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Bobby Burns
Robert Paul Burns (September 1, 1878 – January 16, 1966) was an American film actor and director. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1908 and 1952 as well as directing 13 films between 1915 and 1916. Burns was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and died in Los Angeles, California. He played Pokes in the ''Pokes and Jabbs'' silent comedies of the mid 1910s, with Walter Stull as Jabbs and frequently featuring Babe (Oliver) Hardy. Later supporting Oliver Hardy again in his partnership with Stan Laurel at the Hal Roach Studios in several of their early short comedies and feature films. Selected filmography * '' Uncivil War Birds'' (1946) * ''Gents Without Cents'' (1944) * ''Air Raid Wardens'' (1943) * '' Loco Boy Makes Good'' (1942) * ''I'll Never Heil Again'' (1941) * '' Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb'' (1938) * ''Dizzy Doctors'' (1937) * '' Jail Bait'' (1937) * ''A Pain in the Pullman'' (1936) * ''Dummy Ache'' (1936) * ''Ants in the Pantry'' (1936) * ''Pop Goes the Ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation" or the " dandified coon". By the middle of the century, blackface minstrel shows had become a distinctive American artform, translating formal works such as opera into popular terms for a general audience. Early in the 20th century, blackface branched off from the minstrel show and became a form in its own right. In the United States, blackface declined in popularity beginning in the 1940s and into the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s,Clark, Alexis.How the History of Blackface Is Rooted in Racism. ''History''. A&E Television Networks, LLC. 2019. and was generally considered highly offensive, disrespectful, and racist by the turn of the 21st century, though the practice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Pain In The Pullman
''A Pain in the Pullman'' is a 1936 short subject directed by Preston Black starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 16th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959. Plot The Stooges are small-time actors traveling by train to an engagement—and fleeing the landlady for their unpaid rent. They are told to put their pet monkey, Joe, in the baggage car, but are afraid he will get hurt. The baggage car door closes before they can get Joe in there, so they sneak Joe onto the Southern Pacific train with them. Joe eventually gets loose, and they have a hard time finding him and also getting up to their berth. They wind up making a lot of noises, and annoying all of the train's passengers, including Paul Payne ( James C. Morton) and Mr. Johnson, the stage manager and boss (Bud Jamison), the latter of which routinely hits his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Below Zero (1930 Film)
''Below Zero'' is a 1930 short film starring Laurel and Hardy, directed by James Parrott and produced by Hal Roach. Plot Laurel and Hardy have no success earning money on a bleak, snowy winter's day as sidewalk musicians, especially when playing "In the Good Old Summertime". This annoys a man shoveling his sidewalk and a woman who throws the pair a dollar to get them to move on. She calls out "Yoo-hoo ! Mr Whiteman", not because it's snowing, but as a joke reference to big bandleader, and violist, of the 1930s Paul Whiteman, as Oliver is plucking the similar double bass. Their instruments are destroyed in an argument with a woman, but Stan finds a wallet. They are chased by a thief, but are protected by a police officer. Stan and Ollie share a slap-up meal with the cop, but unfortunately, Stan finds out the wallet in fact belongs to the cop. When the policeman discovers this, he tells the waiter, who throws them out of the restaurant and throws Stan upside down in a barrel of wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case
''The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case'' is a Laurel and Hardy pre-Code comedy film released in 1930. It is one of a handful of three-reel comedies they made, running 28 minutes. It was directed by James Parrott, produced by Hal Roach and distributed by MGM. Plot Laurel and Hardy are seated at a dockside where Stan is fishing. Ollie sees a notice in a newspaper which says one Ebeneezer Laurel has died and left a large estate. Parties interested in the estate should go to the Laurel mansion for the reading of the will. Stan can't remember if Ebeneezer is a relative or not but they decide to go to the mansion anyway. They arrive during a thunderstorm and discover that Ebeneezer had been murdered and that the police had placed the notice in the newspaper to draw all of the relatives together to find out who committed the crime. Stan and Ollie are shown to a bedroom to sleep overnight, which is the room in which Ebeneezer was murdered. They hear a strange noise and in the darkness see ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pardon Us
''Pardon Us'' is a 1931 American pre-Code Laurel and Hardy film. It was the duo's first starring feature-length comedy film, produced by Hal Roach and Stan Laurel, directed by James Parrott, and originally distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1931. Plot As with its predecessor, '' Blotto'', the film is set during the Prohibition. The film starts with Stan and Ollie listing ingredients outside "Malt and Hops", a shop selling ingredients for brewing. Ollie says he is going to make 15 gallons of beer and Stan says "we can't drink 15 gallons". Ollie replies "what we can't drink we will sell". The film then cuts to Laurel and Hardy arriving in handcuffs at prison for concocting and selling their own home brew. They become prisoners 44633 and 44634. Stan's loose tooth gets him into trouble with the governor. As they are taken to their cell Stan says that two other inmates are Amos 'n' Andy. They are put in cell 14 with five other prisoners including "The Tiger" ( Walter Long), the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Any Old Port!
''Any Old Port!'' is an American 1932 pre-Code comedy short film directed by James W. Horne and starring Laurel and Hardy. It was produced by Hal Roach. Plot Sailors Laurel and Hardy disembark and book in a sleazy hotel. The owner Mugsie Long intends to marry a young girl – the hotel's maid – against her wishes, but Stan and Ollie come to her rescue. Mugsie is tough and intimidating – billiard balls thrown at his head bounce off with no effect – but the pair finally trap his neck in an extending table while the girl escapes. After fleeing the hotel, the boys find out they've left their money in their room, but an old pal of Ollie's offers $50 if Ollie will fight in a boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ... ring that night. Ollie agrees, but predictabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Chimp (1932 Film)
''The Chimp'' is a Laurel and Hardy short film made in 1932. It was directed by James Parrott, produced by Hal Roach, and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The second half of the film is a reworking from their last silent film '' Angora Love'' (1929), itself reworked into a short film the previous year, '' Laughing Gravy'' (1931). Plot The comedy duo are working at the circus. They first appear in the Pantomime horse and then as assistants to Destructo, a strongman. The circus goes bankrupt after the Big Top is destroyed when Laurel and Hardy cause Destructo's cannonball-catching act to go wrong. The circus can't pay them their wages so Oliver is given a gorilla called Ethel and Stanley a Flea Circus as a payoff. Despite the film's title, Ethel isn't a chimpanzee. She is dressed in a ballet tutu and hat. Stanley and Oliver need to find a room to stay in overnight and they go to a guest house. The landlord gives them a room but refuses to let Ethel stay. A lion named MGM af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helpmates
''Helpmates'' is a Laurel and Hardy Pre-Code short film comedy. It was directed by James Parrott, produced by Hal Roach and released by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer on January 23, 1932. Plot Ollie's house is a mess after a wild party from the previous night. Ollie receives a telegram from his wife (who is on vacation in Chicago), which tells him that she is returning home in the afternoon. Fearing his wife's wrath, he calls Stan over to help him clean up. Things go downhill and they make more mess not less. Ollie becomes frustrated and lights the oven the wrong way, turning on the gas first instead of lighting the oven. The result is an explosion that trashes the living room and kitchen, as well as Ollie's hat. Ollie's suits get stained with soot, soaked with dirty water, and covered in flour, until he has no choice but to go meet his wife at the station in his lodge uniform (a comic version of an Odd Fellows Lodge uniform). Stan miraculously manages to restore the house's interior to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Babes In Toyland (1934 Film)
''Babes in Toyland'' is a Laurel and Hardy musical Christmas film released on November 30, 1934. The film is also known by the alternative titles ''Laurel and Hardy in Toyland'', ''Revenge Is Sweet'' (the 1948 European reissue title), and ''March of the Wooden Soldiers'' (in the United States), a 73-minute abridged version. Based on Victor Herbert's popular 1903 operetta '' Babes in Toyland'', the film was produced by Hal Roach, directed by Gus Meins and Charles Rogers, and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film was originally printed in Sepiatone, but there are two computer-colorized versions. Although the 1934 film makes use of many of the characters in the original play, as well as several of the songs, the plot is almost completely unlike that of the original stage production. In contrast to the stage version, the film's story takes place entirely in Toyland, which is inhabited by Mother Goose (Virginia Karns) and other well-known fairy tale characters. Plot Stanni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three Little Pigskins
''Three Little Pigskins'' is a 1934 short subject directed by Raymond McCarey and starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Jerry Howard). It is the fourth entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 short films for the studio between 1934 and 1959. Plot The Stooges are "recruited" by a college to drum up publicity for the college's football team by being dressed up as football players. Meanwhile, the owner of a professional football team, Joe Stacks, has to find three new players for the next game. One of Joe's girlfriends soon meets the Stooges and confuses them for genuine college football players known as "The Three Horsemen" (a parody of the "Four Horsemen" of Notre Dame fame). The Stooges go back to her house and meet the girl's two friends. After squirting each other with seltzer bottles, everyone decides to play the game Blind man's buff. The Stooges are blindfolded and walk around ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Them Thar Hills
''Them Thar Hills'' is a 1934 American comedy short film directed by Charley Rogers and starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.Thames, Stephanie"Them Thar Hills (1934)" article, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Time Warner, Inc., New York, N.Y. Retrieved May 27, 2019. The film was so well received by audiences that producer Hal Roach and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer made a sequel, ''Tit for Tat'', which was released five months later, in January 1935. Plot At the advice of a doctor (Billy Gilbert), Stan and Ollie travel to the mountains in order for Ollie to recover from gout. They park their travel trailer ( caravan) near a deserted cabin recently occupied by a gang of moonshiners who had been raided and arrested by Prohibition authorities. Before being captured, the moonshiners tried to get rid of their illegal liquor by pouring two full barrels of it into a nearby well. Stan and Ollie now use that same well as their source for drinking water. While making a pot of coffee with the alcohol-l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Restless Knights
''Restless Knights'' is a 1935 short film, short subject directed by Charles Lamont starring United States, American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Jerry Howard). It is the sixth entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959. Plot Set in medieval times, the father Walter Brennan of the Stooges informs him from his deathbed that they are of royal blood. Now dubbed the Duke of Durham (Larry), the Count of Fife (Moe) and Baron of Grey Matter (Curly), they are entrusted by their father to take up arms and protect Queen Anne (Geneva Mitchell) of their old kingdom of Anesthesia, as word has spread that the present prime minister, Prince Boris (George Baxter), may attempt to seize the throne. The Stooges accept and make their way to Anesthesia, where, as the Duke of Mixture, the Fife of Drum and Baron of Brains, they become the queen's royal guards. The prince pu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
