Long Pants
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Frank Capra
Harry Langdon
Gladys Brockwell
Al Roscoe
Alma Bennett
Frankie Darro
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
The Boy, a dreamer who fancies himself a Don Juan, rejoices when his mother at last allows him to change from his knee breeches to long pants. He goes out for a bicycle ride to show off to his neighbors that he is now a man, and while out, he encounters the Vamp, a beautiful crook being sought by the police for smuggling "snow." She is amused by the Boy and flirts with him while he rides around her car trying to impress her. He is called back home to talk on the phone with his girl friend Priscilla, and after he hurriedly hangs up on her, he rushes back out to the Vamp. She is gone, however, and has accidentally left behind one of her unsigned love letters, which the Boy mistakenly assumes is for him. He thinks that the Vamp wishes to marry him, and his parents, who know nothing of the Vamp, naturally assume Priscilla is the focus of his desire to get married. His parents arrange for the young couple to be married at once, but the Boy, intent on a passionate life with the Vamp, decides that he must kill Priscilla to avoid marrying her. He takes her for a walk in the woods, but his incompetence prevents him from shooting her, and he ends up getting caught in a bear trap, from which Priscilla rescues him. The Boy then discovers that the Vamp has been incarcerated for her crimes, but his attempt to rescue her is complicated by his run-ins with a mannequin police officer, and then a real police officer. The Vamp gets into a fistfight with the woman she holds responsible for her arrest, and then shoots her husband. The Boy is jailed, but when he is released, he thinks of his mother and Priscilla and rushes home to them.
Director
Frank Capra
Cast
Harry Langdon
Gladys Brockwell
Al Roscoe
Alma Bennett
Frankie Darro
Priscilla Bonner
Betty Francisco
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title for this film was Johnny Newcomer. Although exact production dates for this film have not been verified, a Moving Picture World news item from January 1927, during the eighteenth week of shooting, estimated that it would be in production for 22 weeks. Contemporary sources reported that the film was to be eight reels, but it was previewed at nine reels, before being cut to its release length of six reels. Moving Picture World also stated that there was to be a dream scene in Technicolor, but modern sources speculate that this scene was deleted or later printed in black and white, and that Frankie Darro's part has been cut from surviving prints. Modern sources credit Ruth Waterburg as playing a nightclub singer and list the following character names: "The Boy" as "Harry Shelby," "The Vamp" as "Bebe Blair," and Betty Francisco as "His finish."
