Steve Rydzewski wrote:Hi Tommie and thanks for posting (or linking) to a Larry Semon film I've never seen until now.
Just wanted to say Kathryn McGuire is not in this film, nor is Spencer Bell.
That Black comic is probably "Snowball" Curtis McHenry, not Spencer Bell who worked in Sennetts (Ten Dollars or Ten Days), Mermaids, Fox Comedies, etc.
He's even in L&H's "Be Big" as the guy at the train station who tells the girls "That's the last car for Atlantic City."
And the frizzy hair old guy is James Donnelly.
I'll try posting some Frank Hayes stills for your friend as I find them.
Happy Birthday, Tommie-Boy!
SteveR
Thanks Tommie! And Steve, great point about it not being Spencer Bell. I've found that he has often been mis-credited when there is a black comedian in a silent comedy, including a lot of Semons where its not him. I'm not as familiar with Curtis McHenry, but could he be "Snowball" in THE WIZARD OF OZ? It's not Spencer Bell, though latter day sources have credited him as such--Spencer is G. Howe Black in THE PERFECT CLOWN though.
And re BE BIG, funny you should mention Spencer as I was just going through the L&H films about 2-3 months ago to give some additional unidentified L&H credits to my friend Randy Skretvedt (who's revising his great Magic Behind the Movies standard-bearer L&H tome). And I also noticed Spencer in BE BIG, plus a few other folks in other L&H films (especially Leo Sulky, who's all over the place in L&H and other Roach films but hasn't been credited for many of his appearances).
For me, it's easy to spot Spencer Bell if you know what the great bluesman Muddy Waters looks like, because they look a bit similar, with distinctive cheekbones, though Spencer's got a little bit "longer" face.
Brent