Hallroom Boys in "Conjuror James"

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Eric Stott
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Re: Hallroom Boys in "Conjuror James"

Postby Eric Stott » Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:42 am

"Little Puddleton" is a very British sort of place name, would suggest this was retitled for the UK Market.

Joan Myers
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Re: Hallroom Boys in "Conjuror James"

Postby Joan Myers » Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:00 am

Eric Stott wrote:"Little Puddleton" is a very British sort of place name, would suggest this was retitled for the UK Market.


It's a poem by Robert Service about an archetypal Miss Marple-ish English village (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/little-puddleton/), but don't know if that would have meant very much to an American audience.

Joan

Brent Walker
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Re: Hallroom Boys in "Conjuror James"

Postby Brent Walker » Tue Jun 09, 2009 2:41 pm

Steve Massa wrote:Oops - for the name I've seen connected I meant to write Gilbert Wells, not Gilbert Williams.

Steve



Steve, the name "Gil Wells" came from a copy of a still I have which I made from the scrapbook of Jack Mintz (assistant director/writer/bit player/dog trainer on the Hallroom Boys series). On a still, next to the tall guy with glasses was written "Gil Wells" in handwriting, but it was the only case in all of the many stills in Jack Mintz's scrapbook where a name was written that way. You mentioned there being a Gilbert Wells who was a stuntman in westerns, I believe, but I haven't been able to track down a photo of him to compare. However, the tall bespectacled guy, potentially Gil Wells, is a Hallroom Boy in several of them.

Steve identified Al Alt as an HB in one shown at Slapsticon, and I think there was one other I've seen him. It seems like at the end of the series they were just trying to find anybody to stick next to Sid Smith to make it a duo, even though Sid was the only guy billed often in the trades at that point. It seems like Sid outlasted many fellow Hallroom Boys--all apparently afflicted by the "curse of Sid Smith", even though said curse ended up boomeranging back on Sid a few years later.

Brent Walker
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Re: Hallroom Boys in "Conjuror James"

Postby Brent Walker » Tue Jun 09, 2009 2:48 pm

Actually, the ones with "Gil Wells" (i.e. the guy in the glasses) were prior to George Williams, because the one that I can confirm from stills is STARS AND STRIPES (1921). From this description though, CONJUROR JAMES sounds like a different film from that one.

Steve Massa
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Re: Hallroom Boys in "Conjuror James"

Postby Steve Massa » Tue Jun 09, 2009 4:50 pm

Hi Brent
I've found a little bit of info about Gilbert Wells. He was a musical comedy performer who died in 1935. His Variety obit says he "was well-known in vaude here and in London as member of the team of Lloyd and Wells, and later in the team of Wells and Brady." His Broadway appearances were the musical comedies A WORLD OF PLEASURE ('15), YOU'RE IN LOVE ('17), GLORIANNA ('18) and EARL CARROLL'S VANITES (1916 edition).

The only clipping we have for him at the Library is the Variety obit, which is very brief and doesn't mention any film appearances. I'm working on trying to find a photo to see if it's really our guy.

Steve

Steve Massa
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Re: Hallroom Boys in "Conjuror James"

Postby Steve Massa » Tue Jun 09, 2009 4:57 pm

That was the 1926 edition of EARL CARROLL'S VANITIES

Tommie Hicks
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Re: Hallroom Boys in "Conjuror James"

Postby Tommie Hicks » Fri Jun 12, 2009 11:48 am

There was a chap named Flannigan who was also a Hallroom Boy. I have also seen a still of the man inquestion without the glasses with Neeley Edwards.

Brent Walker
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Re: Hallroom Boys in "Conjuror James"

Postby Brent Walker » Fri Jun 12, 2009 1:21 pm

Hi Tommie! That was Ed "Bud" Flanagan (not to be confused with the British comedian by that name, of Flanagan & Allen) who with Neely Edwards actually were the guys who played the Hallroom Boys in vaudeville, and brought the characters to film. By the way, Ed Flanagan was Dennis O'Keefe's dad.

I've only seen one of the original Flanagan & Edwards pairing (TAMING THE WEST, reissued as COWBOY COMEDY) and from that one you can really see how developed the characters were, as kind of nonchalant playboy raconteurs (kind of like Dean Martin playing Hope & Crosby) who breeze through life, accidentally knocking out bandits who were going to kill them with golf balls without realizing it. Once Flanagan and Edwards left the series, the original characters seem to have been somewhat lost, and it just became two guys with striped blazers and spats running around.

Tommie Hicks
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Re: Hallroom Boys in "Conjuror James"

Postby Tommie Hicks » Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:27 pm

Here is the still the image of which I lifted off of an auction site:

Image

Dino Everett
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Re: Hallroom Boys in "Conjuror James"

Postby Dino Everett » Wed Jun 17, 2009 2:51 am

Wow those are some rough looking screen grabs : ) but now we are talking my favorite subjects Hallroom Boys & 9.5mm

Here are some from my film copy ...I think this could be from Matinee Idols, because that was when Sid was being bounced around with different partners, and the film is about them having a theatre that is pretty much a scam, because it starts with magic then moves on through all sorts of theatre stuff, In the film you can see the poster in front of the theatre states pretty clearly Percy & Ferdie in Bits of Vaudeville. Oh and Brent could I get some jpegs of your Stars & stripes images as I am really trying to put all of these Hallroom Boys in some sort of accurate list since I have lots of them......Speaking of Sid Smith is anyone familiar with the title in the final image? One Spooky Knight? its a 2 reeler that also stars the directors brother Sherry Tansey and Wanda Sibbold - I don't think any of the info on imdb is correct regarding this title.

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DVD_VIDEO_RECORDER-2(1).jpg (24.99 KiB) Viewed 17464 times
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DVD_VIDEO_RECORDER-0(1).jpg (21 KiB) Viewed 17464 times
spooky.jpg
spooky.jpg (63.14 KiB) Viewed 17464 times


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