Upstairs

While working as a dishwasher in a fashionable New York hotel, Elsie MacFarland often sneaks upstairs to enviously peek at the people dancing to jazz music. Seeing the attractive Elsie dressed in a boy's uniform, wealthy Lemuel Stallings wagers a friend that he can get Elsie onto the dance floor....

Directed by Victor Schertzinger, Upstairs leans on a strong ensemble — Mabel Normand, Cullen Landis, Hallam Cooley — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about comedy titles of 1919.