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Pimple in the Whip

Hilariously shambolic parody of an equestrian stage smash, by the prolific entertainer Pimple

Comedy 1917 22 mins Silent

Overview

This highly entertaining comedy from the prolific parodist Pimple (aka Fred Evans) reworks a spectacular stage drama of the day with all due disrespect. Fred is the down-on-his-luck Lord 'Elpus, who bets all his remaining readies on the race horse of the title, but nearly falls prey to the nefarious Lord For-Givus. The climax is a hilariously shambolic pantomime horse race, where every expense is spared in the interest of screen realism.

The original stage play The Whip, written by Cecil Raleigh and Henry Hamilton in 1912, played to packed houses at London's Drury Lane theatre, and had as its finale a real on-stage horse race (which was rivalled for stage ambition with an earlier rail crash). The play was also filmed (more respectfully) by Maurice Tourneur in 1917.