Parody Because audiences had seen these classic Westerns, they had expectations for any new Westerns, and when these expectations were inverted, the audience laughed. Perhaps the earliest parody film was the 1922 "Mud and Sand", a Stan Laurel film that made fun of Rudolph Valentino's film "Blood and Sand". Laurel specialized in parodies in the mid-1920s, writing and acting in a number of them. Some were send-ups of popular films, such as "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"—parodied in the comic "Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde" (1926). Others were spoofs of Broadway plays, such as "No, No, Nanette" (1925), parodied as "Yes,
Tay Garnett Pyckle and Mr. Pryde" (1925) with Laurel, "No Sleep on the Deep" (1925), "Three Wise Goofs", "Salute" (1925), "On the Links" (1925), "Who's Your Friend" (1925), "The Funnymooners" (1926), "Puppy Lovetime" (1926), "Smith's Visitor" (1926) and "A Beauty Parlor" (1926). Garnett wrote the feature "That's My Baby" (1926) for William Beaudine at Paramount; "Up in Mabel's Room" (1926), adapting a stage farce, with Marie Provost; "The Strong Man" (1926), starring Harry Langdon and directed by Frank Capra, his first feature as director; and "There You Are!" (1926), with Conrad Nagel. Garnett wrote two films produced by Cecil B. De Mille: