El does some magic

I'm back! Well, for a bit anyway as I try to get my business on the right track. Here we have a couple of pics from El with the GREAT magician Harry Blackstone, Sr.

So where have I been???

I have gotten a few emails wondering what happened to the blog, WELL, times have gotta kinda tough at work. More of our business has gone overseas in the last year than our business has lost in the 35 years since my Dad started the company. So we launched a new business hoping to bring our product to customers direct and at a economical price, so I give you the Ware River Pet Company.

I know we can compete on price and certainly on quality with our housebreaking pads for your pets, by selling direct. We will be having our website up soon for direct sales but right now we are selling on-line using the following links:

ebay

Amazon

and we are on Facebook and Twitter, if you wish to follow there too for the latest updates and special promotions. AND we have a blog so you can read about what we are up too as well as see pictures of our dogs and cats. TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND HELP SPREAD THE WORD!!!


p.s.,
If you want to hear my Dad talk about the state of our business, he was interviewed by WBUR radio and you can listen to the interview through the link here:

WBUR

Capitolfest chooses its star, Louie goes nuts!!

One of my most favorite film festivals, Capitolfest, has chosen it's featured star for its 2011 festival and the award goes to:

JANET GAYNOR!!!

Since she is one of my favorites, I am absolutely drooling in excitement over the films they might show next year. I'm hoping they'll be able to find runnable prints of "Merely Mary Ann" (1931) or the intriguing "High Society Blues" (1930), which Janet hated sooooooo much that she walked out on her contract at Fox. If you want to keep up on the latest news, sign up on their Facebook page and keep up to date with the latest news!

Capitolfest 2010 - review!!

Just got back from Capitolfest 8 and felt I should write down my review of an INCREDIBLE weekend of films. The Rome, NY based festival continues to showcase some of the best vintage flicks on the East Coast and this year did not disappoint one bit. The choice selection of pictures this year made this probably the best line-up of all the festivals I went to this year.

My friends and I got to the theater around 1:30 on Friday to take advantage of a guided tour of the movie palace. From the backstage area, to the downstairs dressing rooms, and up to the projection booth, the tour showed all the inner workings and stylings of a 1928 movie theater, although the Capitol did have a facelift in 1939 and much of what we see today comes from that Art Deco makeover.

Main theater seating area during an intermission

After a trip to downtown Syracuse to partake of some delicious Dinosaur BBQ, we headed over to the Rome Elks Club for the “pre-glow” show made up of silent 16mm prints and accompanied by an original 1933 Moller classical organ. (All reviews are based on a five star system, * = poor up to ***** = greatest movie ever made by human beings). SPOILER ALERT : some of these reviews may give away plot lines and endings, so continue reading at your own risk:

King of the Rodeo (Universal, 1929) ***1/2 - Hoot Gibson leaves his disapproving father to take part in a rodeo in Chicago. He gets set up to take the fall for the robbery of the box office receipts but he comes back to triumph in the end.

The Leather Pushers "Round Two" (Universal, 1922) ***1/2 – Reginald Denny stars in this serial episode as a boxer trying to get through some tough times and having to deal with a manager who means well but seems to be not on the up and up all the time. I would like to see more of these as this one was fast moving and pretty good.

The Collegians "The Relay" (Universal, 1927) *** - an episode of this long running series had to do the Freshmen ladies beating their rival Sophomores in a relay race and the Sophs having to be do whatever the Freshies want for 24 hours. Of course this doesn’t sit well with the older class and leads to a crazy fight at the Log Tavern which happens to have one of the deepest water displays in any restaurant, ever.

signing in at the Capitol runs pretty smoothly

Frogland (Les grenouilles qui demandent un roi) (Polichinei-Film, 1924) *** - the only thing that kept this bizarre short from getting a higher rating was that it wasn’t complete and seemed to end right at the climax. An interesting stop-motion picture having to do with a frog community looking for someone to rule them. The frogs keep asking a perpetually annoyed Jupiter for a King and the sky devil keeps sending one's that are totally wrong for them, including a bird that decides his subjects are very tasty.

His People (Universal, 1925) **** - an excellent drama of a hard working Jewish father who has two sons who he believes one to be no good (a boxer) and the other to be straight, upstanding, and the apple of his eye (a lawyer). The exact opposite happens to be the real truth and the father gets a major dose of reality near the end. It would have been interesting to see Max Davidson in the lead role as the father but Rudolf Schildkraut was excellent as the street vendor dad.

We bid adieu to the Elks Club and my friends Brian and Rich joined me to sample some of the nightlife in Rome. The only problem I have ever had with going to these festivals is when going to different cities; the movies take up most of your time so I never get to see much of any of the places I travel to. This weekend was pretty much the same, but we did manage to go out Friday and Saturday to grab some suds before heading to sleep. Friday it was The Mill and although it was REAL LOUD inside, the Utica Club frosties more than made up for it.

Capitol Theater Director and weekend emcee Art Pierce gives the low down on what's going on.

Saturday morning took us over to Eddie’s Paramount Diner for a tasty breakfast before heading to the theater for the official start of Capitolfest. From here on out all the films were screened at the Capitol and were all from 35mm prints.

Billie "Swede" Hall and Company in "Hilda"(Warner Bros., 1929) **1/2 – the first of 4 recently restored Vitaphone shorts making their U.S. debut after premiering in London last fall, this one features a Swedish dialect comedian who sounded as though he was suffering from a terrible case of laryngitis. The short wasn’t that great but I have to say the funniest part of the whole film was watching Billie’s female partner unable to control her laughter during some of the unfunniest comedy I have witnessed. I think that is the only reason this short gets more than one star.

James Cozart from the Library of Congress introduces "The Virtuous Husband"

The Virtuous Husband (Universal, 1931) **** - Jean Arthur marries probably the most boring man in history, Elliot Nugent, who for some reason is stuck on following his dead mothers advice through a series of letters his mom wrote to him before her demise on how to live every aspect of his life. I mean, the honeymoon scene where Ms. Arthur is wearing the skimpiest of negligee to entice her husband into bed only to be rebuffed, leaves the viewer baffled, but it’s all in fun and there are tons of laughs here as well as pre-code raciness. Walter Brennan makes a surprise appearance as an elderly hotel bellhop.

Modern Love (Universal, 1929) ****1/2 - having seen this movie about a month before at Slapsticon I was happy to catch it again as the picture was one of the highlights in Rosslyn. Charley Chase plays Kathryn Crawford’s husband who wants his wife to be a stay-at-home one, whilst she wants to build a career in the fashion industry. Charley loses his job at the same time she has an opportunity to go to Paris to study under the head of the company she is working for. Tons of funny episodes in this one, with the dinner scene where Chase screws with Fashion company President Jean Hersholt much to his other guests dismay, stands out as the gutbuster for me. Anita Garvin must be singled out for her brief but welcomed supporting role. THANK YOU Universal for restoring this one for us all to enjoy!

The Drug Store Cowboy (Independent, 1925) ***1/2 – Franklyn Farnum plays a guy who works at a drug store who has dreams of being a Hollywood cowboy star. He sends a letter to the company making a western picture who just lost their starring villain offering his services. In a plot that can only happen in a motion picture, the studio takes a chance and makes an offer to Farnum to come out so they can see his acting chops. He gets robbed along the way and while changing clothes with the thief, in an attempt to by the crook to throw off his trailers, gets mistaken as a criminal the sheriff has been trailing. Does it all work out??? What do you think??

the Capitol concession stand keeps the bellies full!

The Galloping Dude (Independent, 1925) – this Franklyn Farnum & Jean Arthur feature was scheduled but didn’t make it to Rome this year (promised for next year) so the staff decided to show a promotional film made in 1929 by the Elgin Watch Company titled “Time” (***) which was a commercial for the importance of strict adherence to time and what better way to do that than with an Elgin Watch. This short inadvertently spawned an “in joke” for the rest of the weekend where any actor who looked at their watch, murmurings went through the crowd saying, “ah, it’s not an Elgin”.

Gerry Orlando from the Syracuse Cinephile Society introduces "Paramount on Parade"

Paramount on Parade (Paramount, 1930) **** - probably the best of all the early talkie all-star revues, the UCLA restoration of “P.O.P” was certainly one of the highlights of the weekend. Although there are still bits and pieces of the film and/or soundtrack missing from the screened print the film was highly enjoyable. Two cool things about the screening to report, Ron Hutchinson from the Vitaphone Project sent over a recording of the original opening number (the film uses a re-recorded opening and utilizes photographs to make up for the lost footage) and most amazing of all, projectionist Bob Hodge had in his collection the previously missing soundtrack for the Harry Green number “Isadore The Toreador” which was played after the film was finished. We were also told it that UCLA would like to use this recording and insert it into their restoration. Too many great performances to go into here, but for me the stand out was the “crime” section with Dr. Fu Manchu (Warner Oland), Philo Vance (William Powell), Sherlock Holmes (Clive Brook), and Sgt. Heath (Eugene Pallette) all making humorous appearances.

Forbidden Adventure (Paramount, 1931) ***1/2 – now I am not a huge fan of many movies that have kids as their major leads, in fact I usually hate them, but for some reason this one wasn’t as terrible as it could have been. For sure, after 5 minutes of dealing with Tiny Tim Tiffany (Jackie Searl) as the spoiled child star, I was ready to throw him in a wood chipper, but the great performance of Mitzi Green more than made up for the other shortcomings. Add to that, SUPER supporting roles by veterans Edna May Oliver and Louise Fazenda as the mothers of two child stars trying to outdo each other by showing absolutely no class at all while thinking they had sophistication in spades. Good stuff.

Universal Studio Tour - missed

Poor Aubrey (WB, 1929) - *** - well, we got back a bit late from dinner, missed the Universal tour short and a bit of the Vitaphone, so the review is a bit off. “Poor Aubrey”, I think, concerned a guy (Franklin Pangborn) who was a bit show off and something concerning his bald head. Maybe I didn’t see enough of this to make an accurate criticism, but what I saw had some funny moments, especially the dialog between Pangborn and his condescending mother-in-law.

Womanhandled (Paramount, 1926) **** - I am a huge fan of these silent Richard Dix roles. They have run a couple at past Capitolfest’s so it was good to see another added this year. City dweller Dix falls in love with Esther Ralston who for some reason is obsessed by the crazy notion that men from the West are the only “TRUE” men and she cannot stand city men who are “womanhandled”. So Dix travels out to his Uncle’s house in the West to rough it but is shocked when he finds out that the old West is history and flivvers have replaced horses and all the cowboys are from urban areas. Dix tries to fool Ralston, when she announces her trip to see how much of a cowpoke he’s turned into, by trying to make his house and “cowboys” look the part, and she eventually buys it. Some old female friends from back East make a visit to the ranch and Ralston’s discovery of them changes her mind and she believes again Dix is still “womanhandled”. The final reel of the film is missing, so we had to read what happened and knowing other Dix films, I’m pretty sure the climax was a real barn burner.

the AMAZING 3-manual, 7-rank 1928 Moller theater organ accompanies all the silent films at the Capitol.

Fish Feathers (RKO, 1932) ***1/2- One of the early Edgar Kennedy ”Average Man” comedies that concerned him going fishing with his always “slow burn” inducing family. Florence Lake was great in this as the never-stop-talking wife and Tom Kennedy in a brief appearance as the fishing ship captain.

Scandal for Sale (Universal, 1932) **** - in this gritty drama, Charles Bickford stars as a newspaper editor who will stop at nothing to get his rag more circulation. Not multiple lawsuits, not death threats, not the death of his son, and not even when his wife (Rose Hobart) says she’s going to leave him. He only gets wise after he sends pal Pat O'Brien to his death. A perfect film to end a full day in a theater, so it was off to get a few Utica Club’s at the Black River Ale House then back to the hotel for a snooze.

Sunday’s line up started with a Vitaphone short:

Harry Fox and His Six American Beauties (Warner Bros., 1929) ** – not one of the better Vitaphone shorts, this Harry Fox film has him singing about towels from major hotels. Yup, you read that right. If I didn’t have 3 cups of high test in me for breakfast I may have dozed off on this one. An unbilled Marjorie Main was one of the six “American Beauties”.

Under a Texas Moon (WB, 1930) ****1/2 – I wrote the program notes for this film before even seeing it. The period reviews of the film were very positive but I was still thinking, “there is NO WAY in hell Frank Fay could be great in this??” Boy was I wrong. This may have been the best film of the entire weekend, for me at least. I found Fay’s Don Juan portrayal to be really good, some of the slime dripping offa him as he speaks his lines, and he’s pretty believable as a ladies’ man (not so much in “God’s Gift to Women”). Raquel Torres, Armida, and Myrna Loy looked exquisite as the women he lusts over, even more so in Technicolor. This one SHOULD be out from the Warner Archives, so get on it, would ya???

Federated Screen Snapshots no. 12 (1927) – I don’t remember seeing this, was it dropped from the schedule??

Alias the Deacon (Universal, 1927) **** -Jean Hersholt returns as an older (and wanted by the police) card sharp who has a heart of gold. June Marlowe and Ralph Graves are two transients who meet by chance and try to make it on their own in a small town before some shenanigans start happening with a villainous boxing manager, played supremely by Ned Sparks. Tom Kennedy makes another film appearance as the pugilist who helps Graves and Marlowe in the end. Hersholt is terrific, spinning scripture in a most eloquent way and getting the most out of a deck of cards. Another gem that everyone should see.

She Who Gets Slapped (Warner Bros., 1930) *** - The last Vitaphone short of the weekend starred Tommy Dugan who gets wrapped up in a schemer’s tale on how to tame your wife, which involves hitting and kicking her. Sounds nuts but it’s all in good fun. George “Gabby” Hayes, sans beard, plays a small unbilled part at the beginning.

The Gang Buster (Paramount, 1931) **** - Jack Oakie stars as an insurance salesman who get wrapped up in lawyer William Morris’s business after saving him from getting rundown by some gangsters. Of course, it’s easy to get tangled in a web when the lawyer’s daughter is the dreamy Jean Arthur. William “Stage” Boyd plays the gangster who wants to wipe out Morris as the defender has much information on his illegal dealings. Since they can’t get Morris directly, they kidnap Arthur and Oakie takes it upon himself to find and free her, often leading to comical results with Oakie playing his naïve best. Great supporting roles from Wynne Gibson, as the gangster’s jilted moll, and once again Tom Kennedy makes an appearance as one of the goons wearing unique squeaky shoes.

Jack Theakston introduces one of his films

Jack Theakston's Short Subject Follies - **** - I always look forward to Jack’s spot of shorts and this year’s didn’t disappoint. First he showed an early 1930’s interview with Bela Lugosi. I don’t care what anyone says, this guy was creepy even out of character. Next up was an educational film for the 50’s; I think, on how to run a courteous movie theater. Then we had the first reel of a two-reel silent educational film on kids brushing their teeth which was fun and fascinating and utilized some primitive cartoon work to show us all how to keep them choppers in tip top shape! Lastly, he ran a 1934 Technicolor short named “Dinner for Eight” that was taken from the original negatives that looked absolutely breathtaking. I guess it was produced by some electric company on the left coast as a way to promote all the time saving appliances mother could use in the kitchen that were all powered by electricity.

UFA Oddities, "The Leader" (UFA, 1929) **1/2 - “Oddities” is the name all right. This short showed some of the sport in Switzerland that had to do with men wrestling each other by trying to pull up your opponents’ shorts and then pinning them on their back. Lots of cool shots of the mountains and farmers, if you like that sort of thing.

You Never Know Women (Paramount, 1926) **** - This is the film that I have been dying to see since I read that it existed. One of only 2 El Brendel films from his Paramount stint that survives complete (the other is “Wings”. Most of the others are lost although a rumor is that part of “Man of the Forest” also survives). Florence Vidor stars in this tale of romance. She is loved by her long time stage partner, Clive Brook, and by a new sleaze ball on the block, Lowell Sherman, who always arrives when Vidor is in some kind of distress and appears to rescue her. Set behind a Russian acrobatic troupe the story is one of love and heartbreak and was pretty captivating. Although there is a bit of comedy on his part, El Brendel plays the majority of his part in a dramatic role, which makes me wish he could have played more of these types in his career as he was excellent in this flick. Another one that awaits rediscovery!

This brought the end of another amazing Capitolfest. I want to thanks all of the staff and volunteers from the Capitol Theater who made this weekend HIGHLY enjoyable, I can’t wait for 2011’s show!

Outside display for Capitolfest 8

Capitolfest 8 - August 13-15!!!

For the past 4 years I have been heading up to the city of Rome, New York to take part in one of my favorite film festivals, CAPITOLFEST! This year the crew at the Capitol Theater has programmed another winner weekend with tons of great and rare films including El Brendel's first turn in front of a movie camera, a tribute to Jean Arthur (with a few of her features being shown), and a number of Vitaphone shorts making their US debut!!

First off, at 2pm on Friday, the staff at the Capitol is giving a tour of the theater itself. From the basement where the dressing rooms for stage productions are, to backstage area, around the Moller organ, right up to the projection booth. I went on this tour and found it to be a delight and the staff will answer just about any question you have. After the tour, there's plenty of time to grab a bite to eat before heading over to the Rome Elks Club at 7pm for an evening "pre-glow" show of 16mm silent prints. This gives a "soft" start to the fest and the club even has a 1933 Moller classical organ to accompany the show. Saturday morning we switch over to the Capitol Theater for the official start of the film program, all flicks shown in beautiful 35mm prints.

One of my favorite aspects of Capitolfest is that all the silent films shown in the theater (a beautiful 1928 auditorium, BTW) are accompanied by an original 1928 Moller theater organ. After reading what I wrote you may say "So what?", but to actually hear this organ live, is an experience you will not soon forget as the player can pull out percussion, woodwind, and many other sounds out of the unit and not just the normal notes you'd usually hear. The experience is really tremendous!

So sign up and come and join me in a couple weeks for a great weekend at the Capitol!!

A full schedule can be found here, you can buy tickets and register here, and listed below is a photo preview of some of the highlights:

Capitolfest's tribute to Jean Arthur gets kicked into high gear with her appearance in 1931's "Virtuous Husband", scheduled to be shown on Saturday morning, at 9:45am.

El Brendel's first appearance in a motion picture, Paramount's 1926 "You Never Know Women", will close out the festival at 4:50pm on Sunday. This film was thought lost until a print was discovered at the Library of Congress in 2001.

the UCLA restoration/recreation of "Paramount on Parade" (1930) will be screened on Saturday afternoon at 3:10pm

Jack Oakie stars with Jean Arthur in the 1931 film "The Gang Buster", which will hit the screen at 2:30pm on Sunday.

Frank Fay fans will get their fill (in Technicolor even!) with 1930's "Under A Texas Moon", screening on Sunday at 9:30am.

ALSO, you can find the Capitol Theater Appriciation Society on Facebook here and the Capitolfest page here! Become a freind and stay up on the latest updates!

my lengthy Slapsticon 2010 review

So I’ve had about a week to recover and digest the films I saw this past weekend at Slapsticon 2010. This is one of the best film festivals that I go to each year and the combination of good flicks and people make it a destination for me each July. I amazed myself as, except for the first film on the opening day, I was able to view every other film on the schedule, but let me start on the first day.

I arrived mid-Wednesday morning for the express reason of making my first trip to the Library of Congress. For a novice researcher as myself this place was an incredible experience. I was able to print out all of the pressbooks for the late 20’s films El Brendel made at the Paramount studios, a continuity script for the 1931 feature “West of Broadway”, and a bunch of info from “Variety” magazine that I hadn’t previously seen. I probably could spend about another month just going through the microfilm, but the doors were closing and I was in need of some food and rest.

Thursday, the doors opened at the theater at 12 noon and the first movie started at 1:00. This late scheduling on the first day is a feature of Slapsticon I’ve always loved, allowing the punters to get up a bit later, enjoy a leisurely breakfast and still have plenty of time to make their way over to the Spectrum. And about the theater itself, although the temperatures outside rarely cracked below 95 degrees during the daytime, the Spectrum was always nice and cool in the theater, but the lobby could have been a bit cooler. As, I stated earlier, I missed the first film (well, maybe 90% of it), “The Great Radio Comedians”, but the next set up was 4 short films from the Weiss Brothers. We got a Snub Pollard, a Ben Turpin, one from Jimmy Aubrey, and another from my favorite of this set Poodles Hanneford. Poodles, it seems, can do almost anything that is asked of him and this short, if the writing or gags would have been better, would have been the best Weiss short of this program. All these shorts looked pretty amazing as good materials have survived on them, and they were all pretty funny.

After a dinner break we got to see some choice Abbott and Costello rarities. First up was the old PD stand-by “Africa Screams”, but unlike all the crappy dupes out there, this one originated from a stunning 35mm print. I have always had fond memories of this film and seeing it from a 35mm print, it didn’t disappoint, other than having some projector issues causing sections of the film to run slow, it was still great to see. The A&C rarities section showed a bunch of commercials for a “Jiffy Pop” type popcorn snack system who’s name escapes me right now, at least 2 versions of the “Who’s On First” routine, and a bunch of funny Lou Costello narrated home movies. After a Monty Banks short we were treated to a 1925 Richard Dix comedy, “Too Many Kisses” which I loved. The more I see of the humorous Dix flicks, the more I wonder where is his rediscovery??

The theater closed and back at the hotel began one of my most favorite aspects of Slapsticon, hanging out in the lobby of the hotel and talking about films until exhaustion drove me to bed. I think I was able to make it until at least 2:30AM every night just soaking in the stories and the knowledge of the film fans/historians in attendance.

Friday AM we were first treated to some early comedies. This is maybe my least favorite period of movies, but the films picked out were more than satisfying to one, keep me awake, and two, keep me laughing (it IS Slapsticon after all). The first shot of the goodness that we were about to see came to the crowd in the form of “Miss Stickie-Moufie-Kiss”, a 1915 Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Drew comedy. The look of horror on Sydney’s face when he comes home from the war and realizes the love he left behind was not the same young woman, but had turned into mushed-mouth-namby-pamby-pamby, was simply amazing and probably one of the best laugh-getters of the whole weekend. Other good ones in this set were shorts with Billie Ritchie, Musty Suffer (Harry Watson Jr.), John Bunny, and a personal favorite, Ham & Bud who I love more and more every time I see one of their films.

I may have been one of the few to look forward to the two animal films featured in the Kids ‘n’ Animals spot. A Snooky the Human-zee, “Ladies Pets”, and a Dippy-Doo-Dads called “The Knockout”. I love the way that these shorts work around the flimsiest plots and can appreciate how much work and patience it must have taken to put these together. And screw PETA, I can watch these, the Dogville Comedies, and Lancelot Link all day long and they never stop being funny. A rare Our Gang, “The Smile Wins”, was shown with French subtitles, but the story was pretty easy to figure out and was quite enjoyable.

The afternoon brought a bunch of Hal Roach comedies, first up being a Harold Lloyd Lonesome Luke picture that I really didn’t care for. Pretty choppy and not all that funny. But it got better with the others shown, including a really funny Paul Parrott from 1923, “Shoot Straight”. His brother, Charley Chase, was well represented all weekend and 1933’s “Fallen Arches” shown in this section was a good short to start off the Charley love. Lastly, there was a short by Billy Gilbert and Ben Blue appearing as the “Taxi Boys” in Taxi Barons”. I will go on record by saying although I like El Brendel, I see NOTHING redeeming about Ben Blue. Possibly the most unfunny and annoying comedian of all time.

After a short break we were treated to another installment of Rob Stone’s Rarities Show. This is one of my favorite features in the Slapsticon program every year I have been and this year did not disappoint either. Out of all the shorts and fragments Rob bought this year, it was pretty unanimous that the surviving 2nd reel of the Stan Laurel comedy “When Knights Were Cold” was one of the standouts of the whole weekend. The gags were top notch and the laughs just kept on coming throughout the roughly 8 minutes it was projected. The gag using the rose trellis to scale the castle wall was pretty ingenious and a gut buster.

Next up, Roscoe Arbuckle’s 1920’s film “The Round Up”. This was one of the films I was most excited about seeing when the schedule was first posted. Roscoe plays a straight role in this western and although there are some funny moments, his work in a dramatic role was pretty amazing and I wish there would have been more of this type of work for Arbuckle. The picture was excellent, by the way, and hope to see it again someday.

The night ended with a short and feature starring Edward Everett Horton that were highly enjoyable. The 2 reel “Horse Shy” had to do with a guy (Horton) who is scared of horses, but must learn to like them to win the girl (Nita Cavalier) and the pre-code feature ”Wide Open” where Horton plays opposite a delicious Patsy Ruth Miller in a light comedy concerning the 78 record business. In both films Horton is excellent, but how he ever got the girl in any film has always perplexed me as he seems way too scared of women to even make headway, but it’s Hollywood and everything works out alright for Eddy in the end.

Saturday evening may have brought what the media wanted us to believe was the highlight of the festival, the first public screening of “A Thief Catcher” with an unbilled Charlie Chaplin appearance, but there was plenty more great and rare films, starting off with Dave Snyder’s Animation Fest. This is another aspect of Slapsticon I love, seeing vintage cartoons on Saturday morning. I could have done without the Donald Duck and the usually dreadful Andy Panda, but the jazzy overtones of Betty Boop’s “Snow White” and the Walter Lantz produced “Voodoo In Harlem” certainly made up for those two shortcomings.

After a break, came the Sennett Spot featuring a half dozen of pretty decent shorts. The highlight for me was the Charlie Murray & Ford Sterling boxing farce “Don’t Weaken” with superb performances turned out by both veterans as well as Harriet Hammond and James Finlayson. The Andy Clyde short from 1930 “The Bluffer” was interesting for showing a good example of early color, but other than that novelty, the story was pretty much of a stinker.

Out the whole weekend, I looked forward to the next bit the most. First up was the East Coast premier of the restoration of Charley Chase’s 1929 feature for Universal, “Modern Love”. Although we saw a couple reels worth of silent footage a few years back, the opportunity to see this film put back together with the original soundtrack and sound sequences was very nice. It didn’t bowl me over (I thought some of Chase’s dramatic scene’s to be pretty flat) but I thought it was a pretty good film with a decent story and good acting, especially from Anita Garvin during the dinner sequence. Another Chase film followed, this time a picture that was not included in the Columbia TV package sold to TV. “South of the Boudoir” was a really funny two-reeler with cute Ann Doran as well as supporting actor Bud Jameson providing a bunch of laughs. Both films are well worth seeing if they come anywhere near you.

Another revelation came next with the showing of the 1934 British screwball “You Made Me Love You” starring Stanley Lupino and the beautiful Thelma Todd. The premise is pretty straight forward, about a guy trying to win the heart of a girl who is headstrong, leading to comedy situations throughout. I must also say that Thelma Todd looked exceptional in the many close-ups provided her during the film; I don’t think she ever looked better.

Next up was the promoter’s dream, the showing of an unknown Charlie Chaplin appearance. I won’t go into the details of its rediscovery (that can be found elsewhere) but “A Thief Catcher” is a funny film. The lead, Ford Sterling, is a bit over the top, but not enough to be annoying and I must say that as soon as you see Chaplin’s character enter the picture, there is ABSOLUTELY no doubt who you are seeing. Rounding out the Chaplin spot was a few outtakes from “The Count”, a couple of trims from an unknown comedy showing an intoxicated (I think) Charlie bowling and a dog with a chair tied to it chasing the ball down the lane, a nice looking print of “The Bond” and a few sweet outtakes from that picture.

1926’s light comedy “The Cave Man” with Matt Moore, Marie Provost and an early appearance from a striking Myrna Loy was shown next. I enjoyed the picture having seen it once before at Capitolfest in Rome, NY, but I did hear some grumblings from some of the other film go-er’s who didn’t think that the film was enough comedy to be featured under the Slapsticon banner.

A round of sound shorts closed out the Saturday festivities. A Lupino Lane film that was scheduled was unavailable at show time so Lloyd Hamilton’s “Prize Puppies” was shown instead. A Daphne Pollard short, “Dangerous Youth” was hilarious as was “Gents of Leisure” with Chester Conklin and Vernon Dent. I am not a huge fan of Andy Clyde but his 1935 Columbia, “Old Sawbones”, gave me a few chuckles.

Sunday was the last day of movies but by no means did the quality of films diminish. The morning started out with a bang. First off was an Al St. John picture, “Honeymoon Trio”, directed by Roscoe Arbuckle under the William Goodrich pseudonym. This film also featured a most annoying, but highly enjoyable role from co-star Walter Catlett who seems bent on breaking the newlyweds up. Then came the Clark & McCullough two reeler “In A Pig’s Eye”. For me, it was my first opportunity to see a C&McC short with a live audience and this being one of my favorite’s of the duo, it didn’t disappoint. Add to that more great films from Harry Langdon, Leon Errol, and Charley Chase made my exhausted mind wake up and get ready for the afternoon.

After lunch was the Johnny Hines 1923 feature “Luck” which makes me wish that more of his films were more easily accessible to the public today as they are pretty humorous and fast moving. Tons of other quality comedies were shown with Billy Dooley, Lupino Lane, Bobby Vernon, Lloyd Hamilton, finally finishing the regular program with “Fluttering Hearts” featuring Charley Chase and Oliver Hardy, but that doesn’t mean the good times were finished as a few more others were crammed in, including pictures by Wallace Lupino, Billie Ritchie, John Bunny, and another winner from Mr. & Mrs. Sydney Drew.

We said goodbye to the Spectrum and made our way back to the hotel for the annual post-Slapsticon banquet on the top floor of the Holiday Inn which gives a great panoramic view of the Patomic and Georgetown. Lots of fun and good conversation (and maybe a good drink or two) then it was back to the lobby for another round of shooting the bull well into the early morning. A nice way to end Slapsticon 2010.

I must say a big round of thank you’s to the organizers who put this great show together, to all the accompanists who played along with all the silent film, you did an AMAZING JOB! It was especially great to meet a lot of new people that I had only “spoken to” during my time participating on online film forums, thanks; you made my weekend a whole lot more interesting.

I would like to say to anyone who has never attended a Slapsticon to try and make it at least once. It’s a fantastic festival put on by people who really know and love comedy and the dedication shows! Can’t wait for 2011.

Flagg, Quirt, and Olsen - on record

Always on the lookout for new and interesting El Brendel items, the Theater Director of Rome, New York's Captiol Theater, Art Pierce, turned me onto this little number he heard via the RADIOLA! channel on the internet radio feed Live365. It's a 1929 performance by Buddy Morgan and his Veterans, "Sergeant Flagg & Sergeant Quirt" (Columbia 2011 D), and reveals the relationship of the crazy, women loving and hating each other duo from such Fox films as, "What Price Glory" (1926), "The Cock-Eyed World" (1929), "Hot Pepper" (1933), and "Women of All Nations" (1931) in song:



With their trademark "Sez you, Sez me!" slogan, actors Victor Mclaglen (Flagg) and Edmund Lowe (Quirt), brought these two rough hewn characters to life, peppering in saucy language with equally sexy adventures with females around the faux-silver-screen globe.

This recording mimics the situations from 1929's "The Cock-Eyed World" and uses impressions to imitate the lead voices. What is particularly interesting is the Brendel Swede voice communicating probably the best known sceen from the film, the "lay of the land" sequence:



It might also be noted that the Flagg and Quirt characters (as portrayed by McLaglen and Lowe) appear in the short film "The Stolen Jools" (1931) with El Brendel in a minor sketch. The film characters are parodied in the 1932 "kids" short, "War Babies" starring a very young Shirley Temple in the lead role of Charmaine. Then in 1952, 20th Century Fox decided to remake "What Price Glory" with James Cagney (Flagg) and Dan Dailey (Quirt) before the book was finally closed on their travels.