Paul Killiam (September 12, 1916 – November 12, 1998) was an entertainer, film historian, and film collector who provided comedic narration at showings of
silent film
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
s, including as host on his own television show. He was a pioneer in film preservation and the reintroduction of old films to the viewing public during the television era. He amassed a large and valuable collection of films. It was sold to various buyers after his death.
Killiam hosted ''Hometown TV'', which debuted on
WOR-TV
WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York metropolitan area as the flagship of the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alo ...
on November 17, 1952. From off-camera he narrated old films and other material.
In 1954 he produced a 15 minute TV series through Sterling Television called "The Movie Museum" and showed one-reel silent short subjects.
He performed on ''
The Steve Allen Show
''The Steve Allen Show'' is an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC, '' delivering a comedic monologue about his film company and then delivering contemporary narration over silent film footage from a film about cave dweller era relations. He hosted the ''Paul Killiam Show'' which featured a similar format of comedic introduction followed by ridiculous narration of old films including from
Thomas Alva Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions ...
's
Edison Studio.
In 1959 he started working with home movie distributor
Blackhawk Films Blackhawk Films, from the 1950s through the early 1980s, marketed motion pictures on 16mm, 8mm and Super 8 film. Most were vintage one- or two-reel short subjects, usually comedies starring Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keat ...
to bring silent films and highlights of noted features to the 8mm and 16mm home movie market, sometimes adding his own annotations.
In 1960 he produced a half-hour TV series called "Silents Please" which showed highlights of silent features and comedy shorts, sometimes hosted by Ernie Kovacs.
In 1961 he co-produced with Saul Turell "The Legend Of
Rudolph Valentino
Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor who starred in several well-known sile ...
" for Wolper-Sterling Films.
He hosted the show ''Hour of Silents''.
He worked as a consultant for two Hollywood Documentaries "Hollywood: The Golden Years"(1961) "Hollywood: The Great Stars" (1963) and "The Horror Of It All" (1983)
In 1977 he Executive Produced for PBS "The Men Of Bronze" about the WW I all-black 369th Infantry Regt. The "Harlem Hellfighters". It was later distributed by his Killiam Shows theatrical distribution company.
His film company lost a suit over the film rights to ''
The Son of the Sheik
''The Son of the Sheik'' is a 1926 American silent adventure drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Bánky. The film is based on the 1925 romance novel ''The Sons of the Sheik'' by Edith Maude Hull ...
''.
In 1983, the ''New York Times'' reported on his activities.
An orchestra purchased some of the films in his collection.
See also
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Ben Model
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Killiam, Paul
American entertainers
American film historians
1916 births
1998 deaths