The Shriek of Araby

Any film that contains the line "This freak was annoying an ostrich" cannot be all bad. The ostrich from the wonderful ballet Les Mariés du Tour Eiffel (1921) to the late films of Buñuel has a very special association with surrealism and this is quite Turpin's most surreal film and perhaps his best. It is simply the fantasies of a cinema bill poster and general handyman who gets promoted (for reasons of economy) to being the model for the poster, following very broadly the story of The Sheik (1921) with a nod and a wink also towards The Arabian Nights (lavishly filmed in France also in 1921) As for Ben. like Rudy he isn't....

The director is not known (Richard Jones was production manager/supervisor for the Sennett films) but may possibly be Sennett himself who is credited with writing the film.