Ford Sterling

Roscoe Arbuckle

A Small Time Act is a 1913 movie starring Ford Sterling and Roscoe Arbuckle.

In the artist colony Rocket Perelman ten people strive to live their version of freedom and independence - everybody for themselves and all together. But that's hard work, since the joined theatre production puts the groups' idealism to a hard test.

Prosecutor Maillard can rejoice: he has just obtained the death sentence of an accused accused of murder. It is the third head he gets at the assizes. There followed an evening of rejoicing with his wife and friends, including the prosecutor Bertolier. The latter's wife is Maillard's mistress. The lovers left alone, the condemned man, Valorin, burst into the room. He managed to escape during his transfer to the remand center. Valorin immediately recognized Bertolier's wife. And for good reason: at the time of the crime, they were together in a brothel. Stunned by the miscarriage of justice he has just committed, Maillard then tries to rehabilitate Vallorin while trying to avoid a scandal in the judiciary. He then calls Bertolier to the rescue. Valorin is opportunely killed "accidentally" and ... everything will go back to "order".

It's midnight. The hour of truth. The hour that "He" and "She" have chosen to settle their differences. While this showdown is explosive for the couple, it is irresistibly funny for the audience. In his first play, Philippe Claudel paints a jubilant picture of our society and reviews all our excesses: from the education of children to the contempt of the mother-in-law, from hypochondria in men to cosmetic surgery in women, from fake intellectuals to political hypocrisy, from sexual freedom to junk food...!