One of the frustration of being a fan of silent comedy is the lost pictures. Some were lost because they were old and uncared for and some were lost for other reasons, like this late silent Christie. Only a cut-down version of the second reel is known to exist, made for the home market about 1946. Ben Model has put it on his Youtube site, where you can see it with his typically sprightly accompaniment on the organ.
One of the reasons I tend to rate Christie comedies a bit lower than other contemporary fun factories was the way the studio paced them: set up, payoff, then a rush to the next set-up. Yet, in this cut-down version, we find almost entire story reduced to one long set up -- the young lovers pursued by her father -- and then a series of sight gags based on the mayhem of their auto ride. The editing of this version lends an air of spontaneity to the proceedings that I don't usually get from the Christies and the number of gags results in a sort of surreal catalogue of variations on the theme. I like it. I like it a lot with its sense of "If you didn't like the last one, here's another." I think you'll like it too.
