''Those Awful Hats'' is a 1909 American

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

comedy film directed by

D.W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the na ...

and starring Mack Sennett. It takes place in a small, crowded movie theatre, where the patrons are perpetually distracted by people - primarily women - wearing large, ostentatious hats that obstruct everyone else's views of the screen.

Slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

disorder ensues. The film ends with a title card reading, "Ladies Will Please Remove Their Hats." A print of the film survives in the film archive of the Library of Congress.

Cast

* Mack Sennett as Man in checkered jacket *

Flora Finch Flora Finch (17 June 1867 – 4 January 1940) was an English-born vaudevillian, stage and film actress who starred in over 300 silent films, including over 200 for the Vitagraph Studios film company. The vast majority of her films from the sile ...

as Woman with largest hat *

Linda Arvidson Linda Arvidson (born Linda Arvidson Johnson, July 12, 1884 – July 26, 1949; sometimes credited as Linda Griffith) was an American stage and film actress who became one of America's early motion picture stars while working at Biograph Studios i ...

as Theatre Audience *

John R. Cumpson John R. Cumpson (August 30, 1866March 15, 1913) was an American stage and film actor. On Broadway, he appeared in ''Up York State'' in 1901. With regard to his screen career, Cumpson appeared in at least 124 films between 1905 and 1912. A 1910 ne ...

as Theatre Audience * George Gebhardt as Theatre Audience *

Robert Harron Robert Emmett Harron (April 12, 1893 – September 5, 1920) was an American motion picture actor of the early silent film era. Although he acted in over 200 films, he is possibly best recalled for his roles in the D.W. Griffith directed film ...

as Theatre Audience *

Anita Hendrie Anita Hendrie ( – April 15, 1940) was an American actress. She appeared in 67 silent motion pictures between 1908 and 1912, in addition to working in stock theater and vaudeville. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter ...

as Theatre Audience *

Charles Inslee Charles E. Inslee (1870 – September 1922) was an American actor. He appeared in 127 films between 1908 and 1921. Biography Born in New York City, Inslee was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Inslee of Jamaica Plain Jamaica Plain is ...

as Theatre Audience *

Arthur V. Johnson Arthur Vaughan Johnson (February 2, 1876 – January 17, 1916) was a pioneer actor and director of the early American silent film era. Career Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Rev. Myron A. Johnson, Arthur Vaughan Johnson left college at 19 t ...

as Theatre Audience *

Florence Lawrence Florence Lawrence (born Florence Annie Bridgwood; January 2, 1886 – December 28, 1938) was a Canadian-American stage performer and film actress. She is often referred to as the "first movie star", and was thought to be the first film actor to ...

as Theatre Audience *

Gertrude Robinson Gertrude Robinson (October 7, 1890 – March 19, 1962) was an American actress of the silent era. Biography She appeared in 164 films between 1908 and 1925. She was born in New York City and died in Hollywood, California. She was the fi ...

as Theatre Audience *

Dorothy West Dorothy West (June 2, 1907 – August 16, 1998) was an American storyteller and short story writer during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. She is best known for her 1948 novel ''The Living Is Easy'', as well as many other short stories an ...

as Theatre Audience

References

External links

*
''Those Awful Hats''
on YouTube
Those Awful Hats
available for free download at Internet Archive 1909 films 1909 comedy films 1909 short films American silent short films Silent American comedy films American black-and-white films American comedy short films Films directed by D. W. Griffith Articles containing video clips Surviving American silent films 1900s American films {{1900s-short-comedy-film-stub

Cast

See also

References

External links