The Vitagraph Studios - Rediscovered
We have entered a wonderful time if you are a vintage film fan, historian, etc. Not only are a lot of older films available in good copies, a lot more are still turning up in places like New Zealand. At one time it was thought that what existed was pretty much it, but discoveries continue to be made, to our collective benefit.
Similarly, new technologies are rescuing motion pictures that were thought to be unsavable. Computers are putting incredible software packages in archives, collections, and in particular movie studios who are finally doing what they should have done years ago in saving our precious heritage, from restoring color from faded Eastmancolor negatives, restoring stereophonic soundtracks from prints on deposit at the Library of Congress (the masters having been destroyed years ago), to archives all over the world cooperating with each other to create the most complete copies of films which exist in 35MM, 28MM, and 9.5MM. Important projects too numerous to mention are now available to home video buyers.
And they help bring back to life motion pictures from studios that have been long forgotten so they can be seen again and appreciated. In this case, Kino-Lorber has issued a 3 Blu-ray set of comedies from the Vitagraph Studio, dating from the early part of the 20th century. The source materials come from the extensive holdings of the Library of Congress, with help from other archives which had missing footage. The earliest films come from 1907, the latest from 1922.
When we think of film comedy from that period, we naturally think of Charles Chaplin, Roscoe Arbuckle, Buster Keaton and the Max Sennett Studio Keystone. In fact, film comedy really starts at the French Pathe Studio, films which had a great influence on Sennett. Similarly, we usually associate comedy with slapstick physical comedies, dangerous stunts, pies in the face and people behaving crazily. In fact, there were subtler, different styles of comedy that were also seen by audiences which have been getting into circulation in recent years (the Musty Suffer series, Marcel Perez).
Vitagraph was founded in 1897 by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith. Blackton interviewed Thomas Edison, learned a bit about motion pictures, and opened a studio at Nassau Street in New York City. Operations were later moved to the Midwood section of Brooklyn, and part of what makes these films so valuable is that they were often shot in the streets of Brooklyn, making these films great time capsules.
Most of the talent came from Brooklyn as well. Back in those days, studios didn’t advertise who was starring in the films, so audiences identified Mary Pickford as “The Biograph Girl” since she made films for that studio. The first ‘star’ to be identified by name was Florence Turner, who was originally “The Vitagraph Girl.” Many personalities who were working on Broadway and touring later joined the studio, such as Maurice Costello, and John Bunny (who is prominently featured in this set), Actors who later became quite famous made their early films for Vitagraph, such as Helen Hayes, Viola Dana, Dolores Costello, and Norma Talmadge. Moe Howard, one of the Three Stooges, wrote about his early experiences appearing in movies.
The studio made many dramatic features, but the focus of this set is the short comedies (not more than 30 minutes) that the studio produced. Bunny was teamed up with British actress Flora Finch, and until his death in 1915 was one of Vitagraph’s biggest stars. The set has several films with Frank Daniels, another popular player who is forgotten today, as is Edith Storey. Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew were a very popular couple on stage, and made wonderful domestic comedies which were very popular; there are several of their films in the collection. Drew was an uncle of John, Lionel and Ethel Barrymore.
A very popular team was Earl Montgomery and Joe Rock, who later became a producer for Stan Laurel and had an important career in England. Only one of the Montgomery/Rock comedies exists, and it is wonderful, “Damsels and Dandies.” They work well together, and one hopes that more of their films turn up. This is one of the highlights of the set.
The other major name is Larry Semon, at one time as popular as Chaplin and Arbuckle. Semon was at one time a cartoonist, and popular in vaudeville. He began making films for Vitagraph in 1915, originally supervising the films of a comedian named Hughie Mack, and later appearing in the films himself when Mack left the studio. There are actually a lot of Semon films out there on small labels, but the films are not in very good shape. This films reproduced here are in very good condition, which also characterizes most of the films in this collection.
Semon is an interesting case, in that his reputation faded quickly and badly. He is mostly known for spectacular stunts and over-the-top comedic situations, and his films were well liked in their time. Semon made a version of “The Wizard of Oz” in 1925 which included Oliver Hardy in the cast which is easier to see today than when it was made, as the distributor went out of business. There has always been some film fan who rates Semon as underrated, but I confess I don’t find a lot of what is here very funny. But these films should certainly be seen.
All of the films have commentary by Anthony Slide, an important film scholar, a “specialist appraiser of entertainment-related items” and archivist who has written many articles and books on film history, including a book on Vitagraph. These commentaries are packed with information, and Slide doesn’t hold back when he sees something disturbing and/or objectionable, and there is a lot of such stuff in these films. His research is impeccable; Kino certainly got the right person for this set!!!
It goes without saying that if you a fan of silent comedy, this belongs in your collection. Many of these films were once impossible to see, so it is good to have them to continue to fill in the historic record.