Willie

Willie (1914)

10 Aug 1914 • Comedy, Short
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Willie Clark is in love. His girl. Jane Fetherly thinks a great deal of him also. Willie, whose training has made him a home boy and a mama's pet, fears the loud voice and stentorian tones of Jane's father. Jane urges Willie to take the fatal step and speak to her father, which Willie finally does under protest. Jane's father gives Willie the laugh, intimating that Jane requires a "man" for a husband instead of a "Willie boy." Willie becomes dejected, and upon returning home, finds Jim Rucker, a Texas cattleman, on a visit to his father. Willie asks Rucker for a job on the cattle ranch, and Jim, having in mind the necessity for entertaining his cowboys at times, thinks it a dandy idea, and engages Willie. Willie departs for Texas, taking with him all the boudoir necessities, including a powder-puff, scent bottle, manicuring outfit, etc. Willie wears a monocle attached to a ribbon, and thinks this to be as necessary a part of his equipment as his hat which, by the way, is a Broadway production, such as cowboys have never seen. The arrival of Jim Rucker and Willie is hailed most heartily by the boys, who at once see visions of sport during the long evenings, with Willie in the leading role. Life for Willie on the "Flying U" ranch becomes an unceasing round of gaiety, with Willie unanimously elected as the "goat." Outside his window in the evening they watch him perform his twilight toilet with powder-puff and manicure outfit. They put up jobs on him, so that when he climbs into his bunk the bottom falls out. As he is scenting his pajamas with toilet water, ready for retiring for the night, they ruthlessly lasso him and drag him out into the moonlight where a violent tossing in a blanket leaves him groaning and bemoaning his unfortunate fate. Night after night his friends, the cowpunchers, awaken him with war dances and blood-curdling yells. They shoot out his lamp; likewise shoot off the neck of his ink bottle. Willie feels despondent and wants to go home. He makes no pretense at being happy, but the friendly cowpunchers of the "Flying U" ranch do not want to lose Willie. He is too good a thing to let go, so they continue to utilize their combined ingenuity, making Willie's life not worth living. Willie is finally introduced to a lantern-jawed, Roman-nosed, flea-bitten horse, which makes no secret of its intense delight for Willie, on the spot. Willie tries to ride him, but the horse is determined he shall not. The restlessness of the horse is abetted by the actions of the cowboys, so that the brute finally runs away and lands Willie on his back in the corral. The enthusiasm of the cowboys increases with their successes in making Willie's life miserable. There seems to be very little work done on the ranch, except the entertaining of Willie. Jim Rucker does not officially recognize the baiting of Willie, but keeps out of the way, so as not to interfere. The horsemanship exercises of Willie are screams. The cowboys pretend to help him, but irritate his horse and make it perform antics which drive Willie into a frenzy of terror. Willie tries to run away from his tormentors, but they lasso him and drag him back. He wants to obtain a closer view of the cattle, so one of his tormentors drags him at the end of a lariat through the herd and into a pond where Willie splashes and splutters and narrowly escapes from drowning. Then the worm turns. The cook is the first one to receive the brunt of Willie's displeasure. Willie pounces on him, pushes his head into a flour basin and treats him violently. Willie accumulates a pair of "6-guns" and starts on a rampage. He huddles the punchers together and makes them dance and do acrobatic stunts. He chases them around like a flock of hens. He has everybody on the ranch on the run. They develop bursts of speed which would be a credit to a marathon. Willie loses his eye-glass, and his pink complexion assumes a deep brown hue. His carefully preserved toilet preparations are thrown out of the window. Everybody on the ranch jumps sideways when Willie comes into view. In a short time he is the boss of the job. Willie completes his career of conquest by ducking the punchers, one by one, in a horse trough. Rucker, who has evaded responsibility in the affair, is treated to a short dose of a popular medicine by Willie until he begs for mercy. From a "lah-de-dah" Willie, the hero of the picture becomes transposed into a weather-beaten, muscular cowpuncher, so that Jim Rucker finally wires back to the Clark home, as follows: "The kid is O.K. He has licked every puncher on the ranch; he has borrowed money enough from me to buy a hundred head of cattle and starts east tomorrow to marry the girl. Don't keep him long; we need him out here." There is rejoicing by Willie's father, who goes to confer with Jane's pa. Willie comes back home a different young man, and his people are proud of him, while Jane likes him better than ever. So they are married.

Colin Campbell
Director
C. Gardner Sullivan
Writer
Wheeler Oakman, Fred Huntley, Gertrude Ryan
Starring

Language: None, English
Awards:
Country: United States
Metacritic Score:
DVD Release Date:
Box Office Total:

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