Roach, Rolin & the War Effort

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Andrew Sholl
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Roach, Rolin & the War Effort

Postby Andrew Sholl » Mon Sep 28, 2009 5:41 am

Daily Eagle, Lancaster, OH, Tuesday, 9 April 1918
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New York Clipper, 16 January 1918

Pathé comedians entertained the sailors at Submarine Base in San Pedro. Among them were Harold Lloyd, Toto, Bud Jameson, Harry Pollard, Paddy MacGuire, Bebe Daniels, Billy Fay, Mr. and Mrs. Alf Golding [sic], Jimmy Blyler and Fred Brown.


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Albany Evening Journal, NY, Tuesday, 11 June 1918

The Rolin-Pathé studio has an amusement department which handles the entertainments for the different benefits and shows that are all the go since the United States has gone into this war - and whenever a committee asks for some of the performers to appear, there are the following stunts to choose from:

The Harold Lloyd jazz band; Harry Burns, world's champion bag puncher (retired); syncopated dancing by Harold Lloyd and Bebe Daniels; monologues and songs by Harry Pollard; the same by Gus Leonard, Billy Fay, Bud Jamison, the Rolin-Pathé quartet of singers; and a number of laugh-provoking sketches, classic dancing and a good comedy made by the Rolin-Pathe company to close the show.

The performance is under the supervision of Hal E. Roach, the director-general of the company, which means that nothing, from the smallest detail, is overlooked. The show is complete from curtain to curtain.


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Albany Evening Journal, NY, Friday, 28 June 1918

In order that there is a bit of diversion from the studio doings that will tend to [test?] their always active [illegible], Hal E. Roach, director-general of the Rolin-Pathé film company has arranged a lawn tennis tourney in which he, Harold Lloyd, Stan Laurel and Harry Pollard will compete for a cup put up by Miss Bebe Daniels. The winner is to raffle off the trophy next Saturday night. The proceeds will go to the Red Cross fund.

Joe Moore
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Re: Roach, Rolin & the War Effort

Postby Joe Moore » Mon Sep 28, 2009 10:56 am

The timing of this Toto piece is somewhat ironic because despite the buildup it gives him the studio was at this very time cutting back his budgets and the length of his films from two to one reels (after ten months of trying to make the first 8 films in his two-reel series work to little avail).
Rolin quickly cranked out six more Toto one-reelers, spending only about a week apiece on them, shot some additional footage which they combined with footage already shot that had been intended for two reelers and culled together an additional couple of one-reel films and by the middle of May Toto was out the door.


Joe Moore


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