James Parrott

Directing

James Parrott

Born 1897-08-01 · Baltimore, Maryland, USA

From Wikipedia James Parrott (August 2, 1897 – May 10, 1939) was an American actor and film director; and the younger brother of film comedian Charley Chase. James Gibbons Parrott was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Charles and Blanche Thompson Parrott. In 1903, his father died from a heart attack, leaving the family in bad financial shape, which forced them to move in with a relative. Charley Jr. quit school, so he could go to work, in order to support his mother and brother. Eventually the call of the stage beckoned him, and Charley Jr. left home at age 16 to travel the vaudeville circuit as a singer and comedic performer. By the time James had reached his teens, he too, had quit school, and became involved with the street gangs of Baltimore. Later, Charley's connections in the film industry helped get his younger brother established in movies, and he would appear during the 1920s in a series of relatively successful comedies for producer Hal Roach. He was billed first as "Paul Parrott," then "Jimmie Parrott." Approximately 75 comedies were produced from 1921 to 1923, with titles continuing to be released through Pathé until 1926. Frequent co-stars included Marie Mosquini, Jobyna Ralston, Eddie Baker, and Sunshine Sammy. Parrott is probably best known as a comedy director. As "James Parrott," he specialized in the two-reel misadventures of Laurel and Hardy, including the Oscar-winning classic The Music Box, and Helpmates. During the 1930s Parrott had acquired serious drinking and drug problems (his diet medications were really addictive amphetamines) and although still able to direct quality shorts, he had developed a reputation as unreliable. By the mid-1930s his work was spotty: Stan Laurel used him sporadically to contribute gags to the Laurel and Hardy features, and he would direct an Our Gang short in 1934, plus several acceptable entries in Thelma Todd-Patsy Kelly series. By 1937, Parrott was accepting any jobs that came his way. He could no longer be counted on to direct or write, and relied on his brother to support him financially. There was a brief marriage to Ruby Ellen McCoy in 1937, but as his various addictions worsened, so did his state of mind. Parrott died at the age of 41 of heart failure. His brother Charley was devastated, and died 13 months later.

Acting credits

Hustling for Health poster
5.2

Stan Laurel is picked up at the train depot and brought back by the husband to the family home where the wife is having a suffragette meeting. None too pleased they cause mayhem and then the neighbours are brought into it as Stan cleans up the backyard by throwing all the rubbish into their award winning garden.

Hustling for Health

1919

No artwork available
8.0

Paul plays at being a detective until dad, who is a revenue officer, sends him out to prove his worth by rounding up some desperate moonshiners.

Bone Dry

1922

No artwork available
6.5

Paul, a great college athlete, is sent to his uncle's farm to be developed, but turns against the continual round of chores. And at the table he is continually elbowed aside by the huskier farmhands, until he gives up in disgust. But a last attempt to understand the intricacies of the tractor results in his demolishing the house, and the farmer's daughter aids his escape.

Harvest Hands

1922

Sittin' Pretty poster
7.0

When Charlie borrows the policeman's uniform of his girl's father and captures a lunatic, his prospective father-in-law dons the uniform just in time to receive the reward of $1,000.

Sittin' Pretty

1924

No artwork available
NR

James Parrott having a lot of pets destroying the place.

No Pets

1923

No artwork available
6.5

Paul Parrott comedy produced by Hal Roach.

The Landlubber

1922

No artwork available
9.0

The setting is a shoe store and the action is pretty frenetic. You get to see Paul lose the store's money, catch a shoe thief, knock down a bunch of shelves and more.

Tight Shoes

1923

Are Parents Pickles? poster
9.0

James Parrott joins every lodge in town to get in good with people as he tries to sell his fire extinguishers.

Are Parents Pickles?

1925

Shoot Straight poster
NR

SHOOT STRAIGHT - starring Paul Parrott, with Jobyna Ralston, Eddie Baker and George Rowe. A rarely-seen comedy short. Parrott is a hapless hunter in this predecessor to Tex Avery toons of the 1940s, and in a series of inventive gag sequences fails to capture squirrel, rabbit, chinchilla, bobcat, duck, and bear all in one reel.

Shoot Straight

1923

Dear Ol' Pal poster
10.0

Two lifelong friends vie for the affection of the same woman.

Dear Ol' Pal

1923

No artwork available
NR

Slapstick experts host this look at the life and films of Charley Chase with rare film clips and photos.

The Parrott Chase

2009

No artwork available
10.0

Paul is practicing the art of being a cowboy. He consults a book before firing his gun, climbing onto a saddle on top of a chair and then falling off and dressing his wounds. He then gets back on his 'saddle' and fires his gun again, this time in the direction of another man who has just entered the room. Paul leaves abruptly and rides into town on a horse, and straight through a crowded saloon. A town marshal sees this as act act of bravery and rewards Paul with a sheriff's badge immediately. A fearful rival makes his mark when he lights his cigarette by tossing it into the air and shooting at it to ignite it!

Blaze Away

1922

No artwork available
7.5

A couple of pals tries to stay out of trouble, without much luck.

Get Busy

1924

Young Mr. Jazz poster
5.9

While running away from his girl's father, Harold's car breaks down in front of a dance hall run by crooks. Harold has to not only stay one step ahead of the girl's father, but also those trying to rob them of everything they have.

Young Mr. Jazz

1919

The House of Flickers poster
NR

The troubles of a movie projectionist in a newly-purchased theater are chronicled in this two-reeler starring Paul Parrot and Mildred June.

The House of Flickers

1925

Don't Shove poster
6.1

Harold and his rival fight over Bebe on her birthday, first at her home and then at a nearby skating rink.

Don't Shove

1919

No artwork available
9.0

Tired of being constantly nagged by "Paul" and another suitor, their shared romantic interest (referred to as Paul's inamorata) purposely has herself arrested for speeding. She vows to marry whichever man is able to get her released from jail. Both men make various, often bumbling, attempts to join her in jail to facilitate her release. After both suitors successfully manage to get themselves locked up, they discover that the woman has already been freed by her father. The film concludes with the two suitors facing actual prison terms while the woman remains free.

Jailed and Bailed

1923

Bride and Gloom poster
NR

A short film starring Harold Lloyd.

Bride and Gloom

1918

Join the Circus poster
7.0

'Snub' Pollard wants to hang himself but figures joining the circus was better idea.

Join the Circus

1923

Pipe the Whiskers poster
5.0

Our hero is a janitor in a old age rest home who actually runs the place.

Pipe the Whiskers

1918

No artwork available
7.0

After many difficulties getting into a baseball game with his girl, Paul is pressed into service as a pinch hitter.

Touch all the Bases

1922

Just Rambling Along poster
5.2

A nervy young man follows a pretty lady into a diner to flirt with her, but winds up getting stuck with the tab.

Just Rambling Along

1918

The King poster
4.4

The king is a juvenile dolt who tries the patience of the shrewish queen. While she's in the throne room awaiting him, he's outside playing with guns, drilling his soldiers, and dallying with the wife of a new minister. The queen catches him kissing her, her husband figures out that something fishy is going on, and the king tries his best to proceed with his plans for a night out. The queen contrives to keep him cuffed in the bedroom: king, queen, minister, and coquette end up in a game of musical beds. Will his royal highness get his night out?

The King

1930

Here Come the Girls poster
2.0

Bebe and girlfriend go shopping for new corsets. Harold sneaks into the corset shop and a customer asks him to take her measurements - a ticklish task, as the brash young man suddenly becomes playfully bashful.

Here Come the Girls

1918

Behind the camera

Another Fine Mess poster
6.9

Two homeless vagabonds hide out in a vacant mansion and pose as the residents when prospective lessees arrive and try to rent it.

Another Fine Mess

1930

Block-Heads poster
7.0

It's 1938, but Stan doesn't know the war is over; he's still patrolling the trenches in France, and shoots down a French aviator. Oliver sees his old chum's picture in the paper and goes to visit Stan who has now been returned to the States and invites him back to his home.

Block-Heads

1938

Perfect Day poster
7.0

Two families embark on a pleasant Sunday picnic but manage to run into a variety of issues with their temperamental automobile. Each incident requires repeated exits and reboardings by Laurel, Hardy, their wives and grouchy, gout-ridden Uncle Edgar.

Perfect Day

1929

Pardon Us poster
6.5

It's Prohibition, and the boys wind up behind bars after Stan sells some of their home-brew beer to a policeman.

Pardon Us

1931

Way Out West poster
7.1

Stan and Ollie try to deliver the deed to a valuable gold mine to the daughter of a dead prospector. Unfortunately, the daughter's evil guardian is determined to have the gold mine for himself and his saloon-singer wife.

Way Out West

1937

Night Owls poster
7.4

Policeman Edgar Kennedy is told by his chief he better stop a string of burglaries that have been happening on his watch or else he will get the sack. He persuades vagrants Stan and Ollie to rob the chief's house so he can regain his reputation by catching them. The policeman promises to later get the boys off. Things do not go as planned.

Night Owls

1930

Wandering Papas poster
5.4

A cook for bridge constructors is told to collect food for dinner-Ritz style trout, Palmer house rabbit and a 15cm frosted cake. He sets off into the wide open spaces to collect the food, coming into contact with a mad hermit, who hates anybody seeing his daughter, before returning to cook dinner.

Wandering Papas

1926

Unfriendly Enemies poster
6.5

Finlayson plays an intrepid army cameraman on the battlefield in the world war, and Rowe plays his hapless assistant. Cranking away in no man's land, they take foolish chances and must dodge flying shells, falling down and losing their film repeatedly.

Unfriendly Enemies

1925

Two Tars poster
6.8

Two sailors on shore leave rent a car and go on a drive with their dates, but soon get involved in a huge traffic jam with dozens of ill-tempered motorists. A minor collision sets off an escalating series of retaliations.

Two Tars

1928

The Hoose-Gow poster
6.8

Stan and Ollie arrive as new inmates at a prison after apparently taking part in a hold-up raid, a raid they tell a prison officer they were only watching. The usual mayhem ensues.

The Hoose-Gow

1929

Chasing Husbands poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Chasing Husbands

1928

County Hospital poster
6.8

Ollie is in the hospital with a broken leg. When Stan comes to visit him, total chaos ensues.

County Hospital

1932

Twice Two poster
6.7

A year prior to the first scene, Stan married Ollie's sister, and Ollie married Stan's sister in a double wedding. They all live together and Stan and Ollie work in the same office.

Twice Two

1933

Twice Two poster
6.7

A year prior to the first scene, Stan married Ollie's sister, and Ollie married Stan's sister in a double wedding. They all live together and Stan and Ollie work in the same office.

Twice Two

1933

Fluttering Hearts poster
5.6

Defying her father's wishes, a young woman runs off to a sale at store. She's pursued by a policeman, but wins him over with the help of a friendly millionaire. In the mean time, her father tries to retrieve a compromising letter.

Fluttering Hearts

1927

Mixed Nuts poster
7.1

Oddly enough for a Roach comedy the premise of MIXED NUTS is grounded in topical political satire aimed at the New Deal, although the satire is of a very lightweight (and light-hearted) nature. The film begins at a city council meeting where an unidentified politician announces that the government has released $50,000 for the relief of unemployed plumbers. This prompts applause, but also a pointed question from an angry woman who wants to know what the government is going to do for the members of her profession: chorus girls. The politician glibly replies that the administration has set aside money—two million dollars, no less!—for the re-education of chorus girls, "to fit them for the better things in life."

Mixed Nuts

1934

Hog Wild poster
6.9

First, Ollie can't find his hat. Then he and Stan attempt to install a rooftop radio antenna.

Hog Wild

1930

The Music Box poster
7.5

The Laurel & Hardy Moving Co. have a challenging job on their hands (and backs): hauling a player piano up a monumental flight of stairs to Prof. von Schwarzenhoffen's house. Their task is complicated by a sassy nursemaid and, unbeknownst to them, the impatient Prof. von Schwarzenhoffen himself. But the biggest problem is the force of gravity, which repeatedly pulls the piano back down to the bottom of the stairs.

The Music Box

1932

The Music Box poster
7.5

The Laurel & Hardy Moving Co. have a challenging job on their hands (and backs): hauling a player piano up a monumental flight of stairs to Prof. von Schwarzenhoffen's house. Their task is complicated by a sassy nursemaid and, unbeknownst to them, the impatient Prof. von Schwarzenhoffen himself. But the biggest problem is the force of gravity, which repeatedly pulls the piano back down to the bottom of the stairs.

The Music Box

1932

The Midnight Patrol poster
6.6

Novice policemen Stan and Ollie bungle a burglary investigation.

The Midnight Patrol

1933

Come Clean poster
7.2

The Hardys wish to have a quiet evening in their apartment, but are interrupted when the Laurels pay a visit. Stan and Ollie go out for ice cream, and manage to prevent a shrewish woman from committing suicide on the way back home. The woman is ungrateful and makes threats against the them unless they look after her. They spend a chaotic evening trying to keep her hidden from their wives.

Come Clean

1931

Girl Grief poster
7.0

Although terrified of girls, Charley must take a job teaching at a girls school.

Girl Grief

1932

Below Zero poster
6.7

Street musicians Stan and Ollie have no success earning money in the dead of winter in a bad neighborhood. Their instruments are destroyed in an argument with a woman, but their luck seems to turn when Stan finds a wallet.

Below Zero

1930

Swiss Miss poster
6.3

Stan and Ollie are mousetrap salesmen hoping for better business in Switzerland, with Stan's theory that because there is more cheese in Switzerland, there should be more mice.

Swiss Miss

1938