Search - Old Time Comedy Classics, Vol. 4 on DVD

Four Sennett two-reelers

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 07/30/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This edition of TELEVISTA's OLD TIME COMEDY CLASSICS contains four rare Sennett Studio shorts. To date, there are 12 total volumes in print or envisioned by this manufacturer, whose data indicates these "lovingly restored" 2-reel comedies are appearing on DVD for the first time.

OLD TIME COMEDY CLASSICS Vol. 4 TRIVIA:

HER FAME AND SHAME-- Charles Murray also portrayed a Keystone Kop named "Hogan." Louise Fazenda was one of the women pioneers in motion pictures. Harry Depp played a director in his last screen appearance, in Danny Kaye's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (1947). Slim Summerville's resume included "All Quiet on the Western Front" (1930), "The Front Page" (1930), Shirley Temple's "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (1938) and "Tobacco Road" (1941).

HER PAINTED HERO-- Star Hale Hamilton was in "I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang" (1932). He also had uncredited roles in "Dante's Inferno" (1935), "The Adventures of Marco Polo" (1938) and "Edison, The Man" (1940), with Spencer Tracy. Ex-vaudevillian Polly Moran was a favorite at Sennett Studios. She had few equals in highest-energy slapstick.

HER TORPEDOED LOVE (aka "A Trustful Heiress")-- Ford Sterling was Chief to the Keystone Kops. Charley Chase is considered a 2nd tier silent comedy star, ranking just below the big 3 of Keaton, Chaplin and Lloyd. After retiring from acting, Chase directed some 3 Stooges shorts. Ex-pro boxer Edgar Kennedy claimed to have gone 14 rounds with Jack Dempsey. His long career included appearances with the Keystone Kops, Charlie Chaplin ("Tillie's Punctured Romance"), Laurel & Hardy, Harold Lloyd and the Marx Bros. (Edgar was the lemonade peddler beset by Harpo in "Duck Soup.") Throughout the 1940s, Kennedy also starred in his own series of two-reelers.

WON BY A FOWL-- Claire Anderson was one of the original Mack Sennett bathing beauties. She retired from films in 1926, at age 31. Charlie Chaplin claimed that Viola Barry was his first great love. Fritz Schade appeared in only one more short after "Won By a Fowl." Altogether he was in 38 during a five-year run.


TELEVISTA's OLD TIME COMEDY CLASSICS, Vol. 5 features these rarities: "The Bell Hop," "Danger Ahead," "Flirty Four Flushers," "His Day out" and "The Wrong Mr. Fox."


Her Fame and Shame (1917) - Charles Murray/Louise Fazenda/Harry Booker/Sylvia Ashton/Edgar Kennedy/Frank Opperman/Mary Thurman/Harry Depp/Polly Moran/Slim Summerville

Her Painted Hero (1915) - Hale Hamilton/Charles Murray/Slim Summerville/Polly Moran/Harry Booker

Her Torpedoed Love (1917) - Louise Fazenda/Ford Sterling/Wayland Trask/Harry Booker/Tom Kennedy/Glen Cavender/Charley Chase/Harry Griffith/Frank Hayes/Al Kaufman/Edgar Kennedy/Harry Williams

Won by a Fowl (1917) - Claire Anderson/Viola Barry/Joseph Belmont/Paddy McGuire/Fritz Schade"