Pasty-faced comedian
Larry Semon was both producer and star of the modestly titled The Perfect Clown. Semon plays Bert Larry, a young bank clerk forced to stay outside all night when he's unable to pay his board bill. As if this isn't bad enough, Bert has been entrusted with $10,000 in bank funds, which he must hold very close to his breast throughout the long, long night. Taking refuge in a barn, Bert and the bank's black porter (played by the unfortunately named G. Howe Black, actually a white man in blackface!) spend the night shivering in their boots. When a pair of escaped convicts show up, Bert and the porter are forced to change clothes with the crooks, leading to the expected mistaken-identity slapstick chase. But all ends happily, with Bert in the arms of his bank-stenographer sweetheart (played by Semon's wife Dorothy Dwan). Frequent
Larry Semon sidekick
Oliver Hardy shows up in a supporting role, bearing most of the brunt of Semon's comic tomfoolery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide