Rare Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle films shown in Los Angeles June 9, 2010

This Wednesday, June 9th at 8pm, I'll be introducing some rare 1914 Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle Keystone comedies from the Library of Congress, ZIP THE DODGER and an excerpt from FATTY'S WINE PARTY, along with MABEL'S WILFUL WAY and another Arbuckle Keystone TBA at the Cinefamily (at the legendary Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax). The shorts will be shown before the rare Marion Davies feature THE CARDBOARD LOVER (also from LOC), which will be introduced by Hugh Munro Neely. This is a very rare opportunity to see these LOC-preserved films shown in Southern California.

Previously unknown Charlie Chaplin appearance unearthed!

It was always believed that Charlie Chaplin appeared in 35 films for Mack Sennett's Keystone studios during 1914. However, nearly 100 years later, a 36th film has been discovered. Chaplin makes a brief appearances as a Keystone cop in A THIEF CATCHER, released February 19, 1914, but filmed between January 5 and 26, 1914. It was made after MAKING A LIVING, and Chaplin's bit would have been filmed sometime during or after Chaplin's filming of KID AUTO RACES AT VENICE, CAL. (filmed January 10) and MABEL'S STRANGE PREDICAMENT (filmed January 6 to 12). The discovery was made by Paul E. Gierucki, and the film will be shown at Slapsticon in Arlington, VA (July 15-18, 2010). You can read more in this article by Scott Eyman in the Palm Beach Post and on the Slapsticon website which contains a press release.

Leonard Maltin's review of Mack Sennett's Fun Factory

Leonard Maltin has reviewed Mack Sennett's Fun Factory on his website. I am truly appreciative, and beyond that it is a real honor to me, since Leonard wrote several of the books (Movie Comedy Teams, The Great Movie Shorts, etc.) that quenched my thirst for information when I was first delving into the world of early film comedy, and inspired me to start researching and writing about the subject myself.

Review of Mack Sennett's Factory on the World of Charley Chase

Yair Solan's The World of Charley Chase is one of the longest-running (14 years and counting) and best websites dedicated to film history and comedians--and it is without a doubt the best web portal for information on the great Hal Roach comedian Charley "Chase" Parrott,  who got his start at Keystone in 1914. I am very grateful to Yair for posting a review of Mack Sennett's Fun Factory on his site.

Paul "Little Billy" Jacobs - 1910-2004

 At the time of writing Mack Sennett’s Fun Factory, I wasn’t able to ascertain the current status or whereabouts of Keystone kid komedy star Paul “Little Billy” Jacobs. I knew that he was born July 31, 1910, in Laclede, Idaho, and that he was alive at the time of the film of Richard Attenborough’s 1992 film CHAPLIN, at which time Chaplin biographer David Robinson brought him to the set. However, I could find no likely death index matches under the name Paul Jacobs, so I held out for the possibility that he might still be alive (after all, his father Dr. Joseph Jacobs lived to 94 and continued practicing medicine in Los Angeles longer than any other physician up to that time).

However, I recently learned from Mr. Robinson that in his later years Paul Jacobs went by the name “William James,” and lived in Glendale, California. Armed with that new information, I discovered that a William H. James with a matching birthday (July 31, 1910) died in Glendale on September 29, 2004. He lived to the same age his father had—94 years.

Betsy Ann Hisle

Last month's issue of Classic Images contained a fascinating article by J. Philip Hysell called “Betsy Ann Hisle: Finding a Lost Player” (Classic Images No. 417, March 2010). In it, Hysell reveals a lot of details about this obscure child performer which he gathered through detailed genealogical research. He even tracked down Hisle's daughter, who still had a "resume" of film appearances which Betsy Ann (real name: Juanita) kept. On that list are three Mack Sennett Comedies from 1924-25.

Using the photographs accompanying the article, I can confirm that indeed Betsy Ann Hisle did appear in very small parts in these three films. In THE HOLLYWOOD KID (1924) (which incorporated scenes from an unfinished short entitled ROUGH AND READY), Betsy plays the older of two daughters of Charlie Murray and Louise Carver. In the Harry Langdon-starred ALL NIGHT LONG (1924), she is one of the three children of Harry and Natalie Kingston who are seen at the very end of the film (she is mostly seen from the back, though there are brief shots of her face). And most interestingly, in REMEMBER WHEN? (1925) Betsy Ann Hisle appears to be playing Harry Langdon as a boy (wearing male drag) at the beginning and during a brief flashback in the middle of the film.

Not long after this brief work at the Sennett studio, Betsy Ann Hisle appeared in a number of high profile silent features such as BEAU GESTE, THE WAY OF ALL FLESH and SORRELL AND SON. Thanks to Mr. Hysell's excellent work, we can also now add her to the ranks of Mack Sennett performers.

Leo Sulky in Laurel and Hardy films

In the biography section of Mack Sennett's Fun Factory, I include some previously unidentified credits by some Mack Sennett performers in Laurel and Hardy comedies. I've shared these--as well as some other previously uncredited L&H appearances by other performers--with my good friend Randy Skretvedt, who is currently working on a greatly-expanded edition of his standard-bearing book "Laurel and Hardy: the Magic Behind the Movies" which should be coming out soon. (This link is to the second edition--the most recent version now in print; however, with all the additional details and information Randy is adding to the book, his third edition is going to be well worth the wait!) However, I did want to give some details here about one particular Sennett alum who pops up in a number of shorts and features starring Stan and Babe.

First of all, it is important to note that many of the performers who appeared in Laurel and Hardy's classic Hal Roach comedies had previously worked in Keystone or Mack Sennett Comedies. Among them were Stan and Babe's arch-nemesis James Finlayson, who had originally made his name as a slippery Sennett villain. The "ever popular" Mae Busch and her SONS OF THE DESERT "brother" Charley Chase were originally teamed in a series of 1915 Keystone Comedies. Chase, then Charles Parrott, had once worked in the vaudeville troupe of fellow 1915 Keystone actor Harry Bernard--the same Harry Bernard who later became a reliable L&H player. Edgar Kennedy started at Keystone in 1913, and Thelma Hill, Blanche Payson and Bobby Dunn also gained their original fame while working for Sennett years prior to their brushes with L&H.

Among the other L&H supporters with Sennett pedigrees include Eddie Baker, Wilfred Lucas, Charlotte Mineau, Madeline Hurlock, Isabelle Keith (Isobel Keep in her Sennett bathing girl days), Otto Fries, Silas Wilcox, Pat Harmon, Sam Lufkin, Art Rowlands, Leo Willis, Kewpie Morgan and (of course) Ben Turpin, just to name a few. Even Noah Young, it has recently come to light (see my previous blog posting on the subject), started at Keystone in 1916 before his Roach days.

Another performer who made the transition from Sennett to Roach (and to Laurel and Hardy comedies), was Leo Sulky (1874-1957). Originally a Chicago-based vaudevillian (appearing in Alice Howell's CINDERELLA CINDERS two-reeler, shot in that city before he moved west), Sulky appeared in many Sennett comedies of 1924-1927, starring Harry Langdon, Billy Bevan, Alice Day, Ralph Graves, Ben Turpin, and others. For instance, in Langdon's BOOBS IN THE WOOD, he has two roles--as a poker dealer and a mean bar patron called Tough Mike. He plays a Kentucky sheriff in THE IRON NAG with Billy Bevan, and was frequently cast in officious roles.

After seeing Sulky in dozens of Sennett comedies, I began spotting him--with his distinctive moon face and light eyes that were almost transparent--in comedies by other filmmakers (including Fox Sunshine and the Weiss Brothers), as well as feature films of the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's. Since many of these were "face bits", and he did not speak dialog, Leo often did not receive credit in casting directories. Thus, a relative handful of his film appearances were documented, and only a fraction of his credits appear on imdb.com.

Among the features in which I've spotted Leo Sulky are SVENGALI (1931) with John Barrymore (as a Moroccan waiter), THE MOUTHPIECE (1932) with Warren William (where he is a courtroom extra), the Preston Sturges-scribed THE POWER AND THE GLORY (1933) (as a strike leader during a montage sequence), the second version of THE MALTESE FALCON, SATAN MET A LADY (1936) (as a bartender) and the Jack Benny-Fred Allen vehicle IT'S IN THE BAG (1945) (as an elevator extra).

I also began spotting Sulky in a number of Hal Roach comedies of the late 1920's and early 1930's, featuring Charley Chase, Our Gang Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts, the Taxi Boys. and Laurel and Hardy. However, if your are a devotee of Stan and Babe, you can be forgiven if his name doesn't ring a bell. Leo Sulky has previously only been identified as a courtroom extra in the feature OUR RELATIONS (1936). However, I've spotted him in a number of others, silent and sound, including at least two where he appears in stills but not the final release.

Here are the L&H Leo Sulky appearances I've discovered to date:

LOVE 'EM AND WEEP (1927): Leo plays the mustachioed maitre 'd at the Pink Pup, who sniffs Stan's breath upon arrival (seen here with Mae Busch).

HABEAS CORPUS (1928): Leo Sulky can be seen as a detective in a still from a deleted sequence (also involving Richard Carle) which appears on p. 131 of the original edition of Randy Skretvedt's book. This scene does not appear in the final film, not does Sulky.

THE HOOSEGOW (1929): Leo Sulky appears as a prison guard standing next to Tiny Sandford when Stan and Ollie arrive at the facility via paddy wagon, just before Tiny goes over to confront the boys (who've received apples to use as a signal for a jailbreak attempt).

PARDON US (1931): Two years after THE HOOSEGOW, Leo Sulky almost made a second appearance as a prison guard opposite L&H, in the boys' first feature film. However, this sequence was edited or reshot--as in the final film Stan and Ollie sit at the mess table on their own, and Sulky is not seen. However, they are later approached by another guard, Tiny Sandford--who'd previously played a guard with Sulky in THE HOOSEGOW.

BEAU HUNKS (1931): Leo Sulky played two different extra parts in L&H's four-reel featurette. In the first role, he is a Legionnaire at screen right of the Fort Arid commander (Broderick O'Farrell) after the visit by the Riff-Raff chief, and before Stan and Ollie arrive at the gates through a sandstorm.

Leo Sulky shows up a bit later in BEAU HUNKS, this time as a "riff" soldier standing behind the Riff-Raff chief (director James W. Horne) after he gives the command "onward," to attack the fort.

OUR RELATIONS (1936) : Finally, there is Leo Sulky's appearance in the one Laurel and Hardy film for which he's been previously credited. He plays the courtroom extra in the feature, sitting in the second row nearest the door where Mrs. Laurel and Mrs. Hardy (Betty Healy and Daphne Pollard) make their entrance.

Leo Sulky continued doing face bits and dress extra work into the 1950's, when he appeared at several Mack Sennett Alumni Association gatherings prior to his death in 1957. Below, Leo dons Keystone Cops gear with James Finalyson, Mack Sennett and others at the 1950 Mack Sennett alumni reunion in Simi Valley, California. Mack Sennett sits in the chair. Above him, left to right, are Charles Lynch, Max Asher, Hank Mann, Vera Steadman, Leo Sulky, James Finalyson (dressed in his Sennett villain guise) and Charles "Heinie" Conklin.