he is able to sit down so the son tries desperately to remove the tack before the farmer sits on it. The son is handed a large two-handled saw and told to go to work on some logs (see favourite bit). He then has to (try and) milk a cow. There's a clever sight gag as he approaches a barn and sees the rear end of a cow sticking out of one end and a horse's head at the other! As the son tries to milk the cow, it keeps swishing its tail in his face so he decides to tie the tail into an anvil. Of course, the cow retaliates and pulls the anvil down onto the son's face. The son then pulls the tail of a large bull, which then chases him across the farm. Later, the exhausted son complains that he had trouble with the lambs (which are actually rabbits). That night, the son has trouble getting into a bed which has a mind of its own and keeps collapsing. Next morning the son cannot get a seat at the breakfast table and promptly quits. After the farm hand (Baker) messes with the engine on the tractor, the son is unable to control it and ends up driving it through the house, wrecking it and then the rest of the farm. He does, however win the girl as she hops up onto the tractor and the two of them ride off together.

Favourite bit James Parrott using a swing to hold a large saw and cut through a large log. Pretty ingenious idea!

Trivia • Copyrighted February 17, 1923. • Reissued August 1, 1926. • I am not 100% sure but I think one of the farm hands who leaves the house after dinner is George Rowe (circled). He is the 4th man to walk from right to left as the men exit the house. My opinion • There are a couple of clever gags: the saw and the swing; and the two animals behind the barn door. That's about it. The rest of the film is your average Paul Parrott comedy.

	James Parrott The son
	Jobyna Ralston Sophie, the farmer's daughter
	Eddie Baker Farm hand
	Gaylord Lloyd Farmer
	UNIDENTIFIED Farm hands 1 & 2

INTERTITLES (click image to enlarge)

Acknowledgements: Jesse Brisson (identification of Gaylord Lloyd) This page was last updated on: 19 November 2024