The adventures of Old Bill and his friends Bert and Alf in the trenches of the first World War.The adventures of Old Bill and his friends Bert and Alf in the trenches of the first World War.The adventures of Old Bill and his friends Bert and Alf in the trenches of the first World War.
- Awards
- 2 wins
Edgar Kennedy
- Cpl. Austin
- (as Ed. Kennedy)
Charles K. Gerrard
- Maj. Russett
- (as Charles Gerrard)
Arthur Clayton
- The Colonel
- (uncredited)
Doris Hill
- Waitress
- (uncredited)
Olaf Hytten
- German Officer
- (uncredited)
Tom Kennedy
- The Blacksmith
- (uncredited)
Theodore Lorch
- Gaspard
- (uncredited)
Hank Mann
- German Soldier Tying Up Horse
- (uncredited)
Tom McGuire
- English General
- (uncredited)
Kewpie Morgan
- Gen. Stein
- (uncredited)
Al Thompson
- The Daughter in the Skit
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film and the earlier musical comedies are based on a popular cartoon character Old Bill, an Cockney-born British infantryman, drawn by Bruce Bairnsfather.
- Quotes
Alfie 'Little Alf': Let's get out of this damn 'ole!
Pvt. William 'Old Bill' Busby: If you knows of a better 'ole - go for it.
- Crazy creditsSyd Chaplin was credited above the title and his full character name was supplied in an inter-title.
- Alternate versionsThe print of the film in the Turner library, and released on DVD through Warner Archive includes the original 1926 Vitaphone music score, with some sound effects and singing. At one point, Harold Goodwin whispers a word to Sydney Chaplin which is also faintly heard.
- ConnectionsVersion of Carry On (1919)
Featured review
Terrible waste of time and energy
This is my second attempt to watch this totally worthless excuse of a movie. I cannot see any value in it, except maybe as a bad example of a silent movie about The Great War, a movie that is supposed to be funny.
Syd Chaplin, Charlie's older brother, does a lot of mugging the camera, including from inside a costume horse, but none of it was funny.
The other people in the cast of "The Better 'Ole" try as hard as they can, but without any funny material, it's all a waste.
Considering this is rather late in the history of silent movies, it's really hard to understand why there is a lot of knockabout, a lot of falling down, but almost nothing funny.
Apparently Syd Chaplin had some success, was considered a comedic character, but judging by "The Better 'Hole," I cannot see why.
Tonight, 25 Sept 2022, is at least the second time TCM has shown it, There are so many good movies, including good silent movies, I just do not understand why it's being shown again.
Syd Chaplin, Charlie's older brother, does a lot of mugging the camera, including from inside a costume horse, but none of it was funny.
The other people in the cast of "The Better 'Ole" try as hard as they can, but without any funny material, it's all a waste.
Considering this is rather late in the history of silent movies, it's really hard to understand why there is a lot of knockabout, a lot of falling down, but almost nothing funny.
Apparently Syd Chaplin had some success, was considered a comedic character, but judging by "The Better 'Hole," I cannot see why.
Tonight, 25 Sept 2022, is at least the second time TCM has shown it, There are so many good movies, including good silent movies, I just do not understand why it's being shown again.
- morrisonhimself
- Sep 25, 2022
- Permalink
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $449,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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