Accidentally Preserved 3 Correction

[Richard M Roberts]

Saw some of Ben Model's ACCIDENTALLY PRESERVED 3 DVD this weekend, a nice and commendable effort, but I must correct one bit of info in Ben and Steve Massa's notes regarding the short HALF A HERO with Billy Barty, in which Steve refers to the film as a Weiss Brothers release.

Actually Steve, the Weiss Brothers did not produce this short, at least not directly, though some Weiss regulars did work on it. It was produced by an independent company called Campbell-Hess, and the Campbell was William S. Campbell, formerly of the Snooky the Chimp and Campbell Comedies. It was directed by Charles Diltz, Glen Lambert wrote the script, and it was one of at least two made as pilot comedies known variously as the Joyland/Kidland Comedy series. This was the first one, which was shot as a silent then hybrided into sound with music, sound effects and some overdubbed dialogue.The second one, BOW WOW, was apparently made as a talkie, both were shot by Billy Bitzer of all people. They were both made in 1929 and if they got any real release, it was through states-rights channels, but in all my Weiss research, and going through all the surviving Weiss paperwork, I have never found any evidence that it was released or handled in any way by them.


RICHARD M ROBERTS