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

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by Harry A. Pollard and starring Charles Murray,

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 back ...

, 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 film, 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 ...

. 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 legal 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, ...

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 in a story.

Plot

As articulated in the ''Nichols'' case, 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 theatre, Broadway Play (theatre), play, it has become familiar through repeated stage productions, films and radio programs. The basic premi ...

'' 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 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 (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

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'' (1928), '' The Cohens and Kellys in Atlantic City'' (1929), '' The Cohens and the Kellys in Scotland'' (1930), '' The Cohens and the Kellys in Africa'' (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 ...

'' (1932), and '' The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble'' (1933). It was an early production of Edward Small.

References

External links

* * * {{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