Bamboozled

A protective father masquerades as an automatic doll in this bonkers interwar comedy.

Very silly but lots of fun, this silent slapstick comedy was produced by British company Swastika Films - years before the ancient symbol was appropriated by the Nazis. Director Fred Rains appears as a protective father who – for reasons not entirely clear - disguises himself as an automatic doll to keep an eye on his prospective son-in-law. Rains, father of Hollywood actor Claude, was adept at physical comedy, and the bizarre sight of him being hauled around robotically in full drag is quite something.