"Tillie's Punctured Romance" is often cited by film critics and historians as the first American feature-length comedy. Unfortunately, this is often the only commentary they offer about it. Even Leonard Maltin has called the film "Not terribly funny, or coherent, but there are good moments; mainly interesting for historical purposes." So many critics have disregarded the film as being only important for its historical value, that I embarked on my viewing of it expecting something altogether unwatchable. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised. Later feature-length comedies, like Harold Lloyd's "Grandma's Boy"(1922) and Charlie Chaplin's "The Kid" (1921) are no doubt better crafted and less dated. But "Tillie's Punctured Romance" is vital in helping us reach the brilliance of these features while managing to entertain us along the way. Is it a masterpiece? No. But it is also much better than the 2.5 stars Maltin gives it. Let's take a closer look at "Tillie's Punctured Romance." Synopsis
Marie Dressler as Tillie
Tillie Banks (Marie Dressler) is a poor, hardworking girl who lives with her abusive father. When a city slicker stranger happens into the Banks' home (Charlie Chaplin), Tillie immediately falls in love with him.
Charlie Chaplin as the stranger
Of course, not being a typical "beauty," Tillie's love goes unrequited...until the stranger learns that Tillie's father has a hidden stash of cash. Convincing her to elope with him and leave her father behind, Tillie and the stranger run off together, headed for the town.
Tillie shows off her elopement outfit
Tillie has trouble commuting in the city
As inexperienced as she is with city life, Tillie finds herself dodging automobiles and looking terribly out of place. The stranger's true love interest, Mabel (Mabel Normand), spots the couple and confronts her lover. She learns of her beau's plan, and when Tillie is sufficiently drunk and distracted, Mabel and Charlie take off with Tillie's purse.
The pair treat themselves to a new wardrobe at Tillie's expense. Meanwhile, Tillie is incarcerated for a short amount of time before her identity -- the niece of the town's millionaire -- wins her release. Taken to her uncle's mansion, Tillie remains rambunctious and disruptive, which results in her uncle and his servants throwing her out on the street.
Tillie is escorted by the Keystone Kops
Destitute and alone, Tillie gets a job as a waitress at a local cafe. Charlie and Mabel take in a film, aptly entitled "The Thief's Fate," depicting a thieving couple who are sent to jail for their crimes. Feeling guilty, the pair leaves for the park where Charlie discovers that Tillie's rich uncle has died in a mountain climbing expedition. Tillie is the only heir to his incredible fortune.
Sneaking away, Charlie pressures Tillie into elopement. Overwhelmed, Tillie only discovers her newly-bestowed fortune upon returning to the restaurant and rushes off with Charlie to claim her inheritance. The pair immediately move in and begin their entry into high society by hosting a ball. Mabel sneaks into the festivities disguised as a servant but is discovered by Tillie when she's found kissing Charlie.
Once again betrayed by Charlie, Tillie goes on a rampage. She begins by throwing objects at Charlie and ends up producing a handgun, firing shots wildly in his direction.
Enraged, Tillie tries to shoot Charlie
The action climaxes when Tillie's uncle returns home, injured by alive and the entire party is kicked out and Tillie's fortune is revoked. With nothing to lose, Tillie pursues the lovers, gun still in hand. The Keystone Kops get in on the action, chasing the crazed trio, when both Tillie and the Kops run off the edge of a pier. By the time Tillie is rescued, she has given up on her marriage to Charlie. Similarly, Mabel no longer wants him and the women end up embracing and declaring that he doesn't deserve either of them.
Tillie and Mabel embrace
The Stars
Marie Dressler
Although this was her film debut, Marie Dressler was already 45 years old, compared to the 22-year-old Mabel. An already accomplished vaudeville and stage star, Dressler brought a slapstick sensibility that rivaled Chaplin and Normand. In fact, there are several instances throughout the film where Dressler s reminiscent of Fatty Arbuckle. Sure, her size was used for the same comedic effect as Arbuckle's often was, but she brought a kind of mischievousness that few other comediennes -- or comedians, for that matter -- brought to the table. In later talkies, like "Dinner at Eight," Dressler gets laughs because of her impeccable comedic timing. In "Tillie," however, she proves that she can mug and take a fall with the best of them -- an essential part of any Sennett film.
Charlie Chaplin
Chaplin had many films for Keystone under his belt by this time and had already created his Little Tramp character. Unlike Chaplin's Little Tramp-based films, however, his character in "Tillie" is quite villainous. In "Tillie," he's completely self-serving, willing to drop Mabel or Tillie whenever it suits him. Although Chaplin is not portraying the Little Tramp here, his personality still shines through. His awkward flirtation with Tillie is hilarious and his physical comedy is perfect, as usual. There is also evidence of tiny bits of improvisation throughout the film. When Tillie falls into the ocean, Mabel and Charlie run to the water police mini telephone box to call for help. Rather than just open the box's tiny door to access the phone, Charlie first knocks on it repeatedly, as if he's entering someone's house or office.
Mabel Normand
Mabel Normand is also in fine form in "Tillie." Although Dressler is given the best material, Normand still has several little moments where her comedic talent truly shines through. One particular moment follows her first encounter with Charlie and Tillie. After having their squabble broken up by a cop, Tillie and Charlie storm off, leaving Mabel behind with the officer. In an effort to follow them without his knowledge, Mabel tosses down her muff, asking the officer to retrieve it for her. When he tells her to get it herself, the indignant attitude she immediately adopts is hilarious and unexpected.
Vintage silk card depicting Mabel Normand
Normand had been working with Sennett, and linked romantically with him, since 1911. She had filmed some shorts for Keystone with Chaplin, and would soon star alongside Fatty Arbuckle in more. Normand was a fine comedienne and a fine actress, but much like her costar Arbuckle, her name was to become linked with two separate Hollywood scandals, causing her career to suffer. She also battled tuberculosis and drug addiction and, tragically, died in 1930 at the age of 37.
The Film
"Tillie's Punctured Romance" has been called "uneven," but for the first American foray into feature-length comedy, it is remarkably even. The screenplay was adapted from the play "Tillie's Nightmare," and the resulting film still bears some resemblance to its stage cousin. It's presented in six acts, with title cards separating them. Some of the act divisions are haphazardly placed, however, and seem to split scenes in half. Marie is introduced at the beginning of the film in a very staged way. She appears before a curtain, bowing as the scene dissolves into Marie in character and costume as Tillie. It then dissolves again, revealing Tillie in her yard instead of in front of a curtain. This technique is recalled at the end of the film when the curtain is pulled on Marie and Mabel's embrace, and they and Charlie emerge to take their bows. The 'act' division may simply be a carryover from the play itself, but it is also likely that it served as a kind of marker for audiences not used to sitting through films more than 15 or 20 minutes long.
One of the biggest problems the film suffers from is Sennett's lack of time-based intertitles. The way events are presented would suggest that all of the events take place in the course of a day, but thanks to the newspaper reporting Tillie's inheritance, we learn that the day Charlie proposes is the day after her uncle dies -- giving us at least two days, if not more. Had Sennett included some intertitles to help transition from one day to the next, it would have prevented some confusion. Perhaps this (and a poorly truncated print) are what account for Maltin's claim that it is incoherent. There are also some simple continuity issues that could have been solved with just some reshoots (namely the absence/presence of the pier railing when Tillie and the Keystone Kops go off the edge).
That said, the film also shows some impressive editing techniques. The dissolves and transitions involving Marie's transformation into Tillie are impressive and smooth. The same can be said of the dissolves where Mabel and Charlie disappear at the end of the film. There is also a clever little closeup of Mabel as she spies on Charlie and Tillie from afar. The closeup highlights Mabel's frustration with Charlie and is the only shot of its kind in the film.
Thanks to movie magic, Marie transforms from herself...
...to Tillie
Mabel's closeup
"Tillie's Punctured Romance" helped usher in a new form of American comedy. Without "Tillie" we might not have "City Lights" or "The General." Yes, "Tillie's Punctured Romance" should be appreciated from a historical point of view, but why limit ourselves to just that? The story is entertaining, the actors are great, and the slapstick is some of the finest to come out of Keystone. Maybe with the likes of Fandor and the newly restored version of the film, "Tillie's Punctured Romance" will finds more fans willing to challenge its poor reputation.
We return, as we will often do in this blog, to D.W. Griffith. Rather than examine another epic work of cinema, like "The Birth of a Nation," we, instead, turn to Griffith's days at Biograph. "The New York Hat" was made and released in 1912, four years into Griffith's incredibly prolific career. The film is simple and straightforward and charming. Although it is nowhere near Griffith's best work, it is notable for a number of reasons.
A Bit of Background
Griffith made his directorial debut in 1908 with a little film called "The Adventures of Dollie." Incredibly, this film has survived to this day (you can watch it here). Griffith had not dreamed of becoming a director. He had tried his hand as a playwright (out of his love for writing) and an actor (out of the need to make ends meet), but when one Biograph director became indisposed, and Biograph found itself in need of another director, Griffith took advantage of the opportunity. The result was at least on par with many of the films that had been produced by Biograph up until that time. Impressed and pleased with his own work, Griffith quickly became one of the most prolific directors at Biograph and, truly, its most visionary.
From 1908 to 1913, Griffith directed more than 400 films and established a close relationship with cinematographer Billy Bitzer, with whom he introduced enormous advancements in the art of film. It was also during these years that Griffith discovered and worked with some of film's biggest future stars. A number of them are even present in this film.
Mary Pickford
'The girl with the curls,' Mary Pickford, one of the screen's first and biggest stars, was one of Griffith's earliest and greatest discoveries. "The New York Hat" marks her final Biograph picture, but Pickford's friendship and partnership with Griffith would endure, leading to the formation, with Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin, of the production company United Artists.
Also appearing in "The New York Hat" is Lionel Barrymore, who had joined Biograph in 1911. Although they do not appear in named or prominent roles in this film, we are also given a glimpse at some future Biograph stars, namely Lillian Gish and Mae Marsh. Another individual worth mentioning is the film's screenwriter, a then relatively unknown Anita Loos. If you don't know Loos by name, you certainly know her by her work. Among other screenplays and works of fiction, Loos penned "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," "Red-Headed Woman" and "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes." Loos' talents would also be utilized by Griffith in 1916 to pen the titles for his epic follow-up to "The Birth of the Nation," "Intolerance." "The New York Hat" was one of Loos' first screenplays and doesn't bear much resemblance to her later works, but it certainly brought Loos her first big break and set the ball rolling for her as a screenwriter.
Jean Harlow with Anita Loos
The Story
Mary Harding, on her deathbed, leaves her pastor (Lionel Barrymore) with one request, that he use the trust she leaves to him to treat her daughter Mollie (Mary Pickford) to the "bits of finery" which her husband had constantly denied her and Mollie. Her only request is that he tell no one. The pastor takes this request to heart.
The Pastor (Lionel Barrymore) reads Mary Harding's final request
Some time after, Mollie prepares to go out into the town, but upon examining her appearance, she hesitates. Her jacket is shapeless, the sleeves are too short and her hat is rather plain and old. She appeals to her father, asking if she can have a new hat. He, predictably, denies her request, leaving her to make do with her appearance and wardrobe.
"Daddy, can't I have a new hat?"
Mollie (Mary Pickford) goes downtown, leaving her shabby hat behind
Whatever confidence she has instilled in herself prior to leaving her house is diminished when young women giggle and draw attention to her shabby, simple appearance. Like the other women of the town, Mollie soon finds herself down at the hat shop admiring the latest import from New York. Mollie encounters the pastor here, and he observes her lamentation that she cannot have or afford such a beautiful hat.
Mollie admires the new hat in from New York
Mollie laments the fact that she can't have the hat
Mollie leaves the shop brokenhearted. Remembering his promise to Mary, the pastor enters the store and purchases the hat, causing the town gossips to speculate. Hatbox in hand, the pastor finds Mollie at her home and leaves her with her present. In a beautiful little sequence, Mollie experiences a series of emotions, from astonishment, to joy, to sorrow.
The town gossips speculate
Mollie's range of emotions...from joy
...to sorrow and feeling overwhelmed...
...to pride
Taking pride in her appearance, Mollie wears her New York hat to church, causing a fuss among the gossips and church board members. Believing that Mollie and the pastor are having an affair, Mollie's father destroys her beloved hat, causing Mollie to seek refuge and sympathy from the pastor. In the climax, the pastor and Mollie are confronted by the town gossips, the church board and Mollie's father. The pastor assures everyone that his intentions were pure, showing everyone involved Mary Harding's final request to him.
At church, Mollie is disregarded
The gossips and church board members confront the pastor
Satisfied and, perhaps, annoyed by the pastor's explanation, the gossips and board members take their leave, leaving behind the pastor, Mollie and her father. The pastor has one final request, however, to have Mollie as his wife. Mollie shyly and giddily accepts his offer as the end intertitle card appears.
Mollie accepts the pastor's proposal of marriage
The Result
A Broadway veteran at this point, it is interesting to see Lionel Barrymore at this stage in his career. Just 34, Barrymore was a newcomer to film and attempts to be bridging the very different worlds of stage and screen acting. Pickford, however, was a film veteran at the age of 20 and her expertise in the realm of screen acting particularly shines in this film. Pickford's beautifully emotive face adds so much to the film, even if the story itself is quite simple.
It is because of the talent of Griffith, Pickford and other Biograph players that the Biograph company became the top studio at the time. As Lillian Gish recalled in the documentary "Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film," everyone copied Biograph. The desire to be as popular as Biograph made piracy a legitimate threat. In order to preemptively prevent such theft, Biograph, like other studios, made a point to conceal its logo within the scenery.
To glance at the following frame, one might think that the blocking and framing is rather curious. Such extra space would suggest that someone else would be joining Pickford in the scene.
But upon closer examination, we see Griffith and Bitzer's reason -- by placing Pickford at the right side of the screen, the Biograph logo (AB for American Biograph) is cleverly placed in the background at the left side of the screen.
By placing studio logos in the scenes and intertitles themselves, competitors were unable to steal them and use them as their own.
Is "The New York Hat" as action-packed or dramatic as his other works of the period? No. But it is worth the watch for its sincerity, its sweetness and its featured players.
You can watch "The New York Hat," featuring the young and handsome Lionel Barrymore and the beautiful Mary Pickford, in its entirety below.
"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is the earliest surviving film adaptation of the L. Frank Baum series. At only 13 minutes long, it is a severely abridged version of Dorothy's journey through Oz. It is overshadowed by its successors, notably "The Wizard of Oz" (1925) and "The Wizard of Oz" (1939), but still offers an interesting and unique look into the world of film.
Made in 1910, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was produced by the Selig Polyscope Company. Selig Polyscope was established by William Selig in 1896 in Chicago. Selig Polyscope is noted for being the first company to have a permanent studio in L.A. Although Selig produced the first films of many future stars, like Harold Lloyd, Fatty Arbuckle and Colleen Moore, it ended production in 1918.
Hand-tinted production still from "The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays"
William Selig had helped produce "The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays," an early adaptation of Baum's work. The show was canned after only a few months and the "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was created to fulfill a contractual obligation and made without direct input from Baum. Although it was believed to have been based on "The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays," it appears to be a combination of the original material, which the company took liberty with, and material from the 1902 musical. In the end, this gives us an odd combination of storylines.
Dorothy with the Tin Man
The cast remains unknown. It is said that a young Bebe Daniels starred as Dorothy, and that it was written and directed by Otis Turner. Due to Selig's relatively short lifespan, and the lack of documentation surrounding it -- especially in comparison to other studios like American Biograph -- it is difficult to confirm their involvement. What we do know is that the character design/makeup is similar to that used in the 1902 musical version, as well as that used for "Fairylogue."
The gang finds the Tin Man
The Story
Dorothy helps Scarecrow down
Dorothy -- along with Toto, and an unnamed cow and donkey -- discover Scarecrow. Dorothy helps him down from his post and the group travels along together when the cyclone hits. The Scarerow helps Dorothy and the animals take cover in a haystack, when the entire stack is lifted and blown into the land of Oz.
Glinda comes to Dorothy's aid (notice the faces on the trees)
Once they land in Oz, we are taken to the castle where the wicked witch Momba has taken over. Upon returning to Dorothy and company, we see the Cowardly Lion stalking Dorothy. This prompts Glinda the Good Witch to appear and turn Toto into a lion-sized canine, capable of fighting off any predators. Once the group discovers that the Cowardly Lion is, in fact, kind and gentle, they continue on through the forest, happening upon the Tin Man.
Dorothy restores the Tin Man and the group does an inspired dance number celebrating their new friendships. As they journey deeper into the forest, arm-in-arm, they come across Momba's house. Momba quickly captures them and locks them up, but they are freed once Dorothy learns that witches melt when exposed to water.
The Wizard of Oz flies away
The witch defeated, the group is able to see off the Wizard of Oz as he flies off in his hot-air balloon, and the Scarecrow is crowned king.
The Result
The swirling cyclone
Though primitive (especially compared to French films being made at the same time -- particularly those of Max Linder and Georges Melies), the film has some fine points to it. The cyclone which carries the cast to the land of Oz is gimmicky, but entertaining. The swirling mass of hay draws laughs now when, perhaps, it should be drawing gasps, but the attempt is still admirable.
The castle interior
The set design for the castle is reminiscent of Melies. The background is incredibly detailed, making it appear as though it is three-dimensional. This is also true of the forest sets where we find the Tin Man and Momba. Momba's disintegration after being splashed with water is also impressive and edited quite well. Selig, like Melies, was a magician and no doubt understood the concept of stage spectacle and transferring it from the stage to the screen.
Momba descends on Dorothy and her friends
It is (deservedly) overshadowed by its successors, but "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is worth the watch, if only to give the viewer a new-found appreciation for that which followed.
From the beginning, film has sought to capture that which no other medium could capture: motion. The early film pioneers experimented with capturing all kinds of motion, from train arrivals and departure, to traffic and parades. A common subject among all the filmmakers, however, was dance. Early silent cinema made film stars of modern dance pioneers Loie Fuller and Annabelle Whitford.
Loie Fuller
A pioneer of both dance and theatrical lighting technique, Fuller influenced generations of dancers who followed her. Fuller brought her experience as a burlesque skirt dancer to the theater and began to experiment with sheer silk costumes that were illuminated by the stage lights. The stage lights were also rigged to change colors using different colored gels. As filmmakers began to experiment with subject matter, they sought to add color to their works.
Fuller and her followers made for excellent subjects. Those who were fortunate enough to see them perform in person were familiar with the lights that played off their elaborate costumes. And those who hadn't could get a sense of the performance as the filmmaker hand tinted the frames of the film, alternating colors as they went. the results may appear primitive at times, but they are still stunning.
There are a few films that claim to be of Loie Fuller, but it has been debated that it is not her. An 1896 film by the Lumiere films may depict Fuller, or just one of her students. Regardless, this gives us a look into the world of the Lumieres and how they approached the subject of capturing movement and adding color.
This film from 1902, entitled "Segundo de Chomon," has a title card, claiming Loie Fuller as its star. This film is by Pathe and attempts to attach something of a narrative to it.
Annabelle Whitford
One of Fuller's students, Annabelle Whitford, became a dancer and an actress in her own right. Like Fuller, Whitford's dances and films both emphasized the use of lighting and costume. Whitford became a subject of Edison and Biograph films, appearing in at least nine films between 1894 and 1897.
Like Fuller, Whitford performed 'serpentine' and 'butterfly' dances. The film below features several of Whitford's dances captured on film by Edison films.
Guy and Gaumont
Of course, Edison, Biograph, Lumiere and Pathe weren't the only studio/filmmakers to take advantage of the serpentine fad. Another French filmmaker, Alice Guy -- who would go on to have an impressive career herself -- also captured the popular dance on film and, in some films, experimented with hand tinting.
The film below by Guy depicts dancer Lina Esbrard and is from 1902.
Gaumont studios got in on the act filming this unnamed dancer and using beautiful, vivid colors to add new life to the subject. This film is arguably more dramatic than the others -- note the wind machine to add extra movement.
Serpentine Satire
Of course, as soon as film was born so, too, was comedy. This meant that not even the serpentine was safe.
Vaudeville comedian Little Tich (Harry Relph) only needed to walk into a room to coax a laugh from his audience. Standing just 4' 6" and wearing comically large slapshoes, Tich used his appearance to his comedic advantage on stage and on film.
In one film in particular, Tich appears in drag and impersonates Fuller and Whitford with hilarious results.
There remains something undeniably charming about these fad-driven, hand-tinted gems. Certainly, the earliest works by Edison, Guy and the rest are rather primitive and even difficult to watch at times. But their earnest attempts to capture beauty on film, I believe, are far worthier of our attention than any of the dreck Michael Bay and his ilk continue to release.
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