Up and at Em

Plot

Wishing to drive her fathers car, Barbara Jackson (Doris May) dresses up in the chauffeurs uniform and sneaks out. For a lark, she picks up a passenger (John Gough), but it develops that passenger is part of a team of crooks who are planning to rob Bob Everett (Hallam Cooley), a rival of her father, of his precious artworks. Believing her to be an undercover detective, the bandit forces her to take part in the robbery and then abandons her to be caught by Everett. After convincing Everett that she was a forced accomplice and not the real thief, the two hurry to meet up with Barbaras father, William Jackson (Otis Harlan). He had just purchased one of the paintings from an art dealer (Harry Carter), and the dealer had left moments before Barbara and Everett arrive. As the two explain the deception, William informs him that he became suspicious when recognizing the painting as one owned by Everett and that he had the dealer held at the front gate. The police arrive and round up the crooks.

Cast

Production

After having directed films for the U.S. Signal Corps during World War I, Lewis Milestone traveled to California to work in the film industry. Collaborating with director William A. Seiter on the script, Up and at Em marks his first Hollywood screenplay.

The film also marks the first screen role for actor Eddie Quillan. When he and his four siblings were touring California as part of the Vaudeville Orpheum Circuit, his father had submitted the 5 children for auditions at Keystone Studios. After viewing the audition footage, Mack Sennett was so impressed with that of Eddie, that he hired detectives to track down the traveling family. Eddie Quillan was signed to contract in 1922, and Up and at Em was his very first film.