In this comedy, Mr Butterbun, played by Lupino Lane, receives a request to
lead an appeal tribunal for WWI conscripts and rushes off (after much comic
business getting dressed). The Board is shown at work judging the conscription
appeals of various comic characters who attempt to fool or bribe them with the
usual excuses - being too old, too young, engaged on important war work, widowed
mothers to care for and so on. Chaos ensues as the Board members make their
decisions. In the second part, the Board members go off to the races and
subsequently to a restaurant and ring up a huge bill on champagne which they are
unable to pay; consequently they are kicked out. Mr Butterbun goes home very drunk (with more comic
business) to face his angry wife.
This is one of only two surviving episodes of this series of nine
two-reelers, most starring Lupino Lane, who was already well established as a
star of the halls in sketches, musical comedy and pantomime. This is indicated
by the opening simultaneous inset of Lupino as himself and as Mr Butterbun. The
series was issued as part of the Kinekature Comedies, which exploited a patented
gimmick which distorted the film image for comic effect. The transformation was
often triggered by a device such as a magic ring in the same style as other such
pantomime devices, including Alf's Button, Ali Baba's magic lantern
etc.
Bryony Dixon
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