The Century, Rainbow, and Stern Brothers Comedies of Julius and Abe Stern

26/06/2024

Julius and Abe Stern, who had taken over ownership of the L-Ko Komedy Kompany brand in mid-1916, cleaned house of most of former owner Henry Lehrman’s stock company. One who survived this purge was Alice Howell, who had attained prominence as the company’s star female comedienne.

Lehrman had lured the thirty-year-old Howell away from Keystone back in 1915, one of several acquisitions from the Keystone studios around that time. Born on May 20, 1886, in New York City, and a former vaudevillian, the five foot two inch, one hundred thirty-pound Howell had been forced to seek work when her second husband and fellow performer Richard “Dick” Smith contracted tuberculosis, bringing their act to an end. Bit parts at Keystone followed in 1914, and her comedic talents and rough-and-tumble willingness were quickly noted.

With the Sterns’s takeover of the studio and the aforementioned jettisoning of the bulk of L-Ko’s comedians, the company’s one constant and all-around workhorse was Alice Howell, whose initial appearance on film was in FATHER WAS A LOAFER (1915). Howell starred in a total of thirty-five comedies during 1915 and 1916, that latter year including A BUSTED HONEYMOON, THE GREAT SMASH, TILLIE’S TERRIBLE TUMBLE, THE BANKRUPTCY OF BOGGS AND SCHULTZ, PIRATES OF THE AIR, HIS TEMPER-MENTAL MOTHER-IN-LAW, and TATTLE-TALE ALICE. So successful were these comedies that Julius decided that Howell deserved a studio of her own and the success that would go with it, rather than continuing to churn out comedies for L-Ko where she was only one cog in the larger wheel.

Beginning with 1917’s BALLOONATICS, Howell and her director John G. Blystone churned out eight comedies released over a ten-month period before the release of the ninth, IN DUTCH, released on this date—June 26—in 1918. IN DUTCH features Howell as a wooden-clogged stowaway who ends up marrying one of her shipboard protectors, later landing a dancing gig at the night club where he serves as a waiter. Howell has plenty of opportunity to shine in this film, her various attempts to steal food from two below-deck sailors—one of them an uncredited Jimmy Finlayson—while stowed away in a crate is an extended delight, as are her charming little dances in the night club, one of them sped up to such a degree by under-cranking that her moves become a visual blur. Her co-stars, Hughie Mack as her waiter husband and Neal Burns as a persistent suitor, take part in another sequence that is one of the film’s highlights. When Howell spurns Burns after his repeated attempts to woo her, he decides to kill himself. Mack, eager to have this nuisance out of the way, impatiently waits outside for him to do so, barring both the owner and a waiter from entering until the deed is done. Burns’s attempts all fail. First, his pistol jams and then the hammer slams on his finger, so he tosses it away. Mack quickly replaces it with his own pistol, but it turns out he forgot to load it, so then Mack sneaks in a large knife. It bends when Burns attempts to plunge it into his chest. Frustrated, Mack enters and tries to club Burns with a coat tree, but Burns exits while the tree is hung up in a drape. The sequence is a hoot!

We are fortunate that two of the initial nine comedies—NEPTUNE’S NAUGHTY DAUGHTER (1917) and IN DUTCH—have both survived, and are available on DVD, courtesy of UnderCrank Productions’ THE ALICE HOWELL COLLECTION. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy!

If you’d like to learn more about Alice Howell and her comedies for both L-Ko and Century, look no further than my books MR. SU***DE: HENRY “PATHE” LEHRMAN AND THE BIRTH OF SILENT COMEDY and TIME IS MONEY! THE CENTURY, RAINBOW, AND STERN BROTHERS COMEDIES OF JULIUS AND ABE STERN (by Thomas Reeder, BearManor Media).

16/06/2024

LIONS’ JAWS AND KITTENS’ PAWS, released on this date—June 16—in 1920, is another lucky survivor of the ravages of time, the print held by the Museum of Modern Art a showcase for young Harry Sweet’s considerable talents and comic timing. Written and directed by William Watson, this is another of the seemingly endless string of “lions on the loose” comedies churned out by Julius and Abe Stern’s Century Comedies for release through Universal, 1919-22.

Sweet and wife Edna (yes, Edna; not Ena) Gregory live in an apartment building upstairs from “Ladies Tailor” Zip Monberg and his wife, played by Merta Sterling. Zip takes measurements of Edna for a fitting, and proceeds to flirt with her. Merta observes this and brings it to Sweet’s attention. Sweet arrives, pistol in hand, and after some verbal threats a chase ensues, Sweet’s pistol spewing forth what seems like dozens, if not hundreds, of bullets. Sweet eventually tires of the chase, but follows up by unloading a truckload of caged lions into the apartment house. The beasts bound up and down staircases, crash through doors, and leap through open transoms, terrorizing every one of the building’s occupants. Zip and Merta eventually flee to their bed and cover themselves, a bunch of lions quickly joining them. There’s a dissolve from the lions to a bunch of kittens on the bed, the whole film—or at least the lion portion of it—turning out to have been a bad dinner-induced dream.

Sweet, who gained a lot of weight within a few years of these early comedies, is pleasantly slim in this one. His single-minded determination to kill Monberg is surprisingly bloodthirsty, especially given the latter’s essentially non-threatening flirtation with Sweet’s wife. Monberg plays his role as the tailor comparatively straight in this one, a far cry from his ruthless thug in the Sterns’s ALL FOR THE DOUGH BAG. Edna Gregory is an attractive presence, but sadly given little to do here. And then there are the two black janitors, on board here for the obligatory—for the era, at least—sequence where they are scared out of their wits by the marauding lions. One of them jumps into a furnace to escape the lions, while the other garners some good laughs with a close-up of his terrorized face, going through all sorts of eye-bugging, cheek-puffing contortions before the closing shot where he shrinks and un-shrinks multiple times in a clumsily, not-so-special effect shot. As for those lions, director William Watson’s handling of them is competently executed, or reasonably so, with lions seemingly everywhere making numerous breath-taking leaps. These sequences are occasionally marred by some poorly executed double exposures, the lions “crossing” that dividing line into the other half with the actors, their snouts and heads momentarily “disappearing” as they cross the matted line.

As Monberg’s jealous wife, Merta Sterling was another transplant from the Sterns’ earlier L-Ko brand, having appeared in nearly two dozen comedies for that company before switching brands. Wisconsin-born Sterling (1892-1944) had been a stenographer in the office of Klaw and Erlanger, supposedly managing to convince producers to let her take part in a revival of THE PRINCE OF PILSEN. Success in this role led to some work in vaudeville, after which she joined up with Kalem in 1915 and appeared in films for that company (as Myrtle Sterling) before moving over to L-Ko and Phil Dunham’s unit in films such as A LIMBURGER CYCLONE and THE FAT LITTLE RASCAL (both 1917), and later in Vin Moore’s CANNIBALS AND CARNIVALS (1918). Her first for Century was A LION IN THE HOUSE, followed by a handful more which included ROMEO AND JOLLY JULIETS (1919), GOOD LITTLE BROWNIE (1920), and LIONS’ JAWS AND KITTENS’ PAWS, all directed by William Watson.

If you’d like to learn more about the Stern Brothers and their various comedy brands, look no further than my book TIME IS MONEY! THE CENTURY, RAINBOW, AND STERN BROTHERS COMEDIES OF JULIUS AND ABE STERN (by Thomas Reeder, BearManor Media, 2021).

14/04/2024

From the Shameless Self-Promotion Department:

POVERTY ROW ROYALTY: THE FILMS OF PRODUCER SIGMUND NEUFELD AND HIS BROTHER, DIRECTOR SAM NEWFIELD, my (Thomas Reeder) latest, soon-to-be-published book, details the films and careers of two of Poverty Row’s long-ignored key figures. With careers that spanned that spanned most of the silent era and lasted well into the 1950s, the brothers were collectively responsible for more than 300 films that we know of, dozens more from the earliest years released without credit.

From a start at Carl Laemmle’s IMP in 1911 and an education in all aspects of filmmaking with the Stern Brothers’ comedy studios 1916-29, the 1930s were an extremely prolific period that resulted in films starring the Tiffany Chimps, Tim McCoy, Bob Steele, Kermit Maynard, and many others. The brothers’ critical importance to the success, and comparative longevity of, the studio that would become Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) 1939-46 is documented in detail, followed by a final decade of films for studios that included Lippert, Film Classics, Regal Films, and Associated Film Releasing Corp., along with several series for television.

The Neufeld and Newfield families provided considerable support to the writing of this book, most importantly with the frank and detailed recollections of Sig’s son, Sig Jr., and Sam’s son, Joel, both of whom were frequent observers of, and occasional participants in, many of the films produced from 1939 on. Dozens of never-before-published photos from the families’ albums help to illustrate the text.

POVERTY ROW ROYALTY will be published in the next few months by Split Reel Books. If you are interested in pre-ordering a signed copy of the book, and would like to contribute to the Kickstarter campaign currently running to fund its publication, details can be found here:

POVERTY ROW ROYALTY: The Films of Producer Sigmund Neufeld and His Brother, Director Sam Newfield

23/03/2024

When it comes to the “big names” in silent comedy production, Mack Sennett and Hal Roach top the list, with Al Christie trailing far behind. But then there are guys like Julius and Abe Stern who, while not household names, were extremely prolific and successful producers during the 1910s and 1920s.

Julius Stern, born on this day—March 22, 1886—in Flieden, Germany, immigrated to the U.S. at the encouragement of his brother-in-law Carl Laemmle, Julius’s sister Recha’s husband. For the next quarter century, Laemmle and Stern were inextricably linked, Stern serving first as manager of Laemmle’s Chicago-based White Front theatre, and soon after as assistant manager of the Laemmle Film Exchange. When Laemmle dove into production in 1909 with his New York-based Independent Moving Pictures Company—aka IMP—Stern was involved both financially and, by 1911, as general manager of same. Within a year IMP had become an integral part of the newly organized Universal Film Manufacturing Company, and by 1916 Stern the manager of Universal’s East Coast operations.

Stern retired later that same year to join brother Abe on the West Coast at the L-Ko Komedy Kompany, replacing Abe’s former partner Henry Lehrman as head of that brand’s comedy shorts. “Retirement” in name only, since Laemmle would continuously enlist Julius’s behind-the-scenes help with Universal operations in the years that followed, a festering bone of contention that only grew with time.

Over the next thirteen years, Julius and Abe would produce an endless stream of hundreds of modestly budgeted comedies, first with L-Ko, and later with the Century, Rainbow and, ultimately, the Stern Brothers brands. All were released through Universal, and while most of their stars were lesser knowns such as Alice Howell, Wanda Wiley, Harry Sweet, and others of similar “status,” the Sterns finally hit it comparatively big—for a short while, at least—with child star Baby Peggy Montgomery, the only one of their stars to advance to, and headline, feature films.

By 1929, however, after a falling out with Laemmle and the looming imperative of a switchover to sound production, the Stern brothers decided to call it quits, retiring as millionaires, sound investments allowing them to remain as such through the Depression and the decades that followed.

Interested in learning more about the Stern Brothers and their comedies? Look no further than TIME IS MONEY! THE CENTURY, RAINBOW, AND STERN BROTHERS COMEDIES OF JULIUS AND ABE STERN by Thomas Reeder (BearManor Media; 2021), available through Amazon.com and BearManorMedia.com.

22/03/2024

08/03/2024

Abe Stern, the younger, publicity-avoiding brother of producer Julius Stern, was born on this day—March 8—back in 1888. Abe was Henry Lehrman’s partner for the creation of the L-Ko Komedy Kompany back in 1914, his older brother Julius replacing Lehrman in that capacity a mere two years later. Abe and Julius would continue running L-Ko up until its end in 1919, creating Century Comedies in the interim in 1917, and replacing L-Ko—albeit briefly—with Rainbow Comedies (1919-20). Century would evolve into Stern Brothers Comedies in 1926, which soldiered on until 1929, avoiding the coming of sound.

Despite Abe’s continuous low profile, publicity-wise, his salary by September 1921 would, in today’s dollars, amount to somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,885,750. Not too shabby for a second- (or third?) tier comedy outfit.

Pictured here: Portraits of Abe Stern, along with his fancy new, chauffeur-driven limo in 1914.

Interested in learning more about the Abe and Julius Stern and their comedies? Look no further than TIME IS MONEY! THE CENTURY, RAINBOW, AND STERN BROTHERS COMEDIES OF JULIUS AND ABE STERN by Thomas Reeder (BearManor Media; 2021), available through Amazon.com and BearManorMedia.com.

03/03/2024

Julius and Abe Stern’s biggest catch of the 1923-24 season was unquestionably the newcomer Wanda Wiley (1901-1987), an attractive and athletic young lady with very limited prior film experience. Born Roberta Prestine Wiley on April 21 in New Boston, Bowie County, Texas, Wanda’s participation in a 1923 dance hall contest in San Antonio supposedly caught sponsor Rudolph Valentino’s eye. As the story goes, Valentino was impressed with Wanda, suggested that she go to Hollywood, and wrote her a letter of introduction. She packed her bags and eventually landed a job at the Universal City lot. Spotted by the Stern brothers in several episodes of THE LEATHER PUSHERS series, the Sterns hired her and placed her in six initial films, soon giving her starring roles with the Century Follies Girls in SAILOR MAIDS, STARVING BEAUTIES, and HER CITY SPORT. By 1926, Wiley was the Sterns’ biggest star, headlining one of their four “Star Series” units.

One of the few Wiley films that survives from this year—or at least its second reel—is the Edward Luddy-directed FLYING WHEELS (March 3, 1926). The absence of reel one pretty much precludes any sort of extended character development, but reel two makes up for it in a typical, Wileyesque action sequence. The race car driver scheduled to pilot her father’s car in the Annual Dealer’s Cross Country Auto Race fails to show. Wiley takes matters in her own hands, commandeering the race car without permission and heading off to the race. Having a late start, Wiley intends to catch up, but encounters numerous obstacles along the way: She drags a traffic cop a block or two; she plows through a row of tents, leaving their long-johned tenants hopping mad; she clips a lineman’s ladder, depositing him into a water trough; she gets a flat tire, but encourages a fellow using s***f to repeatedly sneeze into a funnel which re-inflates the tire; she plows into a huge haystack which covers the car until knocked loose by a tree, leaving Wiley to toss out “passenger” chickens left and right; and finally drives between two quarreling lovers, whisking the woman’s skirt and the fellow’s pants away with her. And then she wins the race.

LOS ANGELES TIMES’s film critic Kenneth Taylor described Wiley as possessing “one of the most expressive sets of features in comedy today…[and] while Miss Wiley is not exceptional as a comedienne, she has personality enough to bind all the many parts into one compact whole.” Wiley’s arguable comedic abilities aside, FLYING WHEELS’s second reel provides and entertaining ten minutes of fast-paced mayhem.

Pictured here: A series of lobby cards for the Century Comedy FLYING WHEELS (03/03/1926).

Interested in learning a whole lot more about Wanda Wiley’s life and film career? Look no further than my book TIME IS MONEY! THE CENTURY, RAINBOW, AND STERN BROTHERS COMEDIES OF JULIUS AND ABE STERN by Thomas Reeder (BearManor Media, 2021).

26/12/2023

When Alice Howell—Century Comedies’ star performer and raison d’etre—departed in 1919, Julius and Abe Stern scrambled to fill the void with an uninspired roster of third-tier comedians, lions, orangutans, and other “stars” of the non-human variety. It would be another two years before the celluloid gods smiled upon them and delivered a year-and-a-half old tyke named Peggy Montgomery, a cute-as-a-button, mop-topped cherub they quickly dubbed “Baby Peggy.”

Once her stunning popularity with filmgoers became evident, Baby Peggy was unofficially teamed with the studio’s canine star, Brownie the Wonder Dog, in a series of comedies that included PLAYMATES, PALS, GOLFING, BROWNIE’S BABY DOLL, A MUDDY BRIDE, and CHUMS (all 1921); other films featured Charles Dorety and Harry Sweet as her full-grown co-stars. Fred Fishback (aka Hibbard) directed Peggy in most of these films, but by 1922 Arvid Gillstrom was assigned to help lessen the load on Fishback’s sagging, scandal-associated shoulders.

By 1923, Alf Goulding had become her director of choice—not her choice, of course, but the Sterns’s choice—with titles that included PEG O’ THE MOVIES, SWEETIE, THE KID REPORTER, and MILES OF SMILES (all 1923). And then the Sterns had a brainstorm: “She’s a kid, right? Let’s star her in a bunch of fairy tales and other kid-friendly stories…and we won’t have to pay for the rights to them!” (Full disclosure: That isn’t an actual quote.)

Plans for a series of Baby Peggy fairy tales were announced, with potential titles such as HANSEL AND GRETEL, JACK AND THE BEANSTALK, LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD, SNOW WHITE, THE THREE BEARS, THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL, LITTLE BO PEEP, LITTLE BOY BLUE, THE LITTLE MERMAID, and ALICE IN WONDERLAND all thrown out as enticement. “This will be the first time in history,” wrote MOVING PICTURE WEEKLY, “that as young a child as 3-year-old Peggy will be able to carry through such parts, as they have always been played by older folk made up to look like children.” Ambitious plans, but as it turned out only the first three would make it onto film.

HENSEL AND GRETEL (released on this date—December 26—in 1923) and JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (1924) made it to theater screens, but LITTLE RED RIDING, the first to these to be filmed, was much delayed when its second reel was destroyed in a fire. Arriving in theaters more than three years after its originally announced release date (and with LITTLE dropped from its title), it was a bittersweet end to the aborted series, Baby Peggy by now long gone from the studio and starring in features for producer Sol Lesser.

Pictured here: Julius Stern and his little money-maker pose for the studios’ cameraman (note that all three photos where Julius is wearing a hat were taken on the same day); MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) president and so-called “film czar” Will Hays gets into the act for one of them.

Would you like to learn more about Baby Peggy Montgomery and her films for the Stern Brothers? Check out my book TIME IS MONEY! THE CENTURY, RAINBOW, AND STERN BROTHERS COMEDIES OF JULIUS AND ABE STERN (Thomas Reeder; BearManor Media, 2021).

19/10/2023

Julius and Abe Stern were always on the lookout for home-grown talent, and to that end would, on occasion, promote employees who had proven their worth and shown signs of imagination, creativity, and an innate sense of humor. Former actors Sam Neufeld/Newfield and Scott Pembroke were both advanced to direction, as was cinematographer Francis Corby (1893-1960).

Corby was an experienced and respected cameraman long before he turned to direction. A member of the American Society of Cinematographers, early work behind the camera included films for Universal and the Sterns at Century, as well as director Robert Hill’s feature THE BRAND OF COURAGE, entries in the Star Comedy series, and others. By late 1922 he had gone to work in Fred Fishback’s unit for Jack White’s Mermaid Comedies, where he received an intensive education in short comedy construction. Corby lensed films starring Cliff Bowes, such as PLUS AND MINUS and THE LIMIT (both 1923), and others starring Lige Conley, which included AIR POCKETS and NECK AND NECK (both 1924).

Hired by Universal in 1925, Corby was given the opportunity to direct several episodes in “The Gumps” series, and was loaned out to Sierra Pictures to shoot the Earle Douglas comedy HERE HE COMES. He then went to work for the Sterns at Century, specifically to direct. He was assigned to the Edna Marian unit, where he was responsible for THE BIG CITY, SAY IT WITH LOVE, MOVIE MADNESS, and WAIT A BIT (all 1926), among others. Having adequately demonstrated his capabilities with the Marian unit, Corby was then bounced around to whichever series needed assistance. Some diverse examples include entries in the “Let George Do It,” the “Buster Brown,” and the “What Happened to Jane?” series. Corby’s next ongoing assignment was directing the new “Mike and Ike” series, based on the popular Rube Goldberg comic strip series “Mike and Ike (They Look Alike).” Corby’s contributions included THE DANCING FOOLS, THERE’S A WILL (both 1927), and NO BLONDES ALLOWED (1928).

ALL FOR UNCLE, released on this date – October 19 – in 1927, and one of the few lucky films of the Sterns to survive, provides a representative example of the series. Ike’s fiancé dumps him when she thinks he’s a philanderer and a cheapskate, which causes a big problem when Uncle Dudley sends a telegram offering $10,000 if he approves of the fiancé. In a panic over Dudley’s imminent arrival, Mike is forced to dress in drag as “Mildred.” Dudley falls for “Mildred” and flirts shamelessly with her, much to Mike’s discomfort.

While filled with a lot of familiar situations and gags, ALL FOR UNCLE is competently handled by Corby, and provides plenty of laughs. There’s some nice camera work likely added at Corby’s insistence, one a backward tracking shot as the duo walks down the sidewalk, reversing course as Mike stops and follows a pretty girl headed the other way. A later scene where Ike holds a little girl upside down and violently shakes her to retrieve the engagement ring she has swallowed, is at once both funny and rather startling, the little girl clearly sobbing at this humiliating treatment. All in all, a pleasant, laugh-filled little comedy. A contemporary review in FILM DAILY speaks volumes about Corby’s film: “Francis Corby, who directed this third one of the ‘Mike and Ike’ series, [knows] how to get the best of the material and principals he has to work with, and they—the principals, at least—in turn make his job none too distressing, for Charles King and [Charles] Dorety in the roles of the twins, are troupers down to their toes.” Well said.

Interested in learning more about the Sterns and their comedy companies? Look no further than my book TIME IS MONEY! THE CENTURY, RAINBOW, AND STERN BROTHERS COMEDIES OF JULIUS AND ABE STERN (Thomas Reeder; BearManor Media, 2021).

04/09/2023

HER WHIRLWIND WEDDING, released on this date – September 4 – in 1918, was another of the Stern Brothers’ L-Ko Comedies released long after Henry Lehrman’s departure. The two-reel comedy co-starred Eva Novak, Robert McKenzie, Harry Lorraine, Chester Rykman, and Porter Strong.

Nineteen year old Eva Novak received her first film credit at L-Ko in Craig Hutchinson’s ROPED INTO SCANDAL (May 30, 1917) and would remain with the studio until its demise, her last and thirtieth film for the studio the extant ALL JAZZED UP (June 4, 1919) co-starring with Dan Russell, Phil Dunham, and Hughie Mack. Novak, along with co-stars Russell, Dunham, and Mack, had all been appearing separately in films for the Sterns’ Century brand as well during this period, as had other L-Ko performers Billy Armstrong and Merta Sterling. Novak would move into features where she would find far greater fame as Tom Mix’s leading lady. Her popularity waned with the coming of sound, but she would appear in mostly uncredited bit parts well into the 1960s.

The film’s synopsis (assuming anyone would actually wish to wade through this), from the August 31, 1918 issue of MOVING PICTURE WEEKLY:

“Old Man Jellyfish [MacKenzie] thought four years at college would transform his son Algernon [Ryckman] into a veritable ‘white hope’ and he is chagrined to find when Algy returns to the old home burg, that the pride of his life hasn’t much more ‘physique’ than a table onion. Even pretty Sally Succotash [Novak], who returns from college at the same time, can’t see much to rave about in the ‘eddicated’ Jellyfish boy until Algernon pulls some gewhilliker hero stuff and rescues her from Hector Hoot [Strong], a little ‘wilyun’ with lots of coin.
“Of course, a wedding is the only thing that would mean anything in the young lives of Algernon and Sally after that, so the proper arrangements are made.
“Just as the ceremony is about to begin, Hector Hoot walks in and reminds Father Succotash [Lorraine] that the latter’s bankroll isn’t any more valuable than Swedish matches in war time, and offers to help out the old man on condition that he get Sally. Bridegrooms are switched.
“Then comes a telegram informing Old Man Jellyfish that a relative has left him ten million dollars. Hector is told to evacuate the premises and Algernon again takes Sally into his arms. Just as the ceremony is about to start all over again a bomb, which the fiendish Hector had placed in the house, explodes. Amid the falling walls and flying timbers and clocks and such, the happy pair speak their marriage vows and agree to live happy ever after.”

MOVING PICTURE WORLD’s reaction to the film? “This comedy while it may get some laughs has just missed its mark as a burlesque,” wrote its reviewer (08/31/1918). “It follows its story of a courtship and wedding after the fashion of a burlesque on the filming of a moving picture story, and as such is not particularly amusing.” Tepid, indeed.

Pictured here: A full-page ad for HER WHIRLWIND WEDDING, from the August 24, 1918, issue of MOVING PICTURE WEEKLY; “Eva Novak, dainty L-Ko Ingenue.”

08/08/2023

With L-Ko’s premiere heavyweight comedian Franklin “Fatty” Voss’s untimely death early in 1917, the studio’s new owners, Julius and Abe Stern, decided to promote another recent hire to prominence, thirty-three-year-old, plus-sized star Merta Sterling.

Wisconsin-born Merta had been a stenographer in the office of Klaw and Erlanger before convincing the producers to let her take part in a revival of THE PRINCE OF PILSEN. Success in this role led to some work in vaudeville, after which she appeared in some Joker comedies before joining up with Kalem in 1915. She appeared in films primarily for that company (as Myrtle Sterling) before being hired by the Sterns and L-Ko in late 1916, where she was assigned to actor Phil Dunham’s unit.

Dunham, hired earlier in 1916, now appeared to be L-Ko’s lead performer, starring in an impressive fourteen comedies released by the beginning of August. All of these co-starred Lucille Hutton, who was hired as the departing Gertrude Selby’s replacement. Vin Moore would direct and occasionally appear onscreen, Jay Howe eventually assuming direction. The unit was filled out with the addition of newcomer Merta Sterling who appeared in the second release—A LIMBURGER CYCLONE (January 10, 1917) and all of the subsequent films.

THE LITTLE FAT RASCAL, released on this date – August 8 – in 1917, was the fourteenth of a whopping seventeen films released that same year starring Merta. Dunham and Sterling play country lovers daunted by her father (Charles Inslee), who disapproves of the relationship. She’s sent off to a girl’s school, and when it’s learned that she’s to inherit a fortune, an unscrupulous rival (Al Girard) and his girl (Lucille Hutton) kidnap her. Dunham, meanwhile, dresses in drag and attempts to infiltrate the school’s student body. Vin Moore directed.

“There is no particular novelty in this number,” wrote MOVING PICTURE WORLD, “and the humor is of the rough type. It is all acceptable in its way, but not at all strong. A fair subject.”

Sterling was eventually moved over to the Stern Brothers’ Century Comedies with L-Ko’s demise in 1919, and would appear in films in parts both large and small into the later 1920s, after which she left the business. She died in 1944.

Pictured here: Promo pieces for THE LITTLE FAT RASCAL (L-Ko, August 8, 1917)

21/03/2023

Overjoyed by the success of their new “Buster Brown” series of shorts introduced for the 1925-26 season, Julius and Abe Stern decided to give their aging Century Comedies a facelift by renaming them Stern Brothers Comedies. And if one new series based on a comic strip was a huge success, why not introduce some more? Which they did, some very successful—“The Newlyweds and Their Baby” and “Let George Do It”—and some single-season flops—“The Excuse Maker,” “Keeping Up With the Joneses,” and “What Happened to Jane.” The one moderately successful series was “Mike and Ike (They Look Alike)” which lasted for the final two seasons of the Stern Brothers’ output, 1927-29.

“Mike and Ike” was based on Rube Goldberg’s Popular comic strip, introduced in the SAN FRANCISCO BULLETIN back in 1907. The premise of the strip was that Mike and Ike, identical twins of questionable intellect, get into all sorts of predicaments, as UNIVERSAL WEEKLY put it, “brought about by their resemblance and the laughable errors of mistaken identity.” Charles King was assigned a starring role, this one as Mike, while Charles Dorety was brought back to the studio to play Ike. Former cameraman Francis Corby was slated to direct, and well-known comedy story writer and gag man Roland Asher was engaged to adapt the strips to the screen.

If promotional pieces are to be believed, Goldberg had this to say about the upcoming series: “After I saw what bully comedies they were putting out from the George McManus strips, ‘The Newlyweds and Their Baby’ and ‘Let George Do It,’ I felt that this firm was the one to do justice to my strips. I am looking forward with great anticipation to the outcome. I predict an excellent series.” Sounds like PR puffery to me.

An element of raciness was added in some of the entries, such as the frenetically paced NO BLONDES ALLOWED, released on this date—March 21—in 1928, and a delightful showcase for the teaming of King and Dorety as the cartoon twins. In this one King, as Mike, attempts to get his wife onto a train and off on a vacation so that he and Dorety, as Ike, can make time with the two blondes hidden in Dorety’s closed rumble seat. Speeding back to King’s house, a motorcycle cop stops them and listens to their flimsy excuse of rushing back to the aid of King’s ailing wife and infant. Not quite buying their story, the cop insists on accompanying them. Dorety hastily convinces one of the blondes to pose as the wife, and provides her with a tiny monkey dressed in infant clothes. Independent of this, King convinces the other blonde to pose as well while he manipulates a hand puppet as the supposed infant. The cop is fooled at first, imagining a resemblance of King to the monkey—a subtle and very funny double-exposure—but is soon on to them. And when King’s wife returns home unexpectedly—she missed her train—all hell breaks loose, culminating in an extended chase and free-for-all as the twins repeatedly attempt to hide the blondes from both the cop and King’s wife.

King and Dorety make for a very amusing and likable team in this funny, very fast-paced outing, which drives home the point that they were both seasoned comedians by this time and thoroughly comfortable in their roles. Mike and Ike, They Really Don’t Look Alike, but that’s all the better since the viewer can readily tell them apart and recognize, and admire, them for their respective talents. The comedy itself is a good one, with lots of laughs and a climactic free-for-all that doesn’t wear out its welcome. One of the funnier parts occurs when each of the blondes is escorted from the rumble seat, in which they’ve been trapped, to the mansion, moving slowly on wobbly legs and held up solely by one of the twins. The two actresses, one of whom is Jean Doree, more than hold their own while being squashed into closed Murphy Beds, drenched in a shower, and pushed out a window to the lawn below. This delightful film survives in a print held by the Museum of Modern Art.

If you are interested in learning more about the Stern Brothers and their comedies, look no further than TIME IS MONEY! THE CENTURY, RAINBOW, AND STERN BROTHERS COMEDIES OF JULIUS AND ABE STERN by Thomas Reeder (BearManor Media, 2021).