John Bunny

A compilation of early-day silent films that serves as a glimpse back to the formative days of the movie industry as a salute to Hollywood's Golden Year, so proclaimed by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce as 1953.

"The Irish Washerwoman" is to be produced by Manager Mathew Talon. The cast is all engaged but the leading lady.

Bunny and Marsh attend a show and both fall in love with a charming danseuse.

The general store at Scrogginses' Corner is the favorite lounging and meeting place for the citizens of the locality. On an eventful day a rich couple call at the store and ask Si Bunny, the storekeeper, permission to leave a bundle there, to be called for on their return. The storekeeper discovers that the bundle contains an infant.

The Craigs and Smiths, next-door neighbors, are the best of friends until Smith builds a chicken house. Their two gardens are connected and their children fraternize as if all belonged to one large family. Sidney Craig manages to set loose Smith's chickens, who get into Craig's garden and work havoc among his pet seedlings.

Although not the first feature-length animated film, as is sometimes thought, it was the first cartoon to feature a character with an appealing personality. The appearance of a true character distinguished it from earlier animated "trick films", such as those of Blackton and Cohl, and makes it the predecessor to later popular cartoons such as those by Walt Disney. The film was also the first to be created using keyframe animation.

Fatty comes up with a plan to prank his cowboy buddies. He announces that his sister Kitty is coming to visit, but it's not at all what his friends expected.

In order to inherit their uncle's property, two cousins must marry each other.

Patience and Anne, two spinsters of the old school of aristocratic birth, have managed to keep up appearances under very trying conditions and with limited means, until they are reduced to such circumstances they are obliged to sell their household furnishing, of antique pattern, to raise the necessary "wherewithal" to live and pay the mortgage off the old home.

Unless Marion Norman's intended husband can support her in the same style in which her father has, Mr. Norman will not agree to her marriage with Billy Wallace, and threatens to disinherit her if she disobeys him.

Harry Brownley, son of a rich New Yorker, reads a newspaper account of U.S. Revenue officers' plan to raid an illicit distillery in the Tennessee mountains. The young fellow asks his father's permission to join the forces under Sheriff Jackson, of Pikesville, Tennessee. The father reluctantly consents and the son starts out to satisfy his adventurous nature.

An old maid vies with a beautiful young student for the affections of an elderly professor.

This domestic comedy depicts a woman who stops her husband's gambling habit by having her cousin stage a fake police raid on the weekly poker game.

The lost 3rd part of the film The Pickwick Papers, directed by Laurence Trimble, appeared in 1913. This silent three-reel adaptation of Charles Dickens's first novel starred the American comedian John Bunny, who was very popular in his day but is now almost completely forgotten, and was filmed mainly on location in England.

This is basically a two practical-joke comedy. Bunny is a businessman father and Mabel plays Betty, his lovable daughter. The first practical joke is Betty getting her girlfriend to be daddy's secretary. The secretary sprays perfume on all his papers and tries to make out with him. The second practical joke has Betty getting her boyfriend to put on a wig and old man's outfit and apply for the job of daddy's secretary.

A widower becomes infatuated with his daughter's governess, to the displeasure of the child and her nurse.

Harry Burton's sister and her husband are suddenly called away for a few days on business and telegraph him to come to their home and take care of their two little boys, "Toddie and Budge." He at once complies, and is soon with the children, assuming his duties as "governor." Helen Manton, stopping in the same town, thinks a great deal of Harry Burton, and naturally he of her.

Mrs. Brown, who is a widow, finds it a rather difficult matter to clothe and feed her large family of children, so when she becomes acquainted on the beach with Captain Jenks she is not slow in inviting him to her house. That evening the Captain calls with an engagement ring. He asks the widow to become his wife, but just as he is accepted Mrs. Brown's numerous offspring come running into the room. Upon being told that they are her children the Captain nearly faints and does not know how to break the engagement.

A condensed silent film version of the Charles Dickens classic about the French Revolution and its subsequent Reign of Terror.

Old Von Shultz, the first violin, finds as he grows older a longing for companionship. Hurrying from the theater the old musician finds little Helen sleeping on the steps of the stage door. He picks her up and takes her to his comfortably furnished home. The old man even grows childish, he is so pleased with the little tot's presence and he gives her the love with which his heart abounds. The next day he learns from the morning papers that Helen's mother and father were lost in a fire. He spends many happy hours with her, playing with her toys. He takes her to rehearsals with him, where she is the pet of the musicians. One year later Helen shows an aptness for the stage. This delights the old musician and the child grows nearer and dearer to his heart. A sad blow, however, comes to him when the Children's Society take the little girl away from him and once more he finds himself a lonely old man.

Tupper meets the wealthy Miss Whipple at a baseball game. When she declares that she just adores baseball players, Tupper starts up a team.

Sir Brian, an irascible old gentleman, who suffers from gout, receives a note saying his son Gerald is very ill at college, and asking him to come to Dublin. He is too ill to go so he gets his friend, Captain Jenks, to go instead of him. Jenks finds Gerald being nursed by a pretty girl and soon discovers that Gerald is in love with her.

Emphatically opposed to Jack Moss, old Mr. McGillicuddy puts the ban on his marriage to his daughter Dolly. The old gentleman is adamant to the appeals of the young lovers and interposes his interference on every occasion, when they get together. McGillicuddy is seized with an attack of the gout, which handicaps him, and it is then Jack arranges with Dolly to elope.

A John Bunny comedy short featuring his usual leading lady Flora Finch. Confusion over a stolen ticket puts Finch in jail.

Irene and Helen are worshipers at the shrine of Frangiapani, the tenor of the hour. When he sings at a concert, they meet in Irene's room, take the printed program of the concert, and one of them plays the accompaniment of the song he is actually singing. Irene sees an advertisement for a maid and waitress at Madame Frangiapani's home. The wild thought enters her brain that if she applies and gets the position, she will be nearer her adored. She puts the plan into execution, gets the position, and is waiting for the signor to appear. He does appear in a towering rage, at an adverse criticism in a paper which he is holding in his hand. His wife tries to soothe him and treats him like a little, unreasonable, bad-tempered child.

No sooner have Jimmy and Mary, a newly-married couple, entered their new home when Jimmie receives a note from his wealthy uncle, announcing his intention of paying his nephew and heir a visit that evening.

A maid accidentally switches gift boxes causing untold havoc in a household.

A silent short film telling the classic story of Becky Sharp.

Cartoon figures announce, via comic strip balloons, that they will move - and move they do, in a wildly exaggerated style. Also known as "Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics".

When his wife goes away on vacation, a husband decides to use that time to do a little "playing around" and winds up at a resort hotel with two young girls. Unbeknownst to him, his wife is at the same hotel, planning a little "playing around" of her own.

Norman Winthrop, a surveyor, accidentally meets John Bunny, an Irish watchman of a building. He introduces him to Tom and Will Hawley, two of his friends, at a little poker game in which Bunny pockets all the winnings. Talking over the matter the next day, the three men agree that it would be a great joke to introduce Bunny into society.

While Flora Winslow, a widow is engaged to Bunny, she attends a lecture on eugenics and decides that her intended husband is too fat. She tells him he must reduce, and as she wishes to become stouter, they agree to attend Dr. Sweatem's Sanitarium.

John and Flora meet at a ball, but neither can do these modern dances, so they sit out… and run into each other later at a dance studio. Bunny exudes his usual Pickwickian charm. Miss Finch gets involved in a nice bit of physical comedy when her gawkiness makes the dance lesson less than successful.

The Pickwick Papers comprised three reels, individually titled "The Adventure of the Honourable Event", "The Adventure at the Westgate Seminary", and "The Adventure of the Shooting Party" based on the 1837 novel of the same name by Charles Dickens.

Bunny purchases a Vapor Bath, guaranteed to make the fat thin and do the trick with neatness. In his anxiety to make a trial of the bath he forgets to lock the library door....

A poor young girl finds a purse and returns it to its owner, who decides to reward her honesty.

An old doctor hires a young new doctor to join his practice, particularly to attract women for more business.

A capable but homely new hire becomes ill and recommends her beautiful cousin during leave. The bosses and clerk get a surprise at the end.

A silent comedy in which a sick young boy gets healthy after a regime of hard work, and does not complain that the housekeeper makes him work so hard.

LOST FILM. A comedy in which Johan has no desire to meet the unmarried Sarah, and so has his friend Freddy pretend that he is Johan.

A silent comedy in which a jealous woman wants to catch her husband in the act of infidelity.

Black and White. Silent.

A widower with four grown daughters remarries and brings his new wife home to meet them. The girls set out to make life as difficult as possible for their new mother.

Mr. Bolten is hoping to woo the dancer Céleste and invites her for coffee. Her answer is that she will wait for him in hotel "Des imbeciles' in New York. He obviously cannot find the hotel, and to make matters worse he is robbed by a pickpocket. As a consequence he cannot pay his restaurant bill and is arrested. Luckily for him, a friend pays his bill so he can return home. There he picks up a dictionary and sees what "imbécile" means.

Farce in which two neighbouring couples test each other's jealousy. The women decide to make the men jealous and vice versa. The men buy horse hair to make the women believe it is hair of another woman; the women pretend to have received love letters. Final match result: women seem more jealous than men.

A comic one-act film featuring the character Bunny, which takes place in an office.

Comedy of a bachelor who succumbs to the charms of love and deserts 'the boys' who had given him up as a hopeless case.

A woman in a crowded trolley car accidentally puts a locket with her picture in it into a man's pocket; when the man gets home, his suspicious wife finds it.

Bunny's niece has a beau who is so addicted to drink that her father will not permit her to marry him. He has given the lad a chance, but when he comes upon him drink again, he orders his daughter to break it all off. She goes to Uncle Bunny, who thinks up a scheme to cure the drunkard. In pursuance of this, he brings the lad, so drunk that he can't see straight, to his home and by dressing up in woman gear, and by borrowed kids, makes him think he has married a fat widow with many children. The poor lad is so greatly worried that when he wakes up next morning, he really swears off. So. in the end, the lovers are happy.

A tragicomedy in which the suicide attempt of the character Bunny is seen by a neighbour, who quickly calls for help.

A comedy in which a man secretly has his pustules removed. His secrecy leads his wife to believe that he is cheating.

Two businessmen need to hire a stenographer, but their wives get suspicious when they notice a parade of beautiful young women entering and leaving their husbands' office.

A romantic comedy in which two new neighbours initially cannot get along, but their staff get along just fine.

Pioneer filmmaker J. Stuart Blackton was intrigued by the idea of a film about the history of the movies as early as 1915. He finally released a 52-minute feature called The Film Parade that was shown in New York and favorably reviewed by "Variety" in 1933. He continued tinkering with the film for the rest of the decade, and later filmmakers and distributors used Blackton's footage for stock or to produce their own variously titled and truncated versions. -UCLA Film & Television Archive

Comedian John Bunny on a train all confused.

Seeing Double

In Neighboring Kingdoms

"Slick-Fingered Mag must he captured, or I will know the reason why!" These are the proud words of Detective Brown, as he prepares to go in search of the elusive "Mag." He packs his traveling bag and leaves it open upon the sofa in his room; then goes downstairs to eat his breakfast. "Slick-Fingered Mag," seeing the front door of Brown's home ajar, enters and makes a sneak upstairs. She carries a bag of the same character as Brown's. She gathers up all the valuables she finds handy, not overlooking some of Mrs. Brown's choicest jewels. Hearing sounds of approaching footsteps, she becomes excited and empties the "swag" into Brown's bag, supposing it to he her own, and with it, escapes from the house, leaving her own bag behind her. Mrs. Brown, placing some clean linen in her husband's grip, sees the female apparel.

A coster takes a girl to Epsom and saves a pony trap from theft.

John Bunny gets into an awful stew when he hears from his Aunt Eliza that she is coming to visit him and that she is bringing along her cousin, Jean, whom she wishes him to marry. He doesn't at all like the idea of abandoning his bachelor life and appeals to his friend, Jack Holmes, for aid. Jack is persuaded to masquerade as Bunny, whom his aunt has never seen, while Bunny himself gets into feminine garb and poses as the cook.

Mrs. Nag objects to her husband having a pretty female stenographer in his office, and orders him to employ one of his own sex. So Miss Prue, the good-looking stenographer to whom Mrs. Nag objects, dresses in man's attire. On her way to business one morning she sends a bouquet of flowers to Mrs. Nag, with the inscription, "Compliments of an ardent admirer." Miss Prue apprises her boss of her deed, and when Mrs. Nag arrives at his office, he accuses her of having another admirer. Miss Prue is victorious and when we see her in the last scene she is her own admirable self once more, seated before the typewriter in Mr. Nag's office, with every prospect of being an uninterrupted and permanent employee. Mild and docile, Mrs. Nag modestly enters the office, but offers no objections or interruptions, submissively waiting for her husband to escort her home.

Solomon keeps a clothing store, he has in stock two overcoats of exactly the same make and pattern. Michael Gallagher, who is passing by and in need of an outer garment, notices Solomon's display and buys one of the coats. Shortly after the first sale, Peter Dempsey, a bachelor, happens along and takes quite a fancy to the remaining twin overcoat and Solomon makes another sale. Gallagher and Dempsey dine, at the same time, in the same restaurant. Finishing his meal, Gallagher leaves hurriedly and takes Dempsey's coat, quite naturally mistaking it for his own. When Dempsey is through with his meal, he puts on Gallagher's coat quite satisfied that it is his own. That night Dempsey goes to call on his sweetheart, who admires his new overcoat, and as she helps him off with it, a letter in a woman's hand-writing falls out of the pocket.

Love! What a wonderful thing is love. Cupid is a specialist in aching hearts and for sick men and maidens. Alice Linton falls in love with Percy Primrose, a young poet. Papa Linton says, "Cut out the poetry and keep the muse out of the family." He will not father-in-law a sentimental versifier. Alice is deeply smitten with Percy and she cannot be comforted, falls into a decline and looks very ill. Her father is anxious about her and hastens to see the family physician. Percy consults the doctor in advance of the father, however, and tells him all about Alice's trouble and his love for her. The old doctor is a friend of the young people and arranges to help them. When the father calls, the doctor feigns sickness and sends Percy, disguised as "Doctor Cupid," to attend the young lady's case.