Search found 80 matches

by Frank Flood
Mon Feb 27, 2017 10:30 am
Forum: THE PASSING PARADE
Topic: Richard Schickel
Replies: 8
Views: 19414

Re: Richard Schickel

I was probably about 11 when I found that our local public library had a new-ish biography on Walt Disney. As we all know, back in those days there were very few books about the people who made short comedies, much less cartoons. To this day I remember my excitement checking it out and the correspon...
by Frank Flood
Fri Nov 04, 2016 1:09 pm
Forum: SILENT COMEDY MAIN
Topic: New films on the National Film Preservation Foundation site
Replies: 1
Views: 6046

Re: New films on the National Film Preservation Foundation site

Detroit was a major hub for non-theatrical filmmaking, but there were never very many non-industrial films shot in the area. When Ciderville Went Dry has the unmistakable look of mid-winter Detroit: some snow, some slush, and cold enough to see your breath. It was released by Pathe in February 1915,...
by Frank Flood
Tue Dec 22, 2015 10:10 am
Forum: SILENT COMEDY MAIN
Topic: THE FAR NORTH (1921) Mutt and Jeff
Replies: 1
Views: 6037

Re: THE FAR NORTH (1921) Mutt and Jeff

This was probably a little late for Raoul Barre being involved. Although the chronology is murky, in this late Fox period, the bulk of the Mutt & Jeff cartoons were being produced by a company called Jefferson Film Corporation, headed up by Dick Friel, a former Barre-Bowers employee. Jefferson F...
by Frank Flood
Mon Jan 26, 2015 5:06 pm
Forum: SILENT COMEDY MAIN
Topic: Cole Johnson
Replies: 4
Views: 9756

Cole Johnson

One of the members of our community of interest, Cole Johnson, has passed away:

http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/

I had a few very cordial interactions with Cole over the years, as he and I had many similar interests. My condolences to his family and friends.
by Frank Flood
Sat Dec 06, 2014 11:00 am
Forum: SILENT COMEDY MAIN
Topic: APRIL FOOL (1920) reel two with Lloyd Hamilton
Replies: 23
Views: 40544

Re: APRIL FOOL (1920) reel two with Lloyd Hamilton

Good God, Sam Gill has a complete set of Special lobby cards!? Who would have thought that such a thing existed? Special was poised to take advantage of the 1920-21 change in market conditions that allowed Educational and Pathe to flourish over the next ten years, but it collapsed instead. Perhaps t...
by Frank Flood
Wed Oct 29, 2014 11:54 pm
Forum: SOUND COMEDY MAIN
Topic: Ben Blue? Really?
Replies: 1
Views: 7210

Ben Blue? Really?

My dad is a big comedy fan. He has a contagious sense of humor and laugh, and it's always fun to watch Laurel & Hardy, Bob Hope or the like with him. Some of the humor genes my brothers and I got certainly came from him. And he is old enough to have been a kid in the 1930s when many of our favor...
by Frank Flood
Thu Aug 07, 2014 7:29 pm
Forum: SILENT MOVIE MAIN
Topic: silent newsreels
Replies: 1
Views: 6898

Re: silent newsreels

The various "International" newsreels were connected to the Hearst organization. The Hearst wire service that competed with the Associated Press and United Press was the International News Service, and a lot of his organizations - silent newsreel, film studio, newspaper syndicate - seemed ...
by Frank Flood
Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:44 pm
Forum: SILENT COMEDY MAIN
Topic: Jack Hardy's shorts...
Replies: 13
Views: 21790

Re: Jack Hardy's shorts...

You really cannot get too hung up about names in this pre-Social Security, pre-Screen Actors Guild period of time. In everyday life, people went by various names, or sort of informally changed their names. I have a great grandfather who was either named Harry, or Harold, or Hiram. He might have been...
by Frank Flood
Thu Oct 03, 2013 12:25 pm
Forum: SILENT COMEDY MAIN
Topic: Leonard Maltin: Thumbs Up on SMILEAGE GUARANTEED/ LAME BRAIN
Replies: 8
Views: 15204

Re: Leonard Maltin: Thumbs Up on SMILEAGE GUARANTEED/ LAME B

My pleasure, Richard. It's a great book. I've looked at some of that Roach material at USC, and I get the challenge of not producing something as readable as a phone book on the one hand, or skimped down re-hashes of what's already been published on the other. Looking forward to the Educational book...
by Frank Flood
Mon Jan 21, 2013 11:18 am
Forum: SILENT COMEDY MAIN
Topic: Unidentified pic
Replies: 7
Views: 14643

Re: Unidentified pic

Better late than never, I guess, but the handsome gent on the left is Harry Vokes, a vaudeville comedian and member of the team of Ward & Vokes. In late 1915, he appeared in two of the Casino Star Comedies produced by Gaumont, BEAUTY IN DISTRESS and THE HOUSE PARTY. Budd Ross supported W.C. Fiel...