Formby was always worried that his son George would watch him on stage, as he did not wish the boy to become a comic, saying "one fool in the family is enough". Nevertheless, although he had sent George away to train as a jockey, in 1915 he allowed his son to appear on screen, taking the lead part of a stable boy in "By the Shortest of Heads", a thriller directed by Bert Haldane. After the filming, Formby sent his son to Ireland, to continue his jockey training, and also sent the five horses Formby had purchased that year, which joined others he had previously bought.