"Will Hay - the Schoolmaster laughter-maker at the recent Command Performance." "When the cat's away the mice will play - "

A young schoolboy stands at a blackboard and draws an unflattering cartoon of his teacher. The boy wears a mortar board. An old man gets up from a school desk and laughs about it. The boy then puts some ink on the cloth that the teacher will use to clean the board. The two sit together at their desks. (Section missing here?) Will Hay stands at the board in his teacher's outfit. (The board is now clean). He begins to write something on the board. It is illegible until he turns the board upside down to reveal that it says: "Silence in this school." Hay has black ink all around his mouth so presumably some funny business with the inky rag is missing. The boy puts his hand up to ask or answer a question. He then opens the classroom door to reveal a woman waiting outside. She comes into the class. C/U of Hay looking like a madman with ink all over his chops and a small pair of pince-nez on the tip of his nose, he speaks obsequiously to the woman. C/U of her putting her hand up to her face as she laughs. He looks annoyed, she laughs uproariously. as do the two pupils. She laughs and points at his face. He looks in the mirror and gets very cross. He grabs the boy, throws him over the desk and gives him a good caning!

Was item in Eve's Film Review issue 355.

Note: a short sequence is missing which shows Will Hay wiping his face with the blackboard duster and hence getting covered with ink. This sequence can be found in "This Was Yesterday" reel 2. (NB - original reel 2 not reel 2 which is reels 3 & 4 combined. Confusing eh?! Reel 2 is currently a mute F/G pos with mag track. There is no combined print - currently missing.)

Safety print exists.