Home Talent (1921)

Two pairs of vaudeville performers are stranded in a country hotel. After a furious quarrel, they decide to pool their talents and put on a show to pay the rent. With the backing of the hotel owner, they conceive a play set in an ancient Roman slave market, where a tyrant and a heroic gladiator bid for beautiful captives. During a rehearsal, burglars attempt to rob the hotel after tying the owner to a steam boiler. The robbers are captured and the hotelier is rescued just as the boiler is about to explode.