Ben Turpin

The Musical Marvel

Lifeguard Ben Turpin tries to keep order at the beach, where tennis players James Finlayson and Charles Conklin vie for the affection of Marie Prevost and get involved in antics including fishing and a wild boat ride in this Mack Sennett two-reeler. Roughly only half of the film still exists.

A slick city crook arrives in the town and succeeds in making honest Nell fall in love with him. He then suggests an entertainment with local talent, the while his confederates crack the safe and make off with the town's wealth. Nell, with her faithful but brainless lover, journeys to the city in pursuit of the loot and the looter

The prospector enters the western dance hall, and upon seeing the gambler, takes a mallet and apparently kills the man. He is captured by the posse and as he is dangling from a tree tells the story of how, years before, he and Ben had been in Texas together, Ben fleecing Rube of all his savings, robbed him of his girl, and disappeared. As Rube is about to breathe his last word, a message comes to the effect that Ben has recovered. The posse cut Rube down and take him back. He discovers that the girl is still with Ben and is the mother of seven urchins. Ben tries to rid himself of this domestic burden, but Rube flees on his trick mule and has the last laugh on the gambler.

Walking along with his bulldog, Charlie finds a "good luck" horseshoe just as he passes a training camp advertising for a boxing partner "who can take a beating." After watching others lose, Charlie puts the horseshoe in his glove and wins. The trainer prepares Charlie to fight the world champion. A gambler wants Charlie to throw the fight. He and the trainer's daughter fall in love.

Mrs. Highstrung's maid leaves her at a very inopportune time, as she has just received a telegram from some friends that they will arrive in the city in time for luncheon. Jim, the hired man, tells her of a good Swedish cook and Mrs. Highstrung sends him post haste after her.

Countess Von Swatt goes on a slumming party and loses one of her calling cards in the "hash house" where Sweedie works. Sweedie finds the card. Next day an invitation to a ball to be given by Mr. Wealth is delivered by Sweedie by mistake.

Mrs. Goodheart, a charity worker, comes home one evening very much discouraged as she is unable to get even a small donation from Mr. Tightwad, the millionaire. She tells Sweedie, the cook, of her failure, so Sweedie decides to try her luck at making him "come across."

Sweedie gets a job as mop artist in a hotel. She starts out from home encumbered with baggage and a pet dog of uncertain ancestry. Arrived at the hotel, she is given two pails and a mop and she starts to work.

Henry Bigger, a short fat fellow, and Danny Slimson, short but slim, are rivals for the hand of Sweedie. One day while Danny is peeking in the window at Sweedie, he sees her reading a letter and immediately takes it for granted that it is from Henry. Instead, it is a notice from the landlord requesting her to pay her rent.

Sweedie, the cook at the Rich household, buys a donkey from the captain of the police, but forgets to pay for it. He raids the house in an effort to get his money, and as a result Sweedie is fired.

Sweedie has two admirers, and is undecided as to which one she prefers to marry. Her parents are in favor of Fritz, a little fat German. Sweedie is then determined to wed the other suitor.

The Newlyweds read in the newspaper of an ideal automobile trip which only costs $12. Mr. Newlywed decides to take a few days' vacation and enjoy the outdoor air, not feeling that he can afford a more expensive vacation. They pack a camper's outfit on the car and start out.

Sweedie is the scrub lady in the theater. She makes eyes at the stage manager and the hypnotist and is put out of the theater for being so impertinent. Next day while she is out feeding her chickens, she falls asleep and dreams that she has been left an immense fortune by her uncle and that the stage manager and the hypnotist are rivals for her hand.

Mr. Von Crooks and his son are in love with Madame Double X. One night Von Crooks, Jr., elopes with her and then writes to his father to forgive them. He refuses and cuts his son off without a cent.

Sweedie while reading a book in the kitchen, falls asleep. She dreams that Kao Yama, Sultan of Puff Puff, has sent her a present in the form of a servant. She refuses to accept the slave, telling the Sultan's messengers that her husband would seriously object to having him around the house.

Sweedie decides to commit suicide when she is jilted by her sweetheart, the captain of the police department. After writing a note to him, she calmly makes ready for the end. About this time the tricksters arrive and inject "dope" into her which puts her to sleep.

Mr. Dingy engages Sweedie as their cook. She insists upon bringing her dog "Skinny" and her parrot along. Mr. Dingy dislikes dogs, but rather than lose Sweedie he consents.

Mildred refuses Archie's proposal of marriage. Shortly after Fred arrives and she accepts him as her future husband. As he is leaving the house, his attention is attracted by a young lady who has a cinder in her eye. He stops to give her his assistance. Mildred, who happens to be watching from an upstairs window, thinks he is kissing the young lady

Mr. and Mrs. Skidoo receive a letter from Lord Bunkum, saying he is coming to pay them a visit. They decide they do not wish to see the Lord, so they leave, telling Sweedie to inform his Lordship they have been called away. Meantime a tramp finds the Lord's letter, which Mr. Skidoo has dropped, and decides to impersonate Lord Bunkum.

The Busy Business Boy lands at his desk like the Early Bird with the intention of tearing off a week or two of correspondence in an hour or so. But the Napoleon of finance reckons not with the Man with the Funny Puzzle, the Fruit Vender, the Insurance Agent with the Flowing Vocabulary, and last, but not least, with Rube.

The boy has a camera and snaps Sweedie, the cook, while sitting on the bench in the back yard. Later he takes a picture of his father while sitting on the same bench. He forgets to turn the film in his camera, so gets a double exposure, giving the effect of Sweedie sitting on his father's lap

Sweedie, the cook at the Prim household, is a little too rough to suit Mr. Prim, who is about three feet shorter than herself. He decides to discharge her, but finds it rather difficult. After being handled like a rag doll, he goes to his friend for help and is overjoyed when told he might have their maid, as they are leaving for the country that evening.

Sweedie the cook adorns herself in her employer's jewels and goes to the skating rink where she is the most popular lady on the floor.

Sweedie's father is the owner of a grocery store, and Sweedie takes care of the trade while father plays checkers all day. She is in love with a member of the police department, and at every possible opportunity slips out and holds hands with him.

"Chick" Evans, western amateur golf champion, is seen playing golf with his sister. Sweedie is the cook for a family of "get-rich-quicks" and treated very roughly until she receives a letter telling her that her uncle has left her an immense fortune. She is then handled with white gloves. To be a society lady she must wear fine clothes and play golf.

Sweedie tells her beau that her love has grown cold, so he decides to jump in the lake and end it all.

Sweedie has fallen in love with the grocery boy, and in order to gaze upon his smiling face orders groceries at every possible opportunity.

Sweedie holds a clandestine meeting with her beau in the kitchen of her employers, a young married couple. Her love affair influences her cooking and the bread she serves that evening is a little harder than granite. The young husband loses his temper and Sweedie loses her job.

Sweedie, with her arms splattered by dough, looks out the window and sees her mistress just mounting he horse for her morning ride. The simple, toilsome life straightway becomes monotonous and Sweedie prepares to go and do likewise. She calls up her Romeo, who is a captain of the mounted police squad, and tells him to come with two horses prepared for a canter.

Sweedie, the theater's scrubwoman, in love with the unappreciative props, become enamored with the idea of a stage career.

Sweedie, the servant girl, is in love with a fireman, but her affections are not returned. The fireman escapes her caresses and gains the firehouse and loses her seven hours later when a fire breaks out. The next day she finds him with another woman and administers punishment. Then she opens a lady barber shop and her first customer is the faithless fireman.

There is harmony in The Café until it is accidentally discovered that lovely Mary has had a fortune left her, whereupon Beery, the proprietor, Trask and Murray, two entertainers, all race to her home with the idea of marrying her.

The Usual Way

"If yew cum a lone to thee third bench from thee fontan yew will find sum one to chear your loneliness." This note, received by the girl, is shown to her aunt. Her aunt drops the note and it is found by her uncle. He straightway becomes jealous and goes to the third bench to wait.

Oliver is making plans to marry his sweetheart Dulcy with Stan as his best man, but the plans are thwarted when Dulcy's father sees a picture of Ollie and forbids the marriage. The couple plan to elope, and run away to a Justice of the Peace. After typical Laurel and Hardy blundering, they manage to sneak the girl away from her father's house.

Set in Paris, the story concentrates on the romantic triangle involving cabaret singer Liane, bon vivant Tony and petty crook Jean.

The custom of young women "tagging" men on the public streets (on a day specially set aside and called "Tag Day") to secure funds for various charitable purposes is the basis for this Comedy short.

A sheriff saves a Mexican from being hanged for horse theft. In a gesture of thanks, the Mexican writes the word "gratitude" upon a card. After rending the card in two, he gives one half to the sheriff. Many years later the sheriff, still carrying his half of the "gratitude" card, becomes the captive of desperados. One of these greasy varmints grabs a tobacco pouch from the bound sheriff's pocket, noticing the timeworn card...

Starting in 1913 movie director Connors discovers singer Molly Adair. As she becomes a star she marries an actor, so Connors fires them. She asks for him as director of her next film. Many silent stars shown making the transition to sound.

When one of the actors on a movie set doesn't show up, Charlie gets his chance to be on camera and replaces the actor. While waiting, he plays in a dice game and gets on many people's nerves. When he finally gets to act, he ruins his scene, accidentally destroys the set, and tears the skirt of the star of the movie.

After a visit to a pub, Charlie and Ben cause a ruckus at a posh restaurant. Charlie later finds himself in a compromising position at a hotel with the head waiter's wife.

A gypsy seductress is sent to sway a goofy officer to allow a smuggling run.

The political bosses knew it was an off year and they needed a Goat to run for City Clerk. They didn't want a regular guy to get "stepped on," so they started out to find a Fish. They found a nice man who ran a feed store and had lots of coin, so they pounced on him. Mr. Bolivar was his name and he drank malted milk and said "whom" and did everything that was nice. They jollied him until he really thought that he was the man for the position, and when his wife tried to save the poor simp, he only said he must answer the call of duty, that the Peepul wanted him. He sometimes wondered if the other fellow would get any votes at all. Little by little the bosses were drawing on his bank account, and on the night of election he was broke. He lost the fight by 20,000 votes, and when he looked for his pushers, they had skipped.

Sardonic commentary over an abridged version of DOWN ON THE FARM (1920).

Because he believes in education, a ranch owner hires a school teacher from the east and opens a school for his cowboys. The teacher is admired by all of the cowboys, and by one in particular, an outlaw, who frightens all the pupils one morning by writing "school" with bullet holes on the blackboard. Broncho Billy steps in and sends him over the county line.

Frank Potter cannot afford to buy a turkey for Thanksgiving. He conceives the idea of pawning his dress suit, and at the same time his wife decides to pawn her ring, both keeping silent as to their plans.

Broncho Billy becomes engaged. A month later the engagement is broken when the girl's father comes into a fortune. She moves to the city with her parents, where she lives surrounded by luxury.

Broncho Billy becomes enraged when a stranger comes to town and wins the affections of his sweetheart. On the night of the wedding Broncho Billy "shoots up" the church, wounding the bridegroom. He then escapes across the border, after leaving a note to his rival telling him he will finish the job on Christmas night.

Angela comes to Hollywood with only two things: Her dream to become a movie star, and Grandpa. She leaves an Aunt, a brother, Grandma, and her longtime boyfriend back in Centerville. Despite seeing major movie stars around every corner, and knocking on every casting office door in town, at the end of her first day she is still unemployed. To her horror, when she arrives back at their hotel, she finds that Grandpa has been cast in a movie by William DeMille and quickly becomes a star during the ensuing weeks. Her family, worried that Angela and Grandpa are getting into trouble, come to Hollywood to drag them back home. In short order Aunt, Grandma, brother, boyfriend and even the parrot become superstars, but Angela is still unemployed...

Where's My Wandering Boy This Evening? is a comedy short released in 1923

Pitfalls of a Big City is a 1923 short comedy

Asleep at the Switch is a 1923 comedy short.

The Raspberry Romance is a 1925 comedy short.

The Marriage Circus is a 1925 silent comedy short.

A compilation featuring comedic stars of the silent era including Fatty Arbuckle, Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Charley Chase, and Laurel and Hardy.

A small country on the verge of bankruptcy is persuaded to enter the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics as a means of raising money.

A beautiful young woman is rescued by Ben and gives him her photo. When it is found in his pocket, his henpecking wife and shrewish mother-in-law immediately jump to the wrong conclusion and go on the warpath.

A grocery clerk, longing to become a cowboy actor, goes to Hollywood in search of fame and fortune. Unfortunately, his acting ability is non-existent.

When a peddler offers to sell Margie Reiger a coat for $100, husband Ben Turpin is so irate he throws the peddler and the coat out the door. Miss Reiger is inconsolable, so Ben buys her a stylish $7 coat, and tucks a $100 bill in a pocket. But it seems that every other woman has bought the coat, so Miss Reiger throws the coat out the window, and the money with it.

A pretty harem girl is rescued by a U. S. Navy officer. Whilst fleeing from the guards the girl takes refuge in the rooms of the notorious Rodney St. Clair, an erring Knight, who is proud of his long list of feminine conquests. But the Navy officer again comes to her rescue, and Sir Rodney is left to marry the harem's fattest woman after she puts a love potion in his drink.

Donald Drake, a deep sea gondolier ex soda jerk, arrives at the All Nation Cafe in Shanghai. The proprietor believes he's a penniless ne'er-do-well - which he is - but he unexpectedly comes into a small windfall. So the proprietor orders slightly rough around the edges Maud and Mollie, two of his American good time girls working their way around the world, to get him to spend all his money while there. As Donald ends up telling the two good time girls his life story - most specifically about the blonde he let slip through his fingers, she who was the love of his life - a few revelations and the errant coin he left at the roulette wheel betting table change his life.

Rex, a wild stallion, and Rinty, a police dog, are pals. Their master , John Sheldon, is framed for murder, and Alice Ingram plans to race Rex for money to pay for John's legal defense. Meantime, Frank Nolan, who has falsely accused John, sets out to steal Rex for himself.

An Italian woman has a son with an African American soldier after World War II ends.

Laurel is a Scottish reporter suspected of being a spy by police detective James Finlayson. Although trailed by the latter, Stan, who is reporting on the movie world, manages to be hired by Mack Sennett. He makes his debut in Nevada, in the middle of gold diggers. After managing to clear his name he becomes, with Oliver Hardy, a big comedy star.

A Mack Sennett slapstick comedy featuring the cross-eyed man Ben Turpin.

The Keystone Hotel hosts a very prestigious beauty contest. When the cross-eyed judge presents the first prize to an elderly cleaning woman, angry members of the audience respond by hurling custard pies. The Keystone Kops are summoned, and arrive just in time to get plastered with pastry.

Right now while everyone is thinking of war, comes this two reel comedy whose plot is based on an invention to revolutionize warfare. A torpedo-bomb, which, upon exploding in the camp of the enemy, causes the soldiers to laugh till they drop from fatigue, is the very heart and centre of the plot. Foreign spies try to secure the bomb.

A tramp in his haste to escape from the clutches of the law, rushes into a second-hand store and hides in a folding lounge. The lounge changes hands several times with each owner believing it is haunted. Finally it arrives in the home of a policeman. The policeman attempts to sleep, but the lounge starts to move, the policeman clinging to it. After riding about the room, the lounge starts for the door, goes down the stairs to the hallway out the back door into the yard. The policeman decides to burn the lounge, and after it is burned to ashes, behold the tramp standing in the center of the ash heap unharmed. The police arrest him for disturbing the peace.

Ben and his pal Paddy, a couple of drifting loafers and con-men, arrive in town via a "side-door Pullman" - a free ride in a boxcar. They set up a printing press, and start printing counterfeit money, get involved with a couple of swell-looking towns-girls (even when looked at crooked by Ben), and get highly inebriated.

In this movie Ben Turpin plays Vic Vacuum, who is in love with a movie star and ends up working at her studio when he hangs around and people at the studio mistakingly think he has money, which can help their productions out.

Ben returns from the big city with his pockets full of cash. A hard-hearted, gold-digging vamp ensnares him. Ben enjoys being ensnared. In order to get rid of his faithful sweetheart, he schemes up a preposterous tale.

Sam, a young man in a small town, is accused of being a thief. Unable to prove his innocence--and not knowing that he's being framed by a local villain to keep him away from pretty young Mary, the town beauty whom the villain wants for himself--he leaves town and goes to Hollywood to become an actor. He eventually returns home to town as a star, but once again finds himself the victim of the town villain, who this time abducts sweet young Mary. Sam must use all his acting skills to track down the villain and save Mary.

The film begins with Ben Turpin looking for some food. He's a hobo and is resorting to trying to steal food from a baby. That 'baby' is actually four year-old midget, Billy Barty. After spending some time in the park mooching, the film changes locales--to a beauty salon.

A thief steals a $10,000 string of pearls from the star of a show. The thief runs into Ben (literally), and in the ensuing chaos the thief ends up with Bens suitcase. Ben discovers he has the stars suitcase, and the necklace, but the crook returns. Does Ben get the beads back to the beauty?

"Some folks think married men live longer. They don't — it only seems longer!" The opening inter-title to "Seein' Things" (1928) sums up the life of Joe Grubb (Ben Turpin), who is married to the shrewish Mrs. Grubb (Georgia O'Dell). An unpleasant wife not being enough, he lives next to some difficult neighbors as well. The neighborhood wives come over for their sewing circle, but when Joe Grubb tries to get out to a lodge meeting, Mrs. Grubb tells him that he's staying at home. He sneaks out anyway, but his deception and more is given away when the Grubb's new "Television outfit" reveals to the ladies that their husbands' lodge meeting is not a men-only event. The sewing circle ladies rush over, mayhem ensues, and things then resemble more of a boxing ring.

The movie makers are filming the next installment of the western serial "Get Your Man". The movie's leading man wants his stunt double to do the next dangerous stunt. Purely by accident, a hapless, cross-eyed aspiring actor named Joe Magee ends up doing the stunt perfectly. He ends up doing dangerous stunt after stunt, all by accident, that fit the movie so perfectly that the movie's leading lady wants him in the picture. The exasperated director finds that getting Joe to do the stunts on command is an entirely different story.

An employee in a theater showing Valentino's "The Shiek" daydreams about himself playing Valentino's role.

Cyclone Bill is the popular sheriff of Mustang Gulch, where "a gun in the hand is worth two on the hip." Bill keeps the town free of criminals, and is also in love with the mayor's daughter. But when Yukon Jake brings his gang to town, causing trouble and kidnapping Bill's girl, it looks as if Bill might have more trouble than he can handle.

In this silent comedy, a pretty department store cashier is charged with a robbery that occurred overnight at the store. However, circumstantial evidence points to the store's soda clerk having committed both the $10,000 robbery and the assumed murder of the store's nightwatchman, who is missing.

A neighbor visits her friend, taking with her her child, a little girl about the same age as the friend's little girl. Both children being full of mischief, they immediately put into execution a number of startling and ingenious pranks. While the laundry maid is entertaining her policeman lover, the children pin the policeman's coat tail to a sheet which is being ironed by the laundry maid. They next get a trap containing some mice and let them loose in the parlor where their parents are entertaining guests at a card party. They put the cat in the piano, make finger marks with flour on the hack of father's coat, causing his wife to think he has been embraced by the cook; they find grandfather asleep, his slippers lying on the floor, and nail the slippers down, and grandpa upon awakening receives a severe fall.

An actor in action that is not all acting is rather a remarkable sight, and when he loves both on the stage and off simultaneously, and when he is observed making love to the make-believe sweetheart on the stage, by the real, sure enough sweetheart who does not understand that love making in a play is only play, and very far removed from the sacred course of true devotion, there is quite a healthy complication. A young leading actor saves a youth's life, by catching him just in time to save him from what might reasonably he a fatal fall over a precipice, and to reward him the young man promises to intercede with the father of the girl who causes the actor chap sundry heart throbs and a little soul-anguish. But all good intentions do not materialize, and the young man falls in his ambassadorial mission.

This very strange film features old silent footage with added audio commentary to give you a comedic look at a typical day in Hollywood. Featuring some Ben Turpin footage. Edited together by Robert O. Crandall.

Turpin plays a candidate who poses as the worker's friend but spends hi time buttering up wealthy women and seizing upn any opportunity to womanise.

This time it's Ben Turpin as the nominal announcer, and several well known performers appear, including Myrna Loy. Madge Bellamy sings "The Last Rose of Summer" in a very sweet voice, and there are a couple of canned gag sequences.

A short packed with more stars and gags than most features of its day, this film delivered a gaggle of guffaws!

The edition of Screen Snapshots celebrates 25 years of production. It looks at the content of edition #1, then a tribute to movie people who have died in those 25 years. Finally there are tributes to the Screen Snapshots series by Cecil De Mille, Walt Disney, Louella Parsons and Rosalind Russell.

Running Hollywood is a comedy short.

Mr. Flip flirts with every woman he sees, and ends up with a pie, shaving cream, and seltzer in his face.

After a fight with his neighbor over their Model Ts, Ben's tuxedo is ruined. Unfortunately, the suit he gets as a replacement doesn't hold up too well.

The plot has Ben Turpin as the prince of a mythical country who is being forced to wed a princess not of his choosing. In 1947, an outfit headed by J.J.Balaber, called Grand International Pictures, acquired 1,300,000 feet of Mack Sennet films with the intentions of editing 26 short comedies from them. The first of these was a 13 minute short edited from "When a Man's A Prince" and released on June 18,1947 as the first of the "Americana Comedy Film Classic Series."

An American ambassador arrives in a small country that is being convulsed by political intrigue and civil unrest. He befriends the young boy who is to be the country's king, to ensure that the boy is prepared to take on the role and also to see that he lives long enough to assume the crown.

Unlikely Lothario, the less-than-dashing crossed-eyed Ben Turpin, finds himself pursued by many beautiful ladies.

Silent comedy short film starring Ben Turpin

To avoid hostilities, Maryan, the ward of Doc May, a medicine show owner, induces Pop Garner, a circus owner, to join forces with her guardian. Doc May and Daphne, his wife, work as clowns; and Garry, a singing soldier of fortune, sings along with Maryan's act. Ruth, Maryan's partner, quits to get married; and Joe, who is jealous of Garry, replaces her with Trixie, his former assistant. When Garry announces his engagement to Maryan, Trixie persuades him to join a strip poker game in a drunken state and "compromises" him in the presence of his fiancée. Grief-stricken, Maryan falls during her act, and Garry, robbed of circus funds, is arrested. In spite of her injuries, Maryan, learning of Trixie's treachery, performs the act with her and forces a confession by threatening to drop her; Garry is released and is welcomed back to the show.

Behind enemy lines, Captain Bob White disguises himself as a woman in order to fool members of the German High Command, including the Kaiser himself.

A henpecked husband and his wife vacation at a seaside resort. While he's enjoying the view of the local bathing beauties, he has to be careful not to let his wife see him enjoying himself.

An inventor and his assistant build a robot that looks like their janitor, and everyone tries to profit off the invention.

The day starts off as any normal day on Roach's farm, where Teddy, the farmhouse dog, is doing more productive work than everyone else combined. But the day changes when Roach's farmhand sees an opportunity to be the knight in shining armor to Louise, Roach's daughter, who he wants to marry.

Lefty O'Brien, a pugilist, becomes engaged to ex-tomboy Patsy Ryan against the wishes of her father, Michael. They both live in an Irish-Jewish neighborhood on New York's East Side known as "Hogan's Alley." Lefty defeats Battling Savage for the championship, breaking his left hand and leaving his opponent close to death.

An oil heir and the daughter of a social climbing family are set to marry.

Ben and fiancée Haver run a bakery and grocery. A mostly lost film, only seven minutes survive.

A short featuring many stars

Stan and Ollie work in a horn factory. Ollie starts having violent fits every time he hears a horn. His doctor prescribes a restful sea voyage. Mayhem ensues.

Squire Laurie, the village skinflint, takes a circus tiger as security for a loan. Arthur, who loves Lillian, the old man's daughter, hates tigers, having bucked them, but when Laurie's tiger dies of despondency Arthur skins it, so that Ben, the keeper can pose in its skin before the half-blind miser and save his job, while Arthur warned off the premises by old Laurie, turns tiger occasionally so that he can sit in the cage and make love through the bars to Lillian, despite her hard-hearted Pa. When the old man becomes suspicious he is chased by the fake tiger until he consents to Lillian's marriage.

An emaciated youth calls upon a physician who pumps air into his lungs until his chest is abnormal in size. With the power of the compressed air within him, the fellow swaggers about town, blowing signs off buildings, helping out many people from difficulties where strength is required, and finding numerous opportunities for his great lung power.

Unknown to Kelsey and Ryan, two prominent actors, the show troupe to which they are sent by their booking agent, was driven from town by the Constable and his deputies. While waiting for their train the two actors stepped into the depot lunchroom and are seen by Rube and Ben, both out of employment. Rube and Ben steal the actors' suitcases, their wallet containing two dollars, their railroad transportation and their contract to join the troupe for which they are leaving. The actors finding their suitcases and wallet gone and being unable to pay for the food they have eaten, are detained by two roustabouts of the lunchroom long enough for Rube and Ben to leave on their train, and are then thrown out.

Sweedie, the cook, decides that it would be nice to learn to swim, so goes to a "dry land" swimming class for instruction. She is thrown out of the class after fighting with several of the members and goes home, where she fills the bathtub with water and proceeds to learn to swim.

A roguish baron saves a girl from a carriage accident, and brings her to a backwoods Inn during a storm for refuge. There he hopes to have his way with her. She's actually the queen traveling incognito, which the loyal residents recognize. The cross-eyed baron keeps getting caught trying to get into the queen-then the inn keeper's wife's bedroom.

A businessman's jealous wife suspects he is running around with other women. The tables are turned when a friend of the family involves her in a stock scheme. Her husband begins to suspect that she and her "partner" are involved in more than just business, not knowing that the scheme has gone bad and she has lost all the money she invested.

Rube's and Ben's wives are waitresses. An art collector purchases a rare picture and the "picture pirate," representing himself as another collector, calls on the first collector. As he is leaving the place Rube and Ben try to pick his pockets, and admonishing them as amateurs, he tells them to join in with him and try to steal the picture. They take the art collector's wife with them to the same café wherein their wives are waitresses. Ben and Rube leave her there and hasten to her home to steal a copy of the picture, the owner having hidden the original. They also drink some poisoned whiskey left for them and fall into a fit. Later the "picture pirate" pays Rube and Ben for the picture, thinking it is the original.

An appreciative, uncritical look at silent film comedies and thrillers from early in the century through the 1920s.

A burlesque of Shakespeare's immortal tragedy.

Café de Luxe's owner comes back to his restaurant after a vacation.

A tramp heads home drunk on a Saturday night, finding it hard to make it to his room. When he finally does, he cannot make it to his bed.

After many years as a vagabond, Ronald comes home to his family who are about to be evicted from their home. He saves their home and, while chasing a runaway pancake, saves a kidnapped girl as well.

Hatch, the world's greatest wrestler, arrives in Snakeville and stands ready to defend his title against all comers. Bloggie meets him on the street, and not knowing who he is, starts a fight. The result is that the champion sends a challenge to Bloggie. Bloggie immediately starts training for the match. Bloggies wins the first fall, and Hatch the second. Bloggie wins the third and deciding fall by tickling the bottom of his opponent's feet, and amid cheers is carried away on the shoulders of his admirers. —Moving Picture World synopsis

A college football player is injured by a jealous teammate during practice, but comes back unexpectedly to play for his team in the season's key game.

Now hear this. The studio that gave the cinema its voice offered 1929 audiences a chance to see and hear multiple silent-screen favorites for the first time in a gaudy, grandiose music-comedy-novelty revue that also included Talkie stars, Broadway luminaries and of course, Rin-Tin-Tin. Frank Fay hosts a jamboree that, among its 70+ stars, features bicyclers, boxing champ Georges Carpentier, chorines in terpsichore kickery, sister acts, Myrna Loy in two-strip Technicolor as an exotic Far East beauty, John Barrymore in a Shakespearean soliloquy (adding an on-screen voice to his legendary profile for the first time) and Winnie Lightner famously warbling the joys of Singing in the Bathtub. Watch, rinse, repeat!

The gentlemen of a fashionable social club become annoyed when their guest, Ben, has their wives entranced with stories of his bravery battling outlaws in the wild west. They decide to teach him a lesson by having a club worker disguise himself with a bear skin rug and sneak up on Ben.

Bill Binks sold his ranch and came home in high glee, carrying the currency, for Bill didn't believe in banks. Bill tried to think of an unusual place to hide that currency and finally hit upon an old pair of boots, then Bill betook himself off without saying a word to his faithful helpmate.

Amos faces a few difficulties as he tries to drive his cross-eyed wife and their two rambunctious children to California.

Jimmy Durante asks popular song writing team Mack Gordon and Harry Revel to demonstrate some of their songs. There is interplay with impersonator Florence Desmond, Ben Turpin, Rudy Vallee and many others.

Wallace Beery dresses up as a lady to fool the man.

A count shows up in Snakeville to deliver a letter telling matronly Margaret Joslin that she has inherited a lot of money, so of course he wants to romance and marry her.

The queen of mythical Sylvania marries a courtier, who finds his new life unsatisfying.

Compilation of comedy sketches from the comedy kings Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Danny Kaye & Bing Crosby.

A young writer, John Hale, inherits a fortune and moves into an alleged-haunted castle with his servant "Rusty." He discovers the 'hauntee' to be Countess von Baden, hiding in a secret chamber with her son, whom the court has awarded to her divorced husband.

Basically this is a commercial for Hollywood's Lido Lounge and for MGM contract players. The Lido is a large watering hole; we visit one afternoon with an orchestra playing, all sorts of stars and would-be stars sitting at tables near the pool alongside paying customers, and bathing beauties parading and diving. The Lido's manager, Reggy Denny, introduces the stars in the audience. He's sometimes interrupted by someone who does a bit, sings a song, or otherwise entertains: most of these are novelty acts. By the end, everyone's having a swell time.

Ben Turpin & Rube Miller trying to fix a leak.

Rube Miller & Ben Turpin enters a harem.

Ben, the butcher, is in love with a girl who does not reciprocate his affections. He falls asleep and has a dream in which he threatens to foreclose the mortgage on the home of the girl he loves. He also makes a regular crook of the girl's brother by having his safe robbed and the money placed in the brother's pocket. Ben is aroused from his dream by his partner, who is beating him over the head with a slab of meat.

In one of the handful of Sennett/ Paramount Films to survive we visit a traveling medicine show.

The conductor of a one-man streetcar has to deal with getting passengers on and off, getting tickets, making sure no one tries to ride for free and operating the car all at the same time.

A dubious count comes on a visit.

This short film takes a nostalgic look at the Mack Sennett comedies of the silent cinema era.

Chaos reigns in Louise Fazenda's kitchen as the cat stalks and consumes the bird in the cuckoo clock and the baby paints its face with jam. In her next job in a restaurant kitchen, Louise scrambles up her powder puff and her biscuits. The cook orders her to lighten them up. She blows them up like balloons, but they come out like rubber balls and so she is bounced out of that job. In her next position as housekeeper to a rich family, she throws a party for her friends when the family goes on vacation and they turn the house topsy-turvy.

A compilation featuring comedic stars of the silent era including Will Rogers, Laurel and Hardy, and the Keystone Cops.

Two marines stationed in the Chinese port of Hang Chow decide to swear off women and join the lighthouse patrol.

Charles Murray gets caught by his wife flirting with a dancer.

To impress his fiancee's aunt, a young man tries to become king in a small kingdom, but the people there have already crowned one, who has won this honor by gambling. So he plans a coup d'etat. He tries to achieve this with a bomb, but then something goes wrong...

Two marines stationed in the Chinese port of Hang Chow decide to swear off women and join the lighthouse patrol.

Chase Me Charlie was an anthology consisting of excerpts from several of Chaplin's short films made for the Essanay Company, including The Tramp, Shanghaied, In the Park and The Bank. The 1918 film-- fourteen years later-- was re released, this time with music and narration. The score was written by Elias Breeskin and the narration was spoken by Teddy Bergman who later changed his name to Alan Reed

In Sleepytown, cross-eyed Sam Smith and Mary Brown are about to get married. But the scoundrel, Jim Jones, wants Mary for himself. Jim uses a publicity still that Sam sent away for against him to show Sam the cad in the eyes of Mary. Disgraced and without Mary, Sam leaves town and heads for Hollywood to redeem himself. Despite not being typical leading man material, Sam is able to make a success of it in Hollywood, and wants to return to Sleepytown a new man and to get Mary back. But Jim will not give Mary up without a fight, he using any means, including lying, to turn the town, including Mary, against Sam, their newly beloved hometown son. This 1939 version was re-edited from a 1921 film with added sound.

Dance of the Cookoos is merged a cinematic cross section with the high points from almost 100 works of Laurel & Hardy, into an original framework action

A hobo on roller skates creates havoc in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood

Sweedie, the cook, reads an ad in the newspaper for a maid to give her services in exchange for college tuition. She applies and is accepted.

Peter Sellers makes funny voice narration over the Chaplin film A Burlesque on Carmen (1915).

Short documentary about Chaplin's year at Essanay. Clips from Chaplin films but also from other Essanay films.

This film is a compilation, with narration by Steve Allen, of comedies from the old Mack Sennett silent studio. Sennett, himself, appears in a cameo at the end of the film.

“ Polly Moran, known as Becky O'Brien in this picture, conducts a pawn shop with Ben Turpin and Charles Lynn as her appraisers and clerks. Ben is her sweetheart and Polly sure does love him, but Ben is not quite so enthusiastic, excepting when the cash register is made to tingle, then all his love is for Becky. ” - Synopsis from Motion Picture News

Cupid's Day Off

The Pawnbroker's Heart

Lost: A Cook

The whimsical adventures of the impetuous Sheriff Nell (Polly Moran), who keeps Triggerville in line with an iron fist. But her heart is set on Jack, the saloon barman, and Black Pete, a notorious crook.