SilentComedyMafia.com

I see the NNN (Nameless Nitrateville Nincompoop) who started the whole silly thread on early deaths in Hollywood gets snarky when anyone tries to give him the facts. Sorry Frederica, but I understand that one too well from my days on Nitratevile. See folks, whether you're doing a scholarly tome or j...

Yes, there are too many to list. I posted one, director Lynn Reynolds-suicide, but there are still so many obvious ones left, like Billie Ritchie. And how would you characterize "Smiling Bill" Parsons-actor, producer, director? Did he work himself to death? Was it stunt-related as implied...

I see the NNN’s are compiling a list of “silent film tragedies”, i.e people who died young or mysteriously during or soon after the Silent Era. As usual, the first one they list os Thomas H. Ince, of “probable murder”, even though that group of all people should know better than that. And of course ...

Gary Johnson wrote:Alcohol and Alzheimers..........the double whammy.

Or a really weird Larry Semon short from 1918.


RICHARD M ROBERTS

In articles and interviews I always found McCarey rather self-effacing when talking about L&H. It was never "I told them to do this....I invented derby hats..." He mostly just seem to enjoy re-telling his stories of everyone laughing on the sets and having fun. And he always came acro...

Hey Bruce Calvert, Congratulations, you've added more of the general misinformation that is a hallmark of Nitratevile these days: You got the wrong Tuska! John Tuska was an artist that indeed passed away in 1998, but Jon Tuska, as far as I know, is still alive and living in Portland, Oregon, but cer...

Dear Mafia Members--- Thank you for re-opening the registration to this site. My name is David Hennessy and I have been enjoying your site for a while. My question for you all is this: I was wondering how much credit should be given to Leo McCarey in the creation and development of Laurel and Hardy...

Gary Johnson wrote: In fact, of the trio of great comedians who ended up at Jules White's Gin Mill, I would say Chase fared best. Oh, absolutely; there's no WHAT MAKES LIZZY DIZZY lurking in Chase's Columbia canon.[/quote] Which begs a question, what is the WORST Columbia short of all time? (and I ...

Quoting Gary Johnson: "That was one of the reasons I put off grabbing the Betty Boop Essential DVD's that have been coming out earlier in the year. I kept reading on animation blog sites that the consensus was that after Olive Films released all of the Boops volumes individually they would turn...

Part of what is so annoying about Lorusso’s pronouncements (and Bob Fells as well, whom I must correct myself in stating that it was he, not Lorusso, who thought Bing Crosby “sad” after 1950, oh well, there is plenty of stupidity to go around over at Nitratevile, who can keep track of it all?) is th...