The Show-Off (1926)

Aubrey Piper ( Ford Sterling ), a mere clerk at the offices of the Pennsylvania Railroad, poses as an important executive to his sweetheart, Amy Fisher ( Lois Wilson ), by blustering, bullying, and showing off continually. Though all the members of her family are contemptuous of Piper, Amy marries him; 3 months later she is fully aware of his faults. To help his son Joe continue work on his invention (a rust-preventing paint), Pop Fisher gives him the money saved for the mortgage and shortly afterward dies of a stroke. Aubrey wins a Ford in a raffle; and while taking it out for a spin, he knocks down a traffic policeman; Joe is forced to pay his fine with the mortgage money. Realizing the tragedy he has brought upon Amy's family, Aubrey visits the directors of a steel company and by bluffing sells them Joe's invention. The coup creates a furor in the Fisher household, happy at last that the "show off" has redeemed himself.