The Posts of Christmas Pasts

[Gary Johnson]

My, but it's been quiet around here this past week. Everyone must had been out returning all of their gifts.

Most of my gift giving was to myself. Come December I tend to shop the old 1 to 2 method. One gift for them, two for me. It's very easy to do, what with being online so often and being constantly barraged with come-ons by the likes of Amazon and Deep Discount to come visit their DVD sales. And so I do...

Most of what I purchase is rarely hot off the press. Just stuff that I've been meaning to pick up for some time. For instance, the New Zealand Lost and now Found Treasures. I'm sure most of you snatched that up when it was first uncovered in that vast Aukland Video Store, sometime back. I'm rarely in such a rush. Not until the day when that meteorite is detected to come hurling into our backside -- then you might find me more anxious to order the latest in DVD's.
Along a similar vein is Kino's A Christmas Past. I had this recorded for years on VHS from it's annual broadcast on TCM. In fact, at one time I had a half dozen versions of those broadcasts recorded. I could never really tell if this program ever changed since it was always the same flickering black on white frolicking in 19th century snow or emoting beside Nickelodeon-type stage settings of a decorated tree and a few presents. Christmas is Christmas, even a hundred years ago. These are all a big blur to me. But I have to say, the sleigh ride short is a real hoot. Never before have I seen so many young people enjoy themselves romping in snow while wearing two tons of woolen clothing.

But it wouldn't be Christmas without receiving that one big gift -- such as the Holy Grail's of the Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. In my case that would be the box set of Doug Fairbanks modern dress comedies A Modern Musketeer. The past few years I would check the price each yuletide season waiting for the price to come down and now finally........(sigh)......guess I'll wait til next year (sorry Ralphie...). To compensate for it I picked up Fairbank's The Gaucho and his wife's Rags & Riches Collection.

Most of the product I look for tends to fall in the category of comedy -- such as the Vivendi Our Gang DVD's. These are the correction discs the company put out after they botched up that large box set eons ago. I had forgotten all about it until now. I've picked up the first 4 vol's with more to come. The prints are fine and the great enticement for me is that the films are released chronologically. I don't know what it is about chronological sets but that has always been a big seller for me. It's especially useful when purchasing music. Otherwise you end up with 10 CD's of THE BEST OF BENNY GOODMAN and they all have the same version of "Sing, Sing, Sing". 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 around and put out a box set in chronological order. Just the opposite of how the Our Gang shorts got released. Considering that is pure speculation I stopped waiting and picked up the first two releases. The Fleischer product has been one of the last hold outs with getting a decent DVD release. The ball got rolling with an independent release of THE COMPLETE FLEISCHER'S SUPERMAN a decade ago. That was followed by the big studio release of the three volume Popeye the Sailor shorts. Since then Jerry Beck put out a fine collection of the Color Classics, most of which I don't really care for - too much ersatz Disney and too little Fleischer attitude -- but because of the Boop releases I felt compelled to get the Color Classics just for completest reasons (Retailers must love that reason). And we already know that there will be no complete set of Betty's films since Olive Films has said they will not delve into the Talkartoons -- of which Betty Boop made about a dozen appearances in. Fleischer's Talkartoons' series is the Philosopher's Stone of the animation buff. Fleischer's studio was the main competition of the Disney style during Mickey Mouse's formative years and it was this series that drew a distinct difference in the sand between both house styles -- one working toward quality animation using character-driven stories, and the other with it's hell-bent, anything for a laugh attitude. You can find the majority of these shorts floating around YouTube but the quality of the prints vary wildly. This series deserves the same loving care that Thunderbeans gave the Van Buren shorts. Maybe this will be their next project?

Alright! Enough animation talk. I can see Roberts getting antsy in the back row. Back to comedy.
I had yet to purchase either volume of Charley Chase's Columbia shorts. I now have both. What is most obvious about Chase's work once he left Roach is that his story ideas of mistaken identities fit in so perfectly over at Jules White's Slap studio. It is just the type of springboard needed to get these shorts off and running at a quick pace. Where they falter is in the gagging. When Charley once again mistakes an escaped lunatic for his future father-in-law, we are not treated to a rich assortment of odd behavior. Instead it is more along the lines of spitting out dry crackers.
That doesn't make these films a total loss. Not at all. We are still treated to Chase's performing abilities to put the material over. And much like Langdon and Keaton at Columbia, there is a lot of harking back to their salad days that give these shorts a nostalgic twinge. Chase and Del Lord encapsulates Charley's silent classic LIMOUSINE LOVE (28) into the first five minutes of THE AWFUL GOOF (39), before moving on to typical boudoir shenanigans. When Charley is chased into a den by a shotgun wielding butler in MAN BITES LOVEBUG (37), I expected the books to come flying off the shelves, as in THE NICKLE NURSER (32). Instead they went with the shotgun blast to the ceiling causing the cushioned feathers on the second floor to burst......also from the same film. I'm sure budgets and time constraints had much to do with the selections of gags.
Ann Doran is a fine support for Charley in many of these shorts, whether she is playing his sweetheart or wife. Likewise to John Murray. I'd rather watch him any day over the usual Columbia stock company.

Let's see......I bought The Secret Policeman's Ball, but we've already discussed that in a previous thread (or at least Richard and I did). I had to get a DVD of Edgar Kennedy comedies after Richard began posting so many of them. These were put out by Alpha video. The print quality is okay but I was comparing them to some person who has uploaded really fine prints of these comedies on You Tube. They may be part of that ongoing restoration project that Ron Hall is involved with.
A quick thought on the Average Man series. They are really two different series depending on who the wife is. Florence Lake signals the more screwball, obnoxious family situations. Edgar is generally the most adult of this group but he still gets sucked into their money making schemes and usually endures the brunt of the catastrophe. Vivian Oakland is just the opposite -- much more mature and level-headed. When she is cast as the wife Edgar becomes more child-like and petulant. His troubles arise from his own bull-headed blundering and it usually takes Vivian to get him out of his scrapes. The series was rather lucky that Lake moved on for a while. It helped breathe new life into the situations and gave Kennedy more opportunity to expand the direction of his comedy.
And I can't think of the title offhand, but there is a short from the mid-Thirties where Florence borrows the neighbor's baby to see how Edgar would behave as a father. Those scenes where Edgar interacts with the young toddler does not look like acting to me. That looks like how a middle age man would play with his own grandson. I find it rather sweet whenever I watch that short (it's not BABY DAZE (39)).

Finally, I've been picking up a lot of Paramount product from the Thirties lately. Earlier in the fall I had purchased Mae West Glamour collection. I grew up with her films playing on TV, haven't bothered to watch them since. Now I followed that up with Burns & Allen Triple Features -- HERE COMES COOKIE, SIX OF A KIND and LOVE IN BLOOM. All very enjoyable in their limited way (especially SIX OF A KIND when Fields makes his appearance). Incidentally, was the song "Here Comes Cookie" a running gag from their radio program? Gracie sings it again in LOVE IN BLOOM. Then I stumbled across the fact that Universal has put out another multiple disc set of Crosby films, the highlight being SING YOU SINNERS (38) and MISSISSIPPI (35). I believe I now have all of Bill Field's talkie appearances on DVD bar HER MAJESTY, LOVE (31). Never did understand that title.

So I'm glad the holiday season has ended, Don't believe I could afford to shop like this all year round.

[Richard M Roberts]

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 around and put out a box set in chronological order. Just the opposite of how the Our Gang shorts got released. Considering that is pure speculation I stopped waiting and picked up the first two releases. The Fleischer product has been one of the last hold outs with getting a decent DVD release. The ball got rolling with an independent release of THE COMPLETE FLEISCHER'S SUPERMAN a decade ago. That was followed by the big studio release of the three volume Popeye the Sailor shorts. Since then Jerry Beck put out a fine collection of the Color Classics, most of which I don't really care for - too much ersatz Disney and too little Fleischer attitude -- but because of the Boop releases I felt compelled to get the Color Classics just for completest reasons (Retailers must love that reason). And we already know that there will be no complete set of Betty's films since Olive Films has said they will not delve into the Talkartoons -- of which Betty Boop made about a dozen appearances in. Fleischer's Talkartoons' series is the Philosopher's Stone of the animation buff. Fleischer's studio was the main competition of the Disney style during Mickey Mouse's formative years and it was this series that drew a distinct difference in the sand between both house styles -- one working toward quality animation using character-driven stories, and the other with it's hell-bent, anything for a laugh attitude. You can find the majority of these shorts floating around YouTube but the quality of the prints vary wildly. This series deserves the same loving care that Thunderbeans gave the Van Buren shorts. Maybe this will be their next project?"



Somebody DVD'ed the old Republic laserdisc set of Boops for me years back and that'll do me fine for those, somehow I doubt they look all that better in blu-ray.

Don’t know of much I got for Christmas that will be of interest here. I did have a couple of more Weiss Brothers Classics printed up from the original negs, but neither of these would have ever ended up on WEISS-O-RAMA (though they might end up in a Slapsticon WEISS-O-RONI one of these days). Linda and I really did Christmas-lite this year and our present to ourselves was a trip to California to see friends just before Christmas.

Johnson, you always have a Columbia allergy, those Charley Chase shorts are fine, perhaps not quite as good as his Roach product in general, but there are many gems there, from THE HECKLER on down. Since Chase worked for the Hugh McCollum unit for the most part (except when Jules White directed him in THE NIGHTSHIRT BANDIT), the Columbia Comedy trademarks are generally kept at bay (though I do like the mechanical boxing gloves that knock Charley senseless in BANDIT).

Hope everyone had a Great Holiday Season and know that they are over we can all get back to work planning all the goodies we’re going to crank out for 2014!


RICHARD M ROBERTS

[Gary Johnson]

Yes, it is well known that I am Columbia-phobic. So taking that into account I consider this practically a rave review.

In fact, of the trio of great comedians who ended up at Jules White's Gin Mill, I would say Chase fared best. It's obvious he had a say in the creative process and he seemed to work well with Lord. Langdon started strong but began losing interest as the decade came to a close. Keaton never had a chance. He got to make one classic short with Del Lord and then got stuck under the thumb of White and his sledgehammer style of direction.
It's funny that the Stooges were able to avoid their boss in the director's chair for the first decade. I guess they weren't as dumb as they looked.

[Joe Migliore]

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. The Smith & Dale short he directed was also a nice surprise.

[Gary Johnson]

I liked the shiney art deco drive-in that Smith & Dale owned. I wonder if it was located next door to the shiney art deco drive-in Ed Kennedy owned in HOLLYWOOD HOTEL. As performers Smith & Dale seemed antiquated for 1938 -- despite working with the young staff of servers wearing those shiney hot pants. Everything that is old becomes new. But not, alas, for ethnic humor.
For as much as they bickered throughout I felt I was watching THE SUNSHINE BOYS 40 years earlier.

[Richard M Roberts]

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 can tell you, it ain't WHAT MAKES LIZZY DIZZY?, I've run that one for audiences and it has a wacky energy that strangely makes it nearly work. That ain't even the worst Langdon Columbia, which for my book is DEFECTIVE DETECTIVES).


RICHARD M ROBERTS

[Gary Johnson]

I'm staying out of this question.....

[Louie Despres]

Which begs a question, what is the WORST Columbia short of all time?


RICHARD M ROBERTS

The two Bert Wheeler's are pretty bad.

[Rob Farr]

The title of the Worst Theatrical Short Ever Made goes to Kids Will be Kids starring the execrable Mischief Makers. http://youtu.be/4ARMaLkneoQ

[Richard M Roberts]

The title of the Worst Theatrical Short Ever Made goes to Kids Will be Kids starring the execrable Mischief Makers. http://youtu.be/4ARMaLkneoQ

That one gets my vote, followed by the 3-D short DOWN THE HATCH (1953) with Harry Mimmo, which is actually a remake of THE SEA SQUAWK (1925) with Harry Langdon.


RICHARD M ROBERTS