Pool Sharks (1915)

[SinjinSB]

This is W.C. Fields' first movie. It's an 11 minutes short silent film that tells the story of two rivals vying for the affection of a girl. After some physical comedy that we'd later see the Three Stooges use (like grabbing the person's nose with one hand and smacking it off with the other), the two decide on a game of pool to settle the score. We get an amusing display of early special effects that is used to manipulate the pool balls in a humorous fashion. And speaking of humorous fashion, Fields has a very bizarre mustache. This is a fun little silent film, featuring a young and slimmer Fields.

[FilmWolf]

I'd read before that this film was (in part) a filmed version of Fields' trick pool-shot act that he performed during his vaudeville career (which makes you wonder just HOW the audience was able to see what was going on in some of the larger theatres!)

Fields also performed similar pool tricks in his later films "You Can't Cheat An Honest Man" and "The Old-Fashioned Way"...