''The Cohens and Kellys'' is a 1926 American silent

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Harry A. Pollard Harry A. Pollard (23 January 1879 – 6 July 1934) was an American silent film actor and director. His wife was silent screen star Margarita Fischer. Biography Harry A. Pollard was born in Republic, Kansas, and began his career on the stage. In ...

and starring

Charles Murray Charles Murray may refer to: Politicians *Charles Murray, 1st Earl of Dunmore (1661–1710), British peer *Charles Murray (author and diplomat) (1806–1895), British author and diplomat *Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore (1841–1907), Scotti ...

George Sidney George Sidney (October 4, 1916May 5, 2002) was an American film director and producer who worked primarily at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His work includes cult classics '' Bye Bye Birdie'' (1963) and ''Viva Las Vegas'' (1964). With an extensive backgr ...

, Kate Price, and Jason Robards Sr. The film is the first of the ''Cohens and Kellys''

film serials A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, ge ...

. The film is perhaps best known today as the subject of '' Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corp.'', a

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

infringement case, in which Judge

Learned Hand Billings Learned Hand ( ; January 27, 1872 – August 18, 1961) was an American jurist, lawyer, and judicial philosopher. He served as a federal trial judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1909 to 1924 a ...

articulated the doctrine that copyright protection does not cover the characteristics of

stock characters A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a fictional character in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film whom audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition. There is a wide range of st ...

in a story.

Plot

As articulated in the ''Nichols'' case, The Cohens and the Kellys (SAYRE 13915)

The characters were similar to those in the Nichols play, ''

Abie's Irish Rose ''Abie's Irish Rose'' is a popular comedy by Anne Nichols, which premiered in 1922. Initially a Broadway play, it has become familiar through repeated stage productions, films and radio programs. The basic premise involves an Irish Catholic g ...

'' which was made into a film in 1928 and in 1946.

Cast

Preservation status

In addition to a worn Universal Show-at-Home copy, the film exists in two film archives,

Cinematheque Royale de Belgique CINEMATEK (Dutch: Koninklijk Belgisch Filmarchief; French: Cinémathèque royale de Belgique; English: Royal Belgian Film Archive) is a film archive in Brussels, Belgium. The archive was established in 1938 under the name Royal Belgian Film Archi ...

in Brussels and the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York. An excellent print with French and Dutch intertitles, with English ones apparently overlaid, was screened on April 20, 2016, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan. As French and Dutch are the official languages of bi-lingual Belgium, this undoubtedly was the print just referenced in an archive.

Related films

''The Cohens and Kellys'' was the first in a series of films featuring characters from the Cohen and Kelly families. It was followed by ''

The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris ''The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris'' is a 1928 American comedy film directed by William Beaudine. It was the first sequel to ''The Cohens and Kellys''. The film title is sometimes listed as ''The Cohens and Kellys in Paris''. It was an early ...

'' (1928), ''

The Cohens and Kellys in Atlantic City ''The Cohens and the Kellys in Atlantic City'' is a 1929 American silent film, silent comedy film directed by William James Craft and starring George Sidney (actor), George Sidney, Vera Gordon and Mack Swain. It is the third entry in the series ...

'' (1929), ''

The Cohens and the Kellys in Scotland ''The Cohens and the Kellys in Scotland'' is a 1930 American comedy film. It is one of '' The Cohens and Kellys'' series, and is also the series' first sound film. It was directed by William James Craft and produced and released by Universal Pic ...

'' (1930), ''

The Cohens and the Kellys in Africa ''The Cohens and the Kellys in Africa'' is an American pre-Code comedy film.

'' (1930), ''

The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood ''The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood'' is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy film directed by John Francis Dillon and written by Howard J. Green. The film stars George Sidney, Charles Murray, June Clyde, Norman Foster, Esther Howard, and Emma Du ...

'' (1932), and ''

The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble ''The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble'' is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film starring Charlie Murray, Andy Devine, and Maureen O'Sullivan. It is the last film in the ''Cohens and Kellys'' series and the first director credit for George Steven ...

'' (1933). It was an early production of

Edward Small Edward Small (born Edward Schmalheiser, February 1, 1891, Brooklyn, New York – January 25, 1977, Los Angeles) was a film producer from the late 1920s through 1970, who was enormously prolific over a 50-year career. He is best known for the movi ...

References

External links

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Lobby poster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohens and Kellys, The 1926 films 1926 comedy films Silent American comedy films American black-and-white films 1920s English-language films Films about feuds Films set in New York (state) Universal Pictures films Films directed by Harry A. Pollard Films produced by Edward Small American silent feature films 1920s American films