SLAPSTICON 2010 to unveil lost and unknown Chaplin Film

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Jim Reid
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Re: SLAPSTICON 2010 to unveil lost and unknown Chaplin Film

Postby Jim Reid » Sun Jun 13, 2010 4:51 pm

Paul, do you know the origin or age of the 16mm print? Was it something made for the home market?

Phil Posner
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Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:28 pm

Re: SLAPSTICON 2010 to unveil lost and unknown Chaplin Film

Postby Phil Posner » Sun Jun 13, 2010 8:02 pm

Paul E. Gierucki wrote:A few small points of correction to the various news articles:

The film was not labeled. I unspooled a few feet and recognized it as an early Keystone title.
I set the print aside for cleaning and repair as there were damaged sprockets and bad splices.
Upon screening the print a few months later, I instantly recognized that it was Chaplin in an
undocumented role -- he is unmistakable -- and immediately contacted Richard for additional
verification. (I simply couldn't believe what I was seeing!) We then passed the information
along to several additional Sennett experts, all SCM members, for additional authentication.
We thoroughly researched and documented the find prior to making the first announcement.

Waley's 1938 article in Sight and Sound presumed that A THIEF CATCHER was a Chaplin film
(it is not, it is a Ford Sterling vehicle in which Chaplin makes an unbilled appearance) but the
title was later dropped from the BFI's filmography as an erroneous entry. We do not know how
this happened but it is logical to assume that the BFI eventually recognized it to be a Sterling
film. As there were no known surviving prints to reference, no additional proof of Chaplin's
appearance, the entry was deleted.

We'll share the full story of the discovery and subsequent research at Slapsticon.

-- PG

It's also possible that they dropped it because they realized that Thief Catcher was an alternate title for Her Friend the Bandit.
Phil

My Chaplin site - www.philposner.com

Brian Kirkpatrick
Cugine
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Re: SLAPSTICON 2010 to unveil lost and unknown Chaplin Film

Postby Brian Kirkpatrick » Wed Jun 16, 2010 9:04 pm

In the book "Charlie Chaplin: A Centenary Celebration" (1989), there is a 4 page section titled "Charlie The Keystone Kop?" which looks at the possibility of Chaplin having made appearances as one of the Kops. It contains the entire Groucho Marx interview from 1935, and also mentions the Chaplin interview from 1965. Also included is a photo from an unidentified Keystone film with a circle around a Kop that the caption claims may have been Chaplin (but you can't really see his face). There are also several books which tell of Charlie doing a brief bit with a ladder in some unknown film. Is there a ladder sequence in "A Thief Catcher"?

Paul E. Gierucki
Godfather
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Re: SLAPSTICON 2010 to unveil lost and unknown Chaplin Film

Postby Paul E. Gierucki » Thu Jun 17, 2010 5:33 pm

Phil Posner wrote:It's also possible that they dropped it because they realized that Thief Catcher was an alternate title for Her Friend the Bandit.


Agreed, Phil. Seems perfectly logical to me.

Paul E. Gierucki
Godfather
Posts: 251
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Re: SLAPSTICON 2010 to unveil lost and unknown Chaplin Film

Postby Paul E. Gierucki » Thu Jun 17, 2010 5:36 pm

Jim Reid wrote:Paul, do you know the origin or age of the 16mm print? Was it something made for the home market?


It's a vintage print, Jim. The exact date is unknown, and I am not yet
sure if it was intended for the home market. Am doing some research
and hope to know more by Slapsticon.

-- PG

Joe Moore
Associate
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Re: SLAPSTICON 2010 to unveil lost and unknown Chaplin Film

Postby Joe Moore » Fri Jul 16, 2010 4:58 pm

I saw Katie Couric mention A THIEF CATCHER on the CBS Evening News yesterday. There's even more at their website.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/ ... 0966.shtml

Joe Moore


Phil Posner
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Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:28 pm

Re: SLAPSTICON 2010 to unveil lost and unknown Chaplin Film

Postby Phil Posner » Mon Jul 19, 2010 6:10 pm

So how about a report on Slapsticon and the new Chaplin film?
Phil

My Chaplin site - www.philposner.com

Michael J Hayde
Associate
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Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2009 10:33 pm

Re: SLAPSTICON 2010 to unveil lost and unknown Chaplin Film

Postby Michael J Hayde » Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:40 pm

Phil Posner wrote:So how about a report on Slapsticon and the new Chaplin film?


Here's one from a fan's perspective. I'd put my back out on Monday, so it was a bit of a struggle walking around all crooked and in (minor) pain, but it was worth going. Saw a lot of cool stuff:

Thursday night: arrived in time to see "Too Many Kisses" (1925) with Richard Dix and Harpo in his movie debut. The film was actually shot in Astoria (same studio used for "Cocoanuts" and "Animal Crackers"), not Hollywood like Joe Adamson wrote in his book. Harpo is credited on screen as "the Village Peter Pan" - which basically means he pretty much plays himself. Adamson also wrote that Harpo gets pushed around in every scene: also wrong. It only happens once, and Harpo gets his revenge (in the scene that appears in "The Unknown Marx Brothers." And, in all fairness, I suspect Adamson was relying on second-hand info when he wrote his book). When Richard Dix gets sent to the Basque country (between France and Spain), he arrives while the locals are taking their siesta. We get a brief medium shot of Harpo sleeping, cooling himself with a fan that he's holding with his foot. After that, except for a few crowd shots, he disappears for a few reels. He mysteriously shows up in the middle, playing a ladder like a guitar and mimicking the villian, who's been serenading the heroine. The villain enlists him to carry the ladder so he can climb to the heroine's balcony. Then Harpo's gone for another long stretch, until he shows up near the end at the villain's home. Those are the scenes that are in "The Unknown Marx Brothers." And he does "talk" in the film, via two subtitles.

Friday had two highlights: reel two of Stan Laurel's "When Knights Were Cold" (1923) and Roscoe Arbuckle's first starring feature, "The Round-Up" (1920). The Laurel excerpt was a continuous laugh - some of the best sight gags this side of Larry Semon. (They also showed an edited-down one-reel version of Semon's "The Barnyard," and it was the usual collection of pratfalls, ladders, mudbaths for Babe Hardy and airplane gags... and, yes, it was still funny.) The "horses" that Stan described to John McCabe were hysterical. Laurel did his usual thing where he looks at the camera and laughs at the havoc he's created, but for some reason it worked. I think it was because the gags were so good, that Stan came across as the silent comedy equivalent of Bugs Bunny turning to us and saying, "Ain't I a stinker?" Whatever; the crowd loved it.

The Arbuckle feature was a straight western, with only some light comedy courtesy of the star. A little slapstick when Arbuckle, who plays the town sheriff, tries to dress in a suit to attend a wedding, and it's too small for him. Other than that, he's playing the drama straight, and the film ends on a note of pathos when he doesn't get the girl who'd been flirting with him. "Aw, what's the use? Nobody loves a fat man." This was the one where Keaton did a bit as an Indian.

Speaking of Keaton, Saturday they surprised us with a clip from what is believed to be his final TV appearance: a Canadian panel show called "Flashbacks," on which he appeared while making "The Scribe." The panelists asked him questions about his career and he was really good, although his voice was starting to go from the cancer. One panelist talked about the cyclone scene in "Steamboat Bill Jr." and asked Keaton how it was done. "Oh, we just did it." "Well, did you measure where you had to stand?" Keaton says, "Oh, you better believe we measured it!" and after the laugh he describes in full what was done before the building fascade fell over. T'was a wonderful clip.

On Saturday afternoon, the prize went to Charley Chase's "Modern Love" (1929). He carried himself quite well in both the silent and sound sequences, but - in one great scene - Anita Garvin, in a supporting role, absolutely stole the picture. It's a little difficult to describe, but Charley is posing as a waiter and giving bogus instructions in dining etiquette to a Frenchman who wants to take his wife to Europe. Meanwhile, the dinner guests (one of whom is Garvin), can't see Charley and think that this is normal French dining etiquette, so they mimick him. Each "instruction" is more ludicrous than the last, and got big laughs - but Garvin topped them all with her facial expressions of disbelief and disgust. I'm betting Hal Roach remembered that, and is part of the reason why he had no faith in Chase carrying a full-length film.

The highlight, of course, was "A Thief Catcher." It was great - a neat little Keystone anecdote. Chaplin was instantly recognizable even in Kop garb, and his bit was very funny.

A brief no-spoilers summary of the plot: Ford Sterling, in his regular clothes but sporting a star on his chest, photographs a couple of thugs beating up a third man and tossing him off the side of a hill. They spot him, so Ford flees and ducks into an old barn. Unfortunately for him, it's the thugs' hideout. Things go from bad to worse, even when two cops on the beat check out the scene, and it's up to Ford's little dog to come to his rescue. Chaplin is one of the two cops, and he gets clobbered on the head by one of the thugs when he tries to look in the barn - the frame capture that's been circulating is part of his reaction to the clobbering.

We were told that there's going to be a new DVD set covering Mack Sennett's entire career from a company called CineMuseum, and that "A Thief Catcher" will be included.

The "Mutual Out-takes reel," which came from Paul Killiam's collection, consisted of one alternate take each of two scenes from "The Count," followed by those scenes as they appeared in the finished film. Naturally, the finished version got big laughs. The whole Chaplin presentation went over extremely well with a near-capacity crowd in the theater.

Those were the most memorable highlights. I'm sure the others will have their own take on it. All I can say in summary is: Don't miss the next one!

Michael
Last edited by Michael J Hayde on Thu Jul 22, 2010 4:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Phil Posner
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Re: SLAPSTICON 2010 to unveil lost and unknown Chaplin Film

Postby Phil Posner » Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:24 pm

Excellent Michael, thanks!
Phil

My Chaplin site - www.philposner.com


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