CAMERA Comedy Clippings, September 22, 1923

[Joe Moore]

Okay Guys and Gals,

Here's the start of a new issue of CAMERA clippings to begin your week with.

Enjoy

Joe Moore

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From “U” to You by Will C. Murphy

Champions may come and champions may go, but Hayden Stevenson as the “manager” of the athletic hero of “The Leather Pushers,” the two-reel fighting series which Universal has been producing in succession for a year, seems destined to go on forever.
In every one of the nineteen condensed features which have been made up to date, Stevenson's talent for subtle comedy has added largely to the whimsical humor of the prize ring classics. The new star of the series, succeeding Reginald Denny, is Billy Sullivan, formerly a champion fighter, but Stevenson remains in the role he created and which has met with popular appreciation from fans.

(Camera Vol. 6 No. 23 pg. 5)

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I guess the writer of this piece spoke too soon when he said that this series " seems destined to go on forever" as the series only ran another 5 episodes before wrapping shooting in 1924 (with 24 total episodes under it's belt) Billy Sullivan appeared in the final six entries.
The series was revived by Universal for one season (of ten shorts) in 1930 with Kane Richmond in the starring role and as a feature film in 1940 with Dick Arlen as "Kid" Roberts (ably supported in the comedy department by Shemp Howard, Andy Devine and Eddie Gribbon).

[Steve Rydzewski]

Hello Joe, I really look forward to your "series" of Camera magazine Comedy Clippings every time you post them...
I always have pen in hand ready to take notes from you...
But where is the comedy??? I seem to see so very little of it mentioned in your posts and I would think a year like 1923 a big year for comedy with Sennett, Roach, Christie, Educational, Vitagraph, Arrow, et al; there should be loads of news shouldn't there? Is Camera really that a good mag for comedy news? Maybe you'd be better off searching Motion Picture News or Moving Picture World for comedy related news, I've always found a lot in those magazines on Ben Turpin and Mack Sennett.

SteveR

[Joe Moore]

Hello Joe, I really look forward to your "series" of Camera magazine Comedy Clippings every time you post them...
I always have pen in hand ready to take notes from you...
But where is the comedy??? I seem to see so very little of it mentioned in your posts and I would think a year like 1923 a big year for comedy with Sennett, Roach, Christie, Educational, Vitagraph, Arrow, et al; there should be loads of news shouldn't there? Is Camera really that a good mag for comedy news? Maybe you'd be better off searching Motion Picture News or Moving Picture World for comedy related news, I've always found a lot in those magazines on Ben Turpin and Mack Sennett.

SteveR

Steve,

Thanks for the questions.

Actually I think you'll find plenty of comedy references in much of the clippings I post from CAMERA. Not everything is limited to the slapstick comedy variety though.

Although you can rest assured I'll list every single piece I run across concerning the various comedy producers you mention I tend to take a very broad approach in choosing what I pick to transcribe. I also include romantic-comedies, comedy-dramas and many pieces on people who I feel played an important part in Golden-Age comedy even if the particular piece may not be about a comedy per se.

For example, the clipping I posted yesterday was on the Leather-Pushers series which was not a comedy series but played an important part in advancing the career of Reginald Denny, who became one of the most important light comedians of the 1920s, and also that of Hayden Stevenson who went on to play a notable supporting role in the long running Collegians comedy series of the mid-late 1920s that was produced by Universal.

In previous issues I've included clippings about dramatic films in which important comedians (such as Ford Sterling and Raymond Griffith for example) have appeared because I think its important to document these portions of their career as well as the more interesting (to us) comedic roles they played.
I went even broader in recent issues when I began listing virtually everything connected to Principal Pictures in order to try to get a better grip on what was going on with the company where Harry Langdon was just then beginning his film career.

As to why I picked CAMERA to transcribe. Its mainly because it is such as rare publication which few researchers have seen much of. MPN and MPW are great resources but are much more commonly available on microfilm. There is no microfilm source for CAMERA that I know of and of the libraries that have copies of the magazine almost all are incomplete. Even the one library I know of that has a complete run of the magazine has some issues which are missing pages.

I think I've run across some gems here and there in CAMERA but of course not everything is going to be of the same interest for all who read the clippings.

Anyway I hope I've stated clearly enough how I approach what I pick to post and so without further ado here's a piece that should please you-about Bert Roach's one-reel comedies for Universal.

Joe Moore

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From “U” to You by Will C. Murphy

“Oh, Univer-r-r-sal, you made a tramp outa me!” Bert Roach, comedian and dramatic actor, sings his lyric beautifully.
Universal really hasn't done a thing to him, except that the company gave him very fine roles in “The Flirt” and “A Lady of Quality,” Hobert Henley productions. But one may look at Roach as he blithely wanders, singing, about the studio, and believe what he chants. Beard, dirty face, dirty hands, ragged clothes-all visible evidences of being a tramp are there.
It so happens, though, that he is being starred in a series of one-reel comedies like those in which he made his bow to fame. While there is no dramatic part for him, Universal stars him in tramp comedies. He'll be made a tramp in the new series all right, a rather well known one.

(Camera Vol. 6 No. 23 pg. 5, 19)

[Steve Rydzewski]

Hi Joe, yes, you've always been great about finding this stuff, and always generous with your findings.
Please don't read me wrong when my greed starts to show, I love hearing about the stuff as much as the next serious goomba.
And to Rob, another of my long-time generous friends, thanks for reminding me of Joe's stuff at your site, sometimes I need a wake-up call, a boot in the pants or a pie in the puss.
Thanks to all you guys (Richard, Brent, Chris, SteveM, Tommie, Paul, Cole, Bor Enots, Freddie, Bill C, Bill S, Ed W, et al) for keeping comedy alive and kicking.

SteveR

[Brent Walker]

Thanks Joe...your ongoing listings from Camera (which date way back to Rob's old pre-Slapsticon site). To me, it's one of the main reasons the internet exists! I enjoy hearing all of the listings, not just comedy--and particularly all the "fly by night" companies doing work that didn't often get covered in the MPN and MPW. I remember one of the listings you posted a few years ago was the only place I'd ever heard about Rube Miller directing Helen Gardner for Paul Gerson in San Francisco in 1921, or the Bakersfield comedy company (I don't even remember the company name right now) which listed Eddie LeVeque as the production manager. It's little things like that that come out in these Camera clippings you post, which make them so valuable.

[Frank Flood]

As to why I picked CAMERA to transcribe. Its mainly because it is such as rare publication which few researchers have seen much of. MPN and MPW are great resources but are much more commonly available on microfilm. There is no microfilm source for CAMERA that I know of and of the libraries that have copies of the magazine almost all are incomplete. Even the one library I know of that has a complete run of the magazine has some issues which are missing pages.

There's a library that has a complete run of CAMERA!? If that's not a trade secret, which one would that be?

Frank

[Joe Moore]

As to why I picked CAMERA to transcribe. Its mainly because it is such as rare publication which few researchers have seen much of. MPN and MPW are great resources but are much more commonly available on microfilm. There is no microfilm source for CAMERA that I know of and of the libraries that have copies of the magazine almost all are incomplete. Even the one library I know of that has a complete run of the magazine has some issues which are missing pages.

There's a library that has a complete run of CAMERA!? If that's not a trade secret, which one would that be?

Frank

No secret Frank and I only learned of it myself a few weeks ago, from fellow mafioso Gregg Rickman, who found the run at UCLA. Apparently they had it listed as CAMERA! (note the exclamation mark) so it had escaped the radar of many who had done previous searches for facilities holding copies.
Apparently they are bound copies and pretty fragile (no photocopying allowed) and the library with the journal is only open from 1-5 so hours to access it are limited. Also, as previously mentioned, some of the issues are incomplete. Still it's good to know it's there.

Joe Moore

[Joe Moore]

Well thanks to youse guys for giving me the thanks for doing the postings. Let's also give thanks to the big mafiosos for making this forum available for doing the postings and to our Slapsticon Godfather Rob Farr for keeping them archived at Mugshots. Thanks to these resources they'll hopefully be available for some time for future researchers and for anybody who just wants to know more about the background of these old films we all love.

Anyway on to today's clipping concerning Baby Peggy and her comedic co-stars.

Joe Moore

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From “U” to You by Will C. Murphy

Ned Sparks, former vaudevillian of high reputation, Vic Potel, whose inimitable characterizations of men whose chief charms are not beauty or grace, Anna Hernandez, character artist of rank, and James Corrigan, have been added to the cast of the new Baby Peggy-Universal-Jewell production which was just recently started under the direction of Jesse Robbins.
Those names are in addition to famous players previously selected to support the Baby Bernhardt; Robert Ellis, leading man of “The Wild Party” and other pictures, Winifred Bryson of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “Thundering Dawn,” and Elinor Faire of the artistic success, “Driven.”
“The Right to Love” is the title of the picture, which will be a multiple reel attraction, companion picture to “Whose Baby are You?” and “The Burglar's Kid,” both of which received praise in previews.
(Camera Vol. 6 No. 23 pg. 19)

[Joe Moore]

From “U” to You by Will C. Murphy

With the selection of Charlie Murray for an important role in “My Mamie Rose,” Irving Cummings has added another stellar light of filmdom to the cast of Mary Philbin's initial starring vehicle, now in production at Universal City under his direction.
Murray, of the famous vaudeville team of Murray and Mack, whose eccentric comedy characterizations have placed him in the foremost ranks of screen comedians throughout a period of several years, is to portray the role of the drunken father of the little Irish girl called Mamie Rose. His part is not of the brute type of Bowery drunk, but rather that of a happy-go-lucky old sot who loves his daughter, but his “likker” better.
Cummings is choosing his players carefully for the Universal filmization of this famous Owen Kildare story of the New York Bowery of the olden days.
Besides Miss Philbin, who plays the title role, and Murray, the cast includes Pat O'Malley, “Buster” Collier, Max Davidson, Kate Price, Edwin J. Brady, and Lincoln Plummer. There are still several other prominent parts in the play yet to be cast.

(Camera Vol. 6 No. 23 pg. 19)

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Anybody know if this film is extant? With Davidson, Murray, and my favorite Irish washer-woman, Kate Price in the cast it could be worth a look-see.

Joe Moore

[Joe Moore]

From “U” to You by Will C. Murphy

Liar, hypocrite, impostor!
Well, now, those are rather harsh terms. But a screen star can't be a chooser when the scenario writer gets busy. Stars may become dope fiends, criminals or beggars at the flash of a thought in the film author's fertile brain!
So it has come to pass that Reginald Denny is all of these things and more-in the picture he is making. He is starring in “There He Goes,” a racing story by Byron Morgan, which was filmed under the working title of “The Spice of Life.” It is a Universal-Jewel special production directed by Harry A. Pollard. The unit has just returned to Universal City from Monterey, where fashionable hotels and society leaders' homes furnished locations which should be unusually interesting on the screen.
The hero of Morgan's story is a chauffeur whose heart is on the race track but whose hand is kept up his appetite on the wheel of hand is kept on the wheel of a prosaic limousine, until the chance comes to be-a liar, hypocrite and impostor.
However, it is said that the handsome Denny makes a very charming deceiver, and of course that story gives him opportunity to absolve himself.
Laura la Plante is “the girl” who falls in love with the “liar, hypocrite and impostor,”

(Camera Vol. 6 No. 23 pg. 19)

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When Universal moved Reginald Denny into features they tried him out in a variety of genres before realizing he clicked best with the public in the sort of light comedies that Douglas Fairbanks had been making before he switched to swashbucklers. Laura La Plante was a favorite leading lady, appearing opposite him in a total of five features. This film had a further name change before it was released in February 1924 as SPORTING YOUTH.

Joe Moore