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Hello,

below is a research question from this year's Haghefilm Foundation Fellowship winner from George Eastman House, Karin Carlson. Hope some of you can help Karin with background information on the films she is restoring!

Thanks,

Uli


Hi. I am currently trying to identify some actors from a couple Essanay comedies from 1910. I believe both films were filmed with the Chicago company around July of 1910. The first two stills are from A College Chicken. The first picture is of boys at a bording school, and the second is the girls at the school. I think that one of the boys may be Fred Ilenstine, but I am not sure. The third picture is from Mulcahy's Raid. The actor in the middle is Harry Todd, but I don't know about the other policemen. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Karin

Hi Uli
In the scan from A COLLEGE CHICKEN with all the college boys, the boy on the far left looks like William Mason, who a couple of years later would become popular at Essanay as Smiling Billy Mason.

Steve

Hello Uli,

Don't laugh, but the cop pointing at Harry Todd sure looks like J.Warren Kerrigan. Blum's book (pg. 29) and Slide's 'Early American Cinema' (pgs 75-76) both have group shots of Essanay Players (probably circa 1912). Maybe they would help. Has anyone tried David Kiehn?

Hope it helps,

David

Dear Steve and David,

thanks for the quick feedback!

Yes, Karin is in touch with David Kiehn on this. In fact, he has identified one of the films to begin with, so I'm sure we'll get his take on identifying the actors also. Good point though!

The restored films will premiere during this year's Pordenone festival. The program notes are already up:
http://www.cinetecadelfriuli.org/gcm/allegati/GCM10_R&R_Haghefilm_bil.pdf

Uli

Like David Denton, I too thought the policeman looked like J. Warren Kerrigan.
And Steve, I can't tell if that's Smiling Billy Mason in profile, but could be.
And I don't think that's Harry Todd in that shot.
What do you folks think of a young H. B. Walthall in the middle of the college guys?

SteveR

SteveR,

He certainly has "Walthall" hair, but if this is 1910, he would still be at Biograph, right? I don't think Walthall came to Essanay until 1914. I think you're right about it not being Harry Todd. Could the guy under the cap be Richard Travers?

David

I think it looks like Kerrigan as well, as David suggested. And if you do talk to David Kiehn, I'm pretty sure he'll be able to ID a good number of the people, including obscure players.