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Post by RJH on Aug 9, 2015 22:51:05 GMT -5
Thanks for going to the effort of bringing these to light, and letting individuals decide what should be seen or unseen.
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Post by mtw12055 on Aug 12, 2015 13:10:53 GMT -5
You're very welcome. I'm a strong supporter of keeping material out of the vaults for the public to see.
By the way, does anyone know the origin of the first Our Gang silent clip that shows up in "Too Many Women?" Judging by Mary's dress, it was probably shot for "Jubilo, Jr." or "High Society" (the latter is more likely). Good thing it didn't go to waste. Definitely makes you wonder what happened to any other footage cut from these films. I'm not betting that much (if any) excised material is out there somewhere, but it still makes you wonder.
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Post by tboneator64 on Oct 14, 2015 10:34:49 GMT -5
"Wild Babies!" - The last, and strangest Boy Friends short. Some of this short consisted of footage from "Hopping Off," an unreleased Roach vehicle for Charley Rogers and Charlie Hall. The editor pulled an obvious Ed Wood during the scenes with the African queen (the double doesn't even barely resemble the actress used in the previously filmed material). The original film has apparently survived. Richard Bann took one look at it and refused to have it restored alongside the other harder-to-find Roach shorts. I guess some things were meant to be left unseen. www.dailymotion.com/video/x30w3bp_the-boy-friends-wild-babies-1932_funYour reference to "Hopping Off" regarding Richard Bann's refusal to restore it (Though by "restore", my own recall was it was so bad, he simply didn't bother to strike a 16mm print for himself after helping to preserve it, as he almost always does!), pretty much jibes with my recall of what I read a couple of years back, though when I recently posted about it elsewhere, I was told "Hopping Off" is a lost film! It doesn't appear on Dave Lord Heath's excellent "Another Nice Mess" website (www.lordheath.com) that's dedicated to the Hal Roach Film Library, or imdb, in any case! Perhaps, it's that rare Hal Roach film that's so bad, that even some Hal Roach fans don't wish to acknowledge its existence? Who knows? CHEERS!
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Post by mtw12055 on Oct 16, 2015 12:39:18 GMT -5
"Wild Babies!" - The last, and strangest Boy Friends short. Some of this short consisted of footage from "Hopping Off," an unreleased Roach vehicle for Charley Rogers and Charlie Hall. The editor pulled an obvious Ed Wood during the scenes with the African queen (the double doesn't even barely resemble the actress used in the previously filmed material). www.dailymotion.com/video/x30w3bp_the-boy-friends-wild-babies-1932_funYour reference to "Hopping Off" regarding Richard Bann's refusal to restore it (Though by "restore", my own recall was it was so bad, he simply didn't bother to strike a 16mm print for himself after helping to preserve it, as he almost always does!), pretty much jibes with my recall of what I read a couple of years back, though when I recently posted about it elsewhere, I was told "Hopping Off" is a lost film! It doesn't appear on Dave Lord Heath's excellent "Another Nice Mess" website (www.lordheath.com) that's dedicated to the Hal Roach Film Library, or imdb, in any case! Perhaps, it's that rare Hal Roach film that's so bad, that even some Hal Roach fans don't wish to acknowledge its existence? Who knows? CHEERS! Hi, Tony. I believe the unreleased Roach film that we both thought was " Hopping Off" was actually "Keg O' My Heart," the first of three Billy Gilbert-Billy Bletcher (a.k.a. "The Schmaltz Brothers") Roach shorts. Dick Bann did indeed salvage that film, and a reconstructed version has been shown on TCM in the past.
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Post by Paul F. on Oct 17, 2015 10:25:36 GMT -5
They are on TCM occasionally, and there has been a seller selling a set of all of them. They are not available on DVD legally; they are all bootlegs.
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Post by farina on Oct 27, 2015 22:01:09 GMT -5
I'm trying to figure something out. There's a seller on eBay who is selling several photographs with Mary and Mickey claiming to come from a Hal Roach Executive. The problem is they are supposedly stills from a Boy Friends film called "Girl Trouble" which I can find no information from. Anyone have any ideas if these are legit? intage MARY KORNMAN Photo MICKEY DANIELS Little Rascals HAL ROACH Our Gang RARE
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Post by mtw12055 on Oct 28, 2015 9:17:21 GMT -5
I'm trying to figure something out. There's a seller on eBay who is selling several photographs with Mary and Mickey claiming to come from a Hal Roach Executive. The problem is they are supposedly stills from a Boy Friends film called "Girl Trouble" which I can find no information from. Anyone have any ideas if these are legit? intage MARY KORNMAN Photo MICKEY DANIELS Little Rascals HAL ROACH Our Gang RAREThat's a publicity still from "Too Many Women." Perhaps "Girl Trouble" was a working title. Incidentally, there are plenty of wonderful Boy Friends photos over at the Mary Kornman website! marykornman.com/
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Post by farina on Oct 28, 2015 9:47:07 GMT -5
Thanks for the info. Was thinking about purchasing one and wanted to be sure it was authentic.
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Post by zootmoney on Oct 29, 2015 20:18:30 GMT -5
I have ordered several photos from that seller. They are legit.
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Post by farina on Nov 5, 2015 14:39:47 GMT -5
I have ordered several photos from that seller. They are legit. Thanks glad to hear from someone who has dealt with them. It looks like they have a ton of great photos from that era.
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Post by 4farina2 on Nov 11, 2015 18:55:02 GMT -5
Has anybody heard of The Taxi Boys series?...also.. to find the more obscure Charlie Chase shorts too-both are Hal Roach productions, also!!
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Post by mtw12055 on Nov 11, 2015 19:13:12 GMT -5
Has anybody heard of The Taxi Boys series?...also.. to find the more obscure Charlie Chase shorts too-both are Hal Roach productions, also!! I have all ten "Taxi Boys" shorts, and will upload them if I ever get the time. I'm probably going to hold off on uploading the Chase shorts, as there are rumors going around about a possible box set in the coming years. My rule for uploading is that if it's been released to DVD officially (and isn't out of print), I won't upload it. But if that set never gets off the ground, then I'll try to get the Chases up. TCM tosses Roach comedies in as filler, though usually won't make the announcement until the last minute. Incidentally, if you're a Roach fan, the Chase shorts are definitely recommended. Chase gave the Our Gang kids cameos every so often. In fact, my Stymie avatar is from Chase's short "Four Parts."
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Post by mtw12055 on Nov 20, 2015 15:28:33 GMT -5
If anyone's curious, I've started posting the "Taxi Boys" comedies. This series was produced as a replacement for "The Boy Friends," which evidently didn't do quite as well at the box office after George Stevens stepped down as director. The first few are actually quite enjoyable, with director Del Lord using his knowledge of visual comedy to carry films. Later entries that relied more heavily on the talents of Ben Blue and Billy Gilbert aren't quite as good, in my opinion. In fact, poor Ben Blue tends to get a pretty bad wrap (or is it rap? or maybe rep?) from Roach fans, who generally feel he's the main reason for the failure of the Taxi comedies. Budget cuts evidently meant no more whacky stunt driving, and fewer location shoots. "Thundering Taxis" was the first short in the series filmed, but the last released. Perhaps Roach figured it'd be a good idea to close the season on one of the better shorts. Ben Blue and Billy Gilbert weren't cast yet. Instead, the two leads are silent comedy favorites Clyde Cook and Billy Bevan. Three Stooges favorite Bud Jamison is also on board as the boys' boss. www.dailymotion.com/video/x3esiss
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Post by mtw12055 on Mar 9, 2016 20:31:55 GMT -5
If anyone is curious, I'll gradually be posting entries from some of the lesser-known Roach series to my channel. I've already gone through all ten "Taxi Boys" shorts, and am in the process of adding Charley Chase, ZaSu Pitts & Thelma Todd, Thelma Todd & Patsy Kelly, Harry Langdon, and the All Star/Musical comedies. I also hope to add a few more RKO-Darmour Mickey McGuires.
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Post by tboneator64 on Mar 10, 2016 16:15:28 GMT -5
If anyone is curious, I'll gradually be posting entries from some of the lesser-known Roach series to my channel. I've already gone through all ten "Taxi Boys" shorts, and am in the process of adding Charley Chase, ZaSu Pitts & Thelma Todd, Thelma Todd & Patsy Kelly, Harry Langdon, and the All Star/Musical comedies. I also hope to add a few more RKO-Darmour Mickey McGuires. It's too bad these haven't, for the most part, been made available on DVD! From what I recall, one each of the Charley Chase, and Pitts/Todd shorts have been made available in North America (Region 1) and the UK (Region 2), plus a few Pitts/Todd/Kelly shorts issued on a Female Comedians DVD set released in Europe a few years back. Absolutely nothing of the Harry Langdon or All Star/Musical comedies has been officially issued, however! Apart from the RKO-Darmour Mickey McGuires, I've seen almost all of the extant shorts from the other series, and I agree that these deserve a proper DVD (If not Blu-ray!) release, especially the Pitts/Todd/Kelly and Charley Chase sound era shorts! In the meantime, I for one, think it's great that you're making these available for viewing to those who might otherwise not even be aware of the existence of these films! CHEERS!
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