Okuda Ted - The Columbia comedy shorts two-reel Hollywood film comedies 1933-1958

Foreword by
Emil Sitka

Introduction by
Edward Bernds

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina

For Vernon Dent (1895-1963)
"May you always be kept in the foreground"
(from an inscribed photo presented to Vernon by comedian Charley Chase)

1997

1. Michael R, Pitts. Western Movies
2. William C. Cline. In the Nick of Time
3. Bill Warren. Keep Watching the Skies!
4. Mark McGee. Roger Carman
5. R. M. Hayes. Trick Cinematography
6. David J. Hogan. Dark Romance
7. Spencer Selby. Dark City: The Film Noir
8. David K. Frasier. Russ MeyerThe Life and Films
9. Ted Holland. B Western Actors Encyclopedia
10. Franklin Jarlett. Robert Ryan

1998

11. R. M. Hayes. 3-D Movies
12. Richard West. Television Westerns
13. Ted Okuda with Edward Watz. The Columbia Comedy Shorts
14. Steve Archer. Willis O'Brien

Front cover: Charley Chase and Ann Doran in Pie la Maid (1938).

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data are available

Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Okuda, Ted, 1953 The Columbia comedy shorts.
Bibliography: p. 249. Includes filmographies. Includes index.
1. Comedy filmsUnited StatesHistory and criticism. 2. Short filmsHistory and criticism.
3. Columbia Pictures Corporation. I. Ware, Edward, 1958 . II. Title.
PN1995.9.C55048 1998 791.43'09'0917 84-43241
ISBN 978-0-7864-0577-0

1986 Ted Okuda and Edward Watz. All rights reserved.

No part of this book, specifically including the index, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640

The most rewarding aspect of researching this book was the opportunity to get to know many of the creative people whose work we've enjoyed for years. Edward Bernds and Emil Sitka are deserving of far more praise than we have space to give. Ed went to great lengths to furnish us with the most accurate data possible; his encouragement and enthusiasm for our project never flagged. Emil also gave of himself one hundred percent; his trenchant comments gave us valuable insights into the operation of the comedy shorts unit and its personnel. We were graciously received by Jules White, who displayed a commendable faith in two neophyte scribes. Jules helped put us in touch with his brothers, Jack and Sam White, both of whom also made important contributions. Elwood Ullman provided us with perceptive observations on scripting the comedy shorts. We regret to report that Jules White, Jack White, and Elwood Ullman have all passed away since this book was completed. They will be sorely missed, and we will always remember their efforts on our behalf.

We are also deeply indebted to the following individuals who kindly shared their memories with us: Eddie Quillan, the late Richard Lane, Charles Lamont, Nell O'Day, Lois January, the late Harry Von Zell, Eunice Dent Friend, Adrian Booth (Lorna Gray), Lucille Ball, Bruce Bennett, the late Andrea Leeds Howard, Louise Currie, Emil Oster and Noah Beery, Jr.

For their assistance and moral support, we would like to thank Gregory and Mary Revak, Maurice Terenzio, Roy Kinnard, Alex Gordon, Tom Weaver, Joe Savage, Dick Andersen, Don Glut, Veto Stasiunaitis, Henry and Karen Ottinger, Larry Urbanski, Al Bielski, Mabel Langdon, Bill Cox, Eleanor Keaton, Dottie and Charlie Calderini, Danny Burk, John Aben, Sam Rubin, Robert Rosterman, Dan Aument, Gabe Taverny, Robert Miller, Brian Sawada, Kevin Graham, Tom Rose, Davis Sasaki, Tom Nicpon, Joe Nicpon, Bob Riskin, Ralph and Edith Schiller, and Ray Atherton.

Access to prints of some Columbia shorts was made possible through the following 16mm rental libraries: Union County Film Service, Budget Films, Kit Parker Films and Modern Sound Motion Picture Library.

Photograph credits: Mike Hawks, Eddie Brandt's Saturday Matinee, The Memory Shop, Movie Star News, Movie Memories, Emil Sitka, Edward Bernds, Erwin Dumbrille and Jules White.

We extend special thanks to Anthony Slide, Sam Gill, the late Carol Epstein and the staff of the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who patiently endured our inquiries and demands, supplying us with extensive reference material even at a moment's notice.

Last, and by no means least, a special debt of gratitude to Erwin Dumbrille, without whom this book would never have gotten beyond the planning stage. His excellent memory and exhaustive knowledge of film history helped to shape this volume every step of the way.

We know the Siberian white tiger is disappearing, becoming extinct. The Great Plains bison have all but gone. Whooping cranes no longer darken the Mississippi flyways. The North American grizzly is vanishing from the Rocky Mountains.

It would be dismaying if amongst our film products, the comedy shorts made by Columbia Pictures were about to become as extinct as the California condor or the bald eagle. It's too horrifying to contemplate.

So we take solace from Ted Okuda and Ed Watz's meticulous pursuit of the facts in giving us a fine record of short comedy stories on film as Columbia made them. It's more than nostalgiait's Americana. They have given us a comprehensive story of the colorful characters, incidents, data and details that vitalized these two-reelers.

We are provided a reference source with a nostalgic tug. The names of many who later became famous and great are a part of this wonderful history, as well as those of others whose fame and greatness ended with Columbia's memorable film shorts. We have here a wealth of material for film scholars and buffs of a bygone era, an era given to Hollywood largely by producers like Jules White.

Once these films were fillers on bills that presented one feature along with a newsreel. Now, in this book, they are preserved for all of us who hate to think they may become extinct, never to be recycled. Despite the archaic settings, topical references and styles of the day in these movies, the comedy remains undiluted. And when presented to audiences today, as are the popular Three Stooges films, they prove that what was funny then is still funny now.

Having worked as an actor in almost 100 of these films, I am proud to be so closely associated with them. Nevertheless, it's not for me, but rather for Ted and Ed to describe the comedy that Jules White, as producer, put on film for millions of appreciative viewers.

We have here a true picture of the factory where these movies were cranked out. Names like Lucille Ball, Buster Keaton, Andy Clyde, Charley Chase and The Three Stooges owe much to the creative genius of Jules White, Hugh McCollum, Elwood Ullman, Felix Adler, Ed Bernds, Del Lord, Jack White and all those other comedy practitioners who compressed their stories into two-reelers. Others in special effects, sound, stunts and casting are also mentioned. This book covers them all.