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The subject says it all - a question on behalf of a good friend and researcher - does anyone know about whether this title survives and has been available on 16mm, VHS, DVD? Reviews, plot summaries and the like would be of great help, too.

Thanks,

Uli

Uli Ruedel wrote:The subject says it all - a question on behalf of a good friend and researcher - does anyone know about whether this title survives and has been available on 16mm, VHS, DVD? Reviews, plot summaries and the like would be of great help, too.

Thanks,

Uli

It should, as most of those Daurmour-RKO titles seem to be around in 16mm, but I have never seen it. What is your friend specifically researching?


RICHARD M ROBERTS

Here's a review, from "Motion Picture News", October 11, 1930:

Great laugh comedy.
Louise Fazenda has the chief role in this comedy, which is a sure-fire laugh getter and will stand up in any house. Don't be afraid to book this one, as it has plenty of appeal for both old and young.
The story deals with a show troupe which becomes shipwrecked. George Chandler, Fazenda and a bevy of beautiful girls are cast upon a desert isle. The women are all after George, who cares only for Louise. A scene in which a giant gorilla enters the camp and raises havoc with the castaways is a thriller. Finale shows Fazenda left with the gorilla as the others are rescued.
Plenty of production value and capable direction by Lewis R. Foster make this a good piece of entertainment. Laughs are plentiful and not forced.
Running time: 20 minutes.
Pep up your bill with it.

Here's another review, this time from "Exhibitors Herald World", August 23, 1930:
Review by Tom Hacker, Hollywood.

Good and funny!
Twenty minutes of hilarious funny-business with nothing lacking in the matter of high-class comedy entertainment mark this Darmour film featuring Louise Fazenda.
It gets a big start with Lee Zahler's musical score heard in the credit titles and playing into the opening sequence, where Fazenda panics the audience with her giggling interpretation of a chorus sweetie.
Harry Bowen's burlesque show boards a tramp hog steamer, which sinks and washes Fazenda, a dumb prop boy and the beauty chorus upon a desert island. The prop boy becomes the center of attraction among the dozen women, with Fazenda doing most of the chasing.
Fazenda, Harry Bowen, George Chandler and Irving Bacon, under Lew Foster's direction, make "Pure and Simple" a wow of a comedy.

(Credits and cast, as given preceding the review):
Produced by Larry Darmour Productions for Radio Pictures release.
Directed by Lewis R. Foster.
With Louise Fazenda, Harry Bowen, Irving Bacon, George Chandler, Clarence Morehouse, Fatty Alexander and others.
Story by Hal Yates, Marty Martin and E.V. Durling.
Musical score by Lee Zahler.
Photography by Len Powers.
Release date in September.
1800 feet.

Here are all the cast and credits, from the main titles of the film:

RKO Distributing Corp.
Presents
Louise Fazenda
in
"Pure and Simple"
A Larry Darmour Production
For
Standard Cinema Corporation
(dissolve)
With
George Chandler
Irving Bacon
Harry Bowen
Frank Alexander
Clarence Moorehouse
"The Gorilla"
(dissolve)
Story and Direction
By
Lewis R. Foster
(dissolve)
Continuity and Dialogue: Harold Yates, Marty Martin, E.V. Durling
Assistant Director: J.A. Duffy
Photography by: Len Powers
Musical Director: Lee Zahler
Recordist: Neil Jack
Edited by: Edgar Scott
RCA Photophone License
Copyright MCMXXX
Passed by the National Board of Review.

Rich, you are an amazing sleuth! It's interesting to see Clarence Moorehouse receive a screen credit for portraying the gorilla - he seems to have been a popular choice in the early 1930's for gorilla roles in comedies (one of his biggest being the ape in SO THIS IS AFRICA, without screen credit).

A fellow who is researching Charles Gemora recently contacted me, he was under the mistaken impression that the talented Gemora had portrayed ALL the gorilla roles in the 1930's...

Ed Watz wrote:Rich, you are an amazing sleuth!

Thanks Ed! That means a lot coming from you.

But I ain't finished yet!
I have the music cue sheet for the short, so here's a listing, in order of appearance, of all the music used in the film:

PURE AND SIMPLE
Producer: Standard Cinema Corp.
The Darmour Studios Prod. #F-1.
Cue Sheet #128-1930.
August 22, 1930.
RCA Photophone Incorporated.

1. Song of the Islands (King) - Partial usage.
2. Aloha Oe (Lee Zahler Ararngement) - Entire.
3. Aloha Oe (Zahler Arr.) - Entire.
4. Aloha Oe (Zahler Arr.) - Entire.
5. Aloha Oe (Zahler Arr.) - Partial.
6. Sailing, Sailing (Marks. Lee Zahler Arrangement) - Partial.
7. Sailing, Sailing (Marks. Zahler Arr.) - Partial.
8. Sailing, Sailing (Marks. Zahler Arr.) - Partial.
9. Sailing, Sailing (Marks. Zahler Arr.) - Partial.
10. Pretentions (Lee Zahler) - Partial. (Original, used by special arrangement with composer).

Wow, Rich, your research is amazing! Thanks for sharing with us all...

The cue sheet? Holy mackerel! All I can add is that production started on this short July 5, 1930, at the Darmour Studio, 5823 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, California.

Where does one find these cue sheets? Was it part of the Lee Zahler collection at (I think) UCLA?

Frank

Hi everyone,

thanks for chiming in, wow! What a treasure trove of information.

My friend is researching previously undocumented appearances by Charles Gemora, but he's well aware of and interested in all the other Hollywood gorilla men, too. Which makes the information and credits listed here all the more important! But... is it Clarence Moorehouse as "The Gorilla"-- or Clarence Moorehouse and an - uncredited - "Gorilla"? My friend's inquiry implied that it should be Gemora as the furry fellow.

Thanks,

Uli