A Warm Reception
	09 November 1916
	Vim Comedy Film Company/General Film Company
	silent short
	1-reel

Director: Willard Louis*  Producer: Louis Burstein *educated guess only

Babe is thrown out of his lodgings by his fierce landlady (Kate Price), which results in him ending up in a heap at the bottom of the steps.  He checks to make sure his nose isn't broken, as the landlandy orders her daughter (Florence McLaughlin) to give Babe back the ring she is wearing on her finger.  She refuses, so her mother takes it from her daughter's finger and hurls it at Babe before going indoors and slamming the door. At the breakfast table, the landlady reads in the newspaper that a count is in town and seeking dinner engagements.  She tells her daughter that this is exactly the kind of man she wants for her daughter to marry and sets about making an appointment with him, despite the daughter's protests.  Babe takes refuge in the company of three pals on the sidewalk and explains how he was kicked out of his lodgings.  They offer to help him. At that moment the aforementioned count De Appetyte walks out of a beauty parlour and is confronted by Babe.  For what appears to be a cheap shot purely for comical effect, Babe kicks the count in the rear and walks off laughing.  Babe returns to the house from where he was evicted, disguised as a wardrobe (yes, you read that correctly).  The daughter comes out to greet him and explains to him of her mother's plans to have her meet the count later that day.  Babe tells the girl not to worry and seemingly tells her a plan before leaving.  The daughter returns indoors and is handed the envelope containing the letter her mother has written, and tells her to post it.

As the daughter leaves the room she attempts to destroy the letter, but the intervention of the nosey maid prevents this and takes the letter away.  Meanwhile, Babe and his pals are outside formulating their plan to help his girlfriend out of the fix she has been put in by her mother.  The mother comes outside and is quickly wrestled by the three men, but when she overpowers them it is left for Babe to involve himself by restraining her with his jacket over her head.  He then tells his girl to go into the house and get her belongings whilst the mother is kidnapped and bundled into the house by the men and then tied up. The count receives the letter and prepares himself excitedly for the meeting with the daughter.  Back at the house, the three men stand guard over the captured mother, who lashes out at them with every opportunity she gets.  The guests begin to arrive at the house and are greeted by the daughter and the maid, who takes their coats and hats and expresses her snobbish opinion of them.  Upstairs Babe reveals himself dressed as the lady of the house in a ruse to deceive the guests in the absence of the real lady who is still being held against her will by his pals.  In a brief moment of over-performing to his (her) guests, Babe shows off to them and ends up falling down the stairs and in doing so causes an old geezer to faint.  Babe throws a bowl of punch over the man's head and eventually the guest comes round before the party break off into another room.  The count arrives at the house, and is announced to the guests.

Babe (dressed as the woman in order to fool the count in order to get him to leave the daughter alone) does everything to annoy the distinguished guest, by taking his hat and throwing it, conveniently jabbing him with a cane and smacking him hard on the back as a welcoming!  But his final assault is the most amusing - when the count accidentally stands on Babe's dress, Babe goes all-out for the injury!  Even when Babe has scored his biggest victory, by pulling his dress from underneath the count's feet and sending him face-first into the hard floor, he is relentless to continue the onslaught. Babe begins dancing with one of the guests in the hallway, whilst taking cheap shots at the count with a series of back kicks.  One of Babe's pals comes in to notify the maid of developments.  The guests leave, and so too does the count when Babe gives him a kick towards the exit!  Babe quickly undresses back into his original clothing and goes outside to 'rescue' the girl's mother from the clutches of his three pals by beating them up.  The mother cheers Babe's actions as he unties her and carries her away to safety, back to her house. The count returns, staggering into the house hoping to be reintroduced to the girl, but the mother pushes him aside.  It would appear that Babe's gamble of hiring the pals to help him win the girl over with the mother has succeeded... until the old geezer walks back in and is introduced to Babe and the daughter.  The film ends abruptly here so it isn't clear if he is the father, or another suitor!

Favourite bit It's a brief moment with Babe and the count (played by Joe Cohen).  Babe, dressed as a woman, puts the unwanted guest through a series of aggressive assaults, each made to look like casual accidents; until just for a moment the count gets the upper hand by standing on Babe's dress.  Rather than subtly bring this to the count's attention, Babe does something totally unexpected to get his dress unhooked!

Facts •Filmed in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. •It is rumoured that Babe Hardy may have directed, or at least co-directed the film. •There are fifteen intertitle cards - all of them are listed below. Did you notice? •The newspaper article that Kate Price reads at the table declares, "The newly arrived count begs to announce that he is open for all dinner engagements".  However, the article is printed in such a bold font compared the rest of the stories featured on the newspaper that it just doesn't look real. •Other articles in the newspaper have the headings: "Large Turnout For Piping Rock Races" and "Dr H.G. Underwood, Missionary, Dead".  In reality, Dr. Horace Grant Underwood (19 July 1859-12 Oct 1916) was a Presbyterian missionary, educator, and translator who dedicated his life to developing the Korean society and Christianity. •When Babe is standing outside the store with the three men, the sign for Coca-Cola is in the background, in reverse lettering. •The three guys who Babe confides in continuously blow cigarette smoke in his face. •When we first see the Count, he is leaving a beauty parlour owned by Madame L.M. Jones. •During the course of the film, Babe kisses his girlfriend, Florence McLaughlin, a total of 3 times. •The stunt where Babe performs one too many courtsey and falls down the stairs appears to be performed by him.  You have to admire his agility for someone his size and shape!  If that wasn't impressive enough, later on he physically picks up Kate Price and carries her, dead weight.  That is pretty strong! •Oliver Hardy's transition to playing the lady of the house is quite believable - he is almost the exact same shape as Kate Price, whom he is imitating. •During the course of the film, Babe assaults the count a total of 14 times (once on the sidewalk, dressed normally and 13 times at the house whilst dressed as a woman). •After Babe gets out of the woman's clothing and back into his own original clothes, he has forgotten to remove all of the make-up on his face and mouth.

	Oliver Hardy Babe
	Kate Price Mrs. Price
	Joe Cohen Count De Appetyte
	Florence McLaughlin Daughter

UNIDENTIFIED Three pals	UNIDENTIFIED Maid	UNIDENTIFIED Guest #1
UNIDENTIFIED Guest #2	UNIDENTIFIED Guest #3	UNIDENTIFIED Guest #4
UNIDENTIFIED Guest #5	UNIDENTIFIED Guest #6	UNIDENTIFIED Old geezer

Acknowledgements: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0270064/ (IMDb.com) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Warm_Reception#mediaviewer/File:A_Warm_Reception.jpg (poster) "Laurel OR Hardy" by Rob Stone (book) Nelson Hughes (help and assistance) Jim Jarvis (information pertaining to newspaper article as seen in the film) This page was last updated on: 10 September 2014