Rediscovered Comedy: Kick Me Again (1925)

In 2012, the National Film Preservation Foundation and Universal Studios funded the preservation of a 1925 Universal short comedy Kick Me Again.  The preservation efforts were conducted at the Academy Film Archive from a 35mm nitrate print found at the New Zealand Film Archive.  You can enjoy the film at the following link.

https://www.filmpreservation.org/preserved-films/screening-room/kick-me-again-1925

The star of the film is Charles Puffy, who starred in a series of Universal comedies from 1925 to 1928.  Before he was put under contract by Universal, Puffy worked for more than a decade making films in Germany under the name Károly Huszár.  The actor's nickname at the time was "Pufi," which means "Fatty" in his homeland Hungary.  It made sense to the actor to modify his nickname for his new stage name in Hollywood.
 

A jealous husband (Bud Jamison) suspects his wife (Mildred June) is having an affair with her dance instructor (Puffy).

At the school, Jamison sees the outline of a couple obscured behind an office door window.  He become gleeful assuming, mistakenly, that the couple's dance moves are lovemaking moves. 

The husband is shocked to find that the couple is his wife and her dance instructor.

 

 

Jamison  is perfect as the jealous husband.

 

June is so cute and charming that it's no wonder that Jamison is worried about other men getting near her.

Puffy is able to escape Jamison by dressing in a ballerina costume.

A police officer looks warily at this large man in a tutu.

Puffy ends up in the man's bedroom by mistake.

 

 
But he is able to make a quick escape out of the window.

 

 

 Puffy recreates an old Roscoe Arbuckle gag in which Arbuckle, in an act of modesty, motions for the cameraman to move off him while he changes his clothes.

 

At one point, Universal made plans to develop feature films for Puffy.  The following news item was published in The Film Daily:

Charles Puffy will be starred in a series of feature comedies to be written by H. C. Witwer for Universal.

But the feature series never happened. 

Puffy worked as a character actor in feature-length dramas during the run of his comedy series.

Mockery (1928)

The Man Who Laughs (1928)

 

 

When Hollywood shifted to making sound films, he continued his career in Germany. 

I Kiss Your Hand Madame (1929)

Blue Angel (1930)

 

The National Film Preservation Foundation has worked admirably in their preservation of silent film comedies.  You can donate to The National Film Preservation Foundation at https://www.filmpreservation.org/support.