The Show-Off

The Show-Off is a 1946 film directed by Harry Beaumont based on the play by George Kelly. It stars Red Skelton and Marilyn Maxwell. It was previously filmed in 1926 as The Show Off starring Ford Sterling, Lois Wilson and Louise Brooks and in 1934 as The Show-Off with Spencer Tracy and Madge Evans. Lois Wilson also appeared in this one, but in a different role.

Plot

Amy Fisher's parents can't understand what their daughter sees in Aubrey Piper, a loudmouth and braggart who pretends to be more than the lowly clerk he is.

She marries Aubrey even though he can't seem to stop insulting others or interfering with their lives. He accidentally sets her inventor brother Joe's laboratory on fire and also wrecks a car, driving it without a license. He is kicked off a radio show for offending the sponsor and blows Joe's deal with a paint company by demanding the inventor be paid $100,000.

Things go from bad to worse as Amy and Aubrey move in with her parents. In the end, though, a change of heart from the paint company's boss seals Joe's deal and Aubrey gets the credit, pleasing everyone.

The Show-Off (1934 film)

The Show-Off is a 1934 film. It was the first movie Spencer Tracy made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Based on the hit play by George Kelly, it made a profit of $78,000.

Plot

Out sailing one day, J. Aubrey Piper saves a man from drowning. He overhears an impressed Amy Fisher's remark and looks her up in New Jersey, irritating her family with his constant bragging but winning Amy, who marries him.

A humble railroad clerk, Aubrey keeps pretending to be a more important man. He spends lavishly, piling up so much debt that he and Amy must move in with her parents. He gets fired by his boss Preston for making a wild offer on a piece of land, overstepping his authority by far.

Amy is fed up and intends to leave him. Aubrey runs into her brother Joe, an inventor whose rust-prevention idea has received a firm offer of $5,000. Aubrey goes to the firm and demands Joe get $100,000 plus a 50% ownership interest. The company rescinds its offer entirely.

Everybody's fed up with Aubrey, but suddenly Joe rushes home to say the company's changed its mind, offering him $50,000 plus 20%. And the railroad property paid off, too, so Aubrey's offered his old job back, with a raise. He knows how lucky he's been and that he should just shut up, but he just can't.

The Show Off

The Show Off (1926) is a silent film comedy produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures, directed by Mal St. Clair, and starring Ford Sterling, Lois Wilson and Louise Brooks. The film is based on a 1924 Broadway play by George Kelly that starred Louis John Bartels in the leading role, and had Lee Tracy in the cast.

This film is one of two films that costarred popular Broadway actor Gregory Kelly (first husband of Ruth Gordon) who died shortly after The Show Off wrapped production. The film was produced in Philadelphia and New York City thus becoming a sort of time capsule record of buildings long gone and neighborhoods changed.

Preservation status

Preserved at the Library of Congress, the film can be found in near mint condition on a Library of Congress related DVD.

Remakes

The film has been remade a number of times: