Mandarin Mix-Up

Mandarin Mix-Up
Directed by	Scott Pembroke
Produced by	Joe Rock
Written by	Tay Garnett
Starring	Stan Laurel
Release date(s)	30 August 1924
Running time	20 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent film English intertitles

Mandarin Mix-Up is a 1924 comedy film directed by Scott Pembroke and starring Stan Laurel.^[1]

Plot

Stan Laurel (an Englishman by birth) becomes an Asian in this Joe Rock comedy. As the new baby in the family, Laurel is shown in a high chair and playing with a ball. His big brother is jealous of all the attention his new baby brother is getting, so he drops him in a pile of dirty clothes, which is subsequently taken to a Chinese laundry shop. He is found among the dirty clothes by an employee, who takes him in and raises him as his own. When he grows up he goes to work in the laundry shop himself. Sum Sap, as he is known, angers a Tong gangster and is in fear of his life. After eluding the danger he manages to get the best of his foes and marry his Chinese girlfriend (Julie Leonard). Just then, his real parents finally find him and he soon discovers that he is rich.

Reception

Mandarin Mix-Up received average reception. It was praised for its humorous slapstick comedy but the most critics agree that the completely moronic characters offset this.

Notes

All of the surviving copies of this movie have added title cards (originally written by director Tay Garnett). Sound effects include clock cuckoos, chiming gongs, rimshots, the occasional slide whistle, and a voice-over by an unspecified narrator who punctuates each joke with a comment.

Cast

• Stan Laurel - Sum Sap
• Julie Leonard - China girl

See also

• List of American films of 1924
• Stan Laurel filmography

References

1. ^ "Progressive Silent Film List: Mandarin Mix-Up". Silent Era. http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/M/MandarinMixUp1924.html. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 

External links

• Mandarin Mix-Up at the Internet Movie Database
• [1]
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016085/usercomments