His Nibs (1921)

Interesting facts

His Nibs is a 1921 American comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava and starring Chic Sale and Colleen Moore.

Background

The background of this film is complicated and unclear. The film was originally based on a short story, "The Smart Aleck", by Irvin S. Cobb from The Saturday Evening Post, a story of a small-town wit that travels to the big city and finds himself out of his depth. His Nibs started life as The Smart Aleck, a vehicle for Charles 'Chic' Sale, a popular comedian popular in the 1920s for his caricatures of rural 'hick' characters...

It is possible that, in its original form, the film was poorly received, and rather than start over from scratch the existing film was re-edited and a new framing story was shot around the existing material. The original The Smart Aleck appears to have been a spoof of the popular story of the young, unspoiled man who goes to the city, fights off temptation and manages to save his sweetheart in the end.

The film The Smart Aleck is presented as a film-within-the-film (retitled He Fooled 'Em All). The new, framing story consists of Sales playing most of the parts himself, including the spinster organist but chiefly as the projectionist, who has cut the title cards from the film so he can give the audience his own interpretation.

Moore's work on this film overlapped with her work on the drama When Dawn Came (1920). His Nibs was her second Robertson-Cole film, the first being The Devil's Claim (1920).

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