Once a Plumber
| Once a Plumber | |
|---|---|
Film poster | |
| Directed by | Eddie Lyons Lee Moran |
| Written by | C.B. Hoadley Edgar Franklin |
| Starring | Eddie Lyons Lee Moran George B. Williams |
| Cinematography | Alfred Gosden |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Universal Film Manufacturing Company |
Release date |
|
Running time | 5 reels |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Once a Plumber is a 1920 comedy film directed by Eddie Lyons. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Plot
There are two plumbers who are anxious to find a quicker way of getting rich than by plumbing (if such is possible). They think they find it when they are elected president and secretary of a copper mining company. They find that the duties of the president and secretary consist of wearing jazzy sport clothes, drinking lots of gin rickeys and being vamped by a duo of pleasing experts. A little later some detectives arrive, and they find that another of their duties is to be the goats for the fraudulent promoters of a fake company. Instead of finding a quick way to get in a palace, they find it a quick way to get in jail.[1]
Cast
- Eddie Lyons as William Wilson
- Lee Moran as Joseph Blynn
- George B. Williams as Hoban
- Sydney Deane as Fenelon
- Jeff Osborne as Parker
- Lillian Hackett as Mary Foster
- Edna Mae Wilson as Kate Beard
- Jane Elliott as Gertrude Parker
- Ethel Ritchie as Ethel Fenelon
- Lew Short as Detective
Reception
In a contemporary review for Motion Picture News, Frank Leonard called it an "Average economy which should interest". He praised the acting, but criticized the lack of slapstick humor.[2]
A contemporary review in the The Chicago Defender called it a "clever and good humored farce".[3]
References
- ^ "Publicity and Service Page for Lyons Moran in "Once A Plumber"". The Moving Picture Weekly. Vol. 11, no. 6. 25 September 1920. p. 5. Retrieved 18 May 2026. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Leonard, Frank (18 September 1920). "Once a Plumber". Motion Picture News. Vol. 22, no. 13. p. 2317. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
- ^ "Once A Plumber". The Chicago Defender. 1920-10-30. p. 4. Retrieved 2026-05-18.