Volume II: Filmography

PERCY'S FIRST HOLIDAY

February 8, 1914 (Sunday)

Length: 1 reel (771 feet)

Character: Comedy

Director: Carl Louis Gregory

Assistant director: M. Perry Horton

Scenario: Lloyd F. Lonergan

Cameraman: Carl Louis Gregory

Cast: W.S. Percy (a theatrical star from Australia), Fan Bourke (Jane), Muriel Ostriche (May, a movie actress), "Babe" Wallace (Jumbo), Charles Van Houten (Van), Boyd Marshall (Mike), Ed Ford (Jake), Arthur Bauer (Gray), Grace Eline (Frances), Lydia Mead, Cyril Chadwick (? see note)

Location: New York City and New Rochelle

Notes: 1. W.S. Percy, said to have been a well-known Australian comedian, visited the United States in 1913 and, while here, was in this film, surrounded by Thanhouser players. 2. The Motion Picture Magazine, December 1914, stated that the title role was filled by Cyril Chadwick. This attribution must be viewed as questionable.

ADVERTISEMENT, Reel Life, February 7, 1914:

"Percy's First Holiday is based on the recent American adventures of W.S. Percy, Australia's greatest comedian, who came over to this country on his first vacation. The Yankeeland experiences of the famous Antipodean funster would make a mummy laugh. Thanhouser favorites are with him every minute, to make you remember always that Thanhouser grabbed the privilege of filming the comedian-visitor."

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, February 7, 1914:

"Percy was the idol of the theatregoing public in Australia. On his first holiday he came to America. To him New York was a city to wonder at. The traffic all went the wrong way, he said - and it seemed mighty strange to be freezing to death in December, for that month is midsummer in Australia. His adventures in outlandish U.S.A. made a thrilling story for him to take back with him to the other side of the world."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, February 15, 1914:

"The first appearance of the Australian comedian, W.S. Percy, is the feature of this film. The story is a rather novel one in that it consists largely of the adventures which the actor is supposed to experience in coming to this country. Incidentally he returns to Australia, which it is to be hoped has not actually happened, as photo playgoers would like to see more of him."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, February 21, 1914:

"Featuring the clever comedy work of W.S. Percy, the Australian actor, this picture has broad humor of a kind that is apt to become rough; but there is a pertinency in the incidents at times that keeps it alive and interesting. It makes a very fair offering."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, February 18, 1914:

"This is a one-reel comedy extravaganza, with lots of hilarity, albeit much horseplay - which is probably what it was intended to be. 'Percy' is introduced as the 'leading Australian comedian,' who takes his first holiday, coming to New York. All sorts of experiences, good, bad, and indifferent befall him. The bad ones are those that are so absolutely extravagant that they weaken the general effect. In New York Percy wanders into a movie studio, where he persuades the ingenue that he is the actor to play opposite her in their plays. Then he escorts her to a tango emporium, where his capers as a dancer and a diner are many and varied. Then he is inveigled into a bucket shop, where he is adroitly trimmed by the wire-tappers. He sails back to Australia glad to leave New York to the New Yorkers."

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