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Gayety Comedies
Gayety Comedies are a comedy film series released made in the United States during the silent film era. They debuted in 1919 and were distributed to various film exchanges Al Christie produced them. The studio that made them was owned by E. H. Emmick and J. L. Friedman and was on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. George Ovey and Lillian Biron featured in several. Biron had previously acted in Vogue Comedies. Billy Bletcher and Vera Reynolds were added to keep up with production demand. Gayety Studios advertised itself as producing a one-reel comedy once a week. The content was promoted as "polite slapstick." The New England territorial sales were handled by the American Feature Film Company. In western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, they were overseen by The Quality Film Company. The Electric Theatre Supply Company handled the film rights in the majority of Mid-Atlantic states, and the Southeastern United States were managed by the E and H Film Distribut ...
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Al Christie
Charles Herbert Christie (April 13, 1882 – October 1, 1955) and Alfred Ernest Christie (November 23, 1886 – April 14, 1951) were Canadian motion picture entrepreneurs. Early life Charles Herbert Christie was born between April 13, 1880 and April 13, 1882, and Alfred Ernest Christie was born between October 23, 1881 and November 23, 1886, both in London, Ontario. Their father managed the Opera House and their mother was its box-office manager and accountant. Charles graduated from school at age 14, and graduated from the four-year accountancy course in two years at age 16. Career Charles, at age 23, was offered a job as the stage manager for Liebler and Company and accepted it on the condition that his brother Al also be given a job. They worked for the organization for three years. Charles joined the film industry after being hired as an accountant for the Nestor Film Company. William Horsley stated that "I wonder if we would have survived as a viable industry ha ...
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Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in the cities of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood (including a portion known as the Sunset Strip), as well as several districts in Los Angeles. Geography Approximately in length, the boulevard roughly traces the arc of mountains that form part of the northern boundary of the Los Angeles Basin, following the path of a 1780s cattle trail from the Pueblo de Los Angeles to the ocean. From Downtown Los Angeles, the boulevard heads northwest, to Hollywood, through which it travels due west for several miles before it bends southwest towards the ocean. It passes through or near Echo Park, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Holmby Hills. In Bel-Air, Sunset Boulevard runs along the northern boundary ...
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George Ovey
George Overton O’Dell, known as George Ovey professionally (December 13, 1870 – September 23, 1951), was an American film actor and comedian. Ovey was born December 13, 1870, in Trenton, Missouri. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1915 and 1951, but he is best known as the character "Merry Jerry" in dozens of short films known as the "Cub Comedies" that were produced in the mid-1910s by Mutual Films and directed by Milton Fahrney. Ovey died September 23, 1951, in Hollywood, California. Partial filmography * '' Fatty's Reckless Fling'' (1915) * ''Jerry in the Movies'' (1916) * '' Oh, Mabel Behave'' (1922) * ''Fight and Win'' (1924)*costarring Jack Dempsey * '' The Arizona Sweepstakes'' (1926) * '' Transcontinental Limited'' (1926) * '' The Sporting Lover'' (1926) * '' Strings of Steel'' (1926) * '' The Yankee Clipper'' (1927) * '' Pals in Peril'' (1927) * ''Desert Dust'' (1927) * ''My Friend from India'' (1927) * '' A Trick of Hearts'' (1928) * '' Broadway'' (1 ...
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Lillian Biron
Lillian Biron (1898 – 1957), also known as Lillian Thompson, was an actress in American comedy films. She was in Vogue Comedies. She then featured in Gayety Comedies with George Ovey. She starred in '' Below the Deadline'' with H. B. Warner. She featured in Mack Sennett comedy films. Career Before becoming an actress, Biron worked in 1916 as a movie ticket collector and cashier at Liberty Theater in Long Beach, California. That same year, she was picked to star in several of the comedy films produced at Keystone Studios and was described by Charles Murray to be a favorite at the studio. She was cast for major roles by director Mack Sennett. After James Clemens was promoted to a directorial position in November 1919, he began producing films for the Gayety Comedies series that primarily featured Biron as female lead. She played the role of gang leader's wife, Alice Elliot, in the 1921 production of '' Below the Deadline''. Described in the ''Record-Journal'' as "one of the mos ...
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Billy Bletcher
William Bletcher (September 24, 1894 – January 5, 1979) was an American actor. He was known for voice roles for various classic animated characters, most notably Pete in Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse short films and the Big Bad Wolf in Disney's '' Three Little Pigs''. Early life William Bletcher was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on on September 24, 1894, to Huber and Dora Bletcher. Career Bletcher appeared on-screen in films and later television from the 1910s to the 1970s, including appearances in several ''Our Gang'' and ''The Three Stooges'' comedies. He was most active as a voice actor. His voice was a deep, strong and booming baritone. Bletcher provided the voices of various characters for Walt Disney Animation Studios ( Black Pete, Short Ghost and the Big Bad Wolf in '' Three Little Pigs''). He auditioned to play one of the dwarfs in Disney's '' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (1937). However, Walt Disney disapproved for fear that people would recognize Bletcher fr ...
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Vera Reynolds
Vera Reynolds (born Vera Nancy Reynolds; November 25, 1899 – April 22, 1962) was an American film actress. Early life and career Born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1899, Reynolds first worked in films at age 12. She began as a dancer, worked as one of the Sennett Bathing Beauties, and became a leading lady in silent motion pictures. Among her film credits are starring roles in Sam Wood's '' Prodigal Daughters'' (1923), and Cecil B. DeMille's ''Feet of Clay'' (1924), '' The Golden Bed'' (1925), '' The Road to Yesterday'' (1925) and '' Dragnet Patrol'' (1931) with George "Gabby" Hayes. Controversy On August 28, 1927, police in Hollywood reported that Reynolds had taken poison. Later the same evening she clarified what had occurred. She explained that an excited telephone operator had phoned the police when her mother requested a doctor. The police arrived along with an ambulance. The actress was found unconscious on the floor of a bathroom in her Hollywood home. Police res ...
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Reel
A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a ''spool'') with flanges around the ends (known as the ''rims'') to retain the material wound around the core. In most cases the core is hollow in order to pass an axle and allow the reel to rotate like a wheel, and crank or handles may exist for manually turning the reel, while others are operated by (typically electric) motors. Construction The size of the core is dependent on several factors. A smaller core will obviously allow more material to be stored in a given space. However, there is a limit to how tightly the stored material can be wound without damaging it and this limits how small the core can be. Other issues affecting the core size include: * Mechanical strength of the core (especially with big reels) * Acceptable turning speed (for a given rate of material mo ...
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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 as saws and ladders. The term arises from a device developed for use in the broad, physical comedy style known as ''commedia dell'arte'' in 16th-century Italy. The " slap stick" consists of two thin slats of wood, which make a "slap" when striking another actor, with little force needed to make a loud—and comical—sound. The physical slap stick remains a key component of the plot in the traditional and popular Punch and Judy puppet show. Other examples of slapstick humor include '' The Naked Gun'' and Mr. Bean. Origins The name "slapstick" originates from the Italian ''Batacchio'' or ''Bataccio'' – called the " slap stick" in English – a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in ''commedia dell'arte''. When struck, ...
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Motion Picture News
The ''Motion Picture News'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1913 to 1930. History The publication was created through the 1913 merger of the ''Moving Picture News'' founded in 1908 and ''The Exhibitors' Times'', founded earlier in 1913.Grau, Robert (1914). The Theatre of Science', p. 247 After being acquired by Martin Quigley in 1930, the publication was merged with ''Exhibitors' Herald World'' to form the ''Motion Picture Herald''. See also * List of film periodicals Film periodicals combine discussion of individual films, genres and directors with in-depth considerations of the medium and the conditions of its production and reception. Their articles contrast with film reviewing in newspapers and magazines whi ... References External links ''Motion Picture News'', Vols. 20–24(November–December 1919), via Google Books ''Motion Picture News'' (1913–1930)links at Media History Digital Library 1913 establishments in the United States 1930 ...
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New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick to the northeast and Quebec to the north. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east and southeast, and Long Island Sound is to the southwest. Boston is New England's largest city, as well as the capital of Massachusetts. Greater Boston is the largest metropolitan area, with nearly a third of New England's population; this area includes Worcester, Massachusetts (the second-largest city in New England), Manchester, New Hampshire (the largest city in New Hampshire), and Providence, Rhode Island (the capital of and largest city in Rhode Island). In 1620, the Pilgrims, Puritan Separatists from England, established Plymouth Colony, the second successful English settlement in America, following the Jamestown Settlement in Virg ...
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Mid-Atlantic (United States)
The Mid-Atlantic is a region of the United States located in the overlap between the Northeastern and Southeastern states of the United States. Its exact definition differs upon source, but the region typically includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia with other sources including or excluding other states or areas in the Northeast and Southeast.Earl A. Greene et al"Ground-Water Vulnerability to Nitrate Contamination in the Mid-Atlantic Region". USGS Fact Sheet FS 2004-3067. 2005. Retrieved April 25, 2013. Note: Although the locator map appears to exclude part of northwestern Pennsylvania, other more detailed maps in this article include all of the state. Often, when discussing climate, southern Connecticut is included with the Middle Atlantic.''EPA Region 3 (Mid-Atlantic) , Serving Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and 7 federally recognized tribes''. U.S. En ...
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Southeastern United States
The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern portion of the eastern United States. It comprises at least a core of states on the lower East Coast of the United States and eastern Gulf Coast. Expansively, it reaches as far north as West Virginia and Maryland (bordered to north by the Ohio River and Mason–Dixon line), and stretching as far west as Arkansas and Louisiana. There is no official U.S. government definition of the region, though various agencies and departments use different definitions. Geography The U.S. Geological Survey considers the Southeast region to be the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, plus Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. There is no official C ...
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