The most authoritative texts have long maintained the following: that it was in this film that Hardy invented both the so-called tie-twiddle (the gag in which he plays with his tie to conceal embarrassment) and his peculiar but exquisite look into camera. But these gags belonged to a film which was considered lost. When the film eventually re-emerged, it became clear that in actual fact nobody in it wears a tie. Serious doubts about the look into camera also remain. At first glance, it seems like a film doomed to failure, a victim of miscasting. Stan is a happily engaged, sweet-hearted fisherman who is called upon to save his belle from a brutal sea dog. The surprising thing is not that he disguises himself as a woman (a trifle for Stan); rather, it is how diabolically astute the character is. Aided by windswept blonde curls, he apprehends and flattens the sailors one by one (with animated stars and spirals appearing from the edge of the frame to suggest his punches). Oliver, as the ship’s mate (he is second placed in the film’s hierarchy, too), sports a prickly beard and is quick with his fists. His erotic flirtation with Stan exerts a bewildering charm and hints at an unexpected dark side.

Andrea Meneghelli