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,
The Great Divide (1925 film) The Great Divide (1925 film) The Great Divide is a 1925 silent drama film produced and distributed by MGM and directed by Reginald Barker. The film stars Alice Terry, Conway Tearle and Wallace Beery. It is based on the William Vaughn Moody play, being the second of three film adaptations. The play had been made famous on the 1906 Broadway stage with Margaret Anglin, Henry Miller, Laura Hope Crews and a pre-Griffith Henry B. Walthall in the principal parts. Ruth Jordan is a gentlewoman rescued from a fate worse than death by Stephen Ghent—facing Dutch, the nastiest man in the