The Films

"Near Dublin" 1924 - 6/10.

This is a great 2 reeler starring Stan Laurel in one of his numerous solo shorts before teaming up with Oliver Hardy (although they had appeared together in "Lucky Dog" a few years previously). The story has Stan as postman Con Corrigan in the rural Irish town of Shillalah, where fighting seems to be the national pastime (perhaps this short is not as pc as it could be!). He falls for a local beauty (the girl), whose father had promised to a wealthy business man Sir Patrick (James Finlayson) in lieu of a debt. When Con spares a villager's feelings by hiding a letter containing bad news, Sir Patrick reports him to the police. A barn dance follows with all in attendance bringing their own bricks in anticipation of a fight (well we are told that there are 2 types of bricks produced - one for building and one for throwing!). Con is arrested and is put before the judge before faking his own death before finally escaping with the girl. We are left with probably the funniest gag where Stan and the girl skip away holding hands, closely pursued by Sir Patrick and the policeman, similarly skipping and holding hands.
This film is of interest, especially to Irish viewers. It stars Irish actor James T Kelly, who was born in County Mayo and the idea of what passed for an Irish village (and all the corny inter title cards) make it quite a funny short. In addition to the great James Finlayson, the short also credits Laurel and Hardy stalwart Charlie Hall and Stan Laurel's common law wife Mae Laurel as villagers and it is always interesting to see Stan playing a different role to his well known Laurel and Hardy character.

"Fatty's Magic Pants" (aka Fatty's Suitless Day) 1914 - 4/10.

Here we have Fatty (Roscoe Arbuckle) "borrowing" a dress suit from a rival (Harry McCoy) in order to bring the target of their affections (Minta Durfee) to a dance. All goes well (we get to see some of Fatty's dance moves) until the rival turns up and leaves Fatty wearing a lot less than the dress code specified. Not the best of shorts (no Mabel doesn't help). You may recognize one of the party guests as Charley Chase, director, screenwriter and practical joker from Laurel and Hardy's "Sons of the Desert".

"That Little Band of Gold" 1915 - 2/10.

In this odd 2 reeler we see loves young dream Roscoe (Arbuckle) and Mabel (Normand) getting married, but Roscoe finds that living with his mother in law is not an easy thing. On a trip to the theatre Roscoe ditches the pair to wine and dine another lady, and it all ends in the divorce courts. There's little to recommend in this story - Roscoe's character is unlikable and Mabel is given very little to do in her limited screen time. There are one or two nice moments but very little else..

"A Muddy Romance" 1913 - 5/10.

Mabel (Normand) is being wooed by 2 suitors who use dirty tricks to win her hand. She ends up with one of them on a boat with a minister but the other tries to stop the marriage by draining the lake. This is a bit of a disjointed effort, with maybe one or two nice gags. The story goes that Mack Sennett heard that a local lake was due to be drained so he went down with a crew and actors and just filmed, making up the story as they went along. They later filmed the romance story for the one-reelers beginning.

"Heaven Will Protect a Woiking Goil" 1916

Priscilla Dean, Paddy McGuire and Russ Powell in a typical silent film comedy abound in this 10 min short film. A heroine, a villain, an accomplice, keystone type cops, a chase and plenty of falls and butt kicks.. Notable for the appearance of Paddy McGuire, born in Ireland, who plays the villain's accomplice. I had to rewatch this title for a number of reasons, the main one being my shock from some of the scenes, most of which wouldn't make it past the censors today. The heroine, comforting her mother by telling her not to worry, "I'll go to the city and bring your drunken husband home and all will be well"! I jest not..
The villain trying to charm a female employee and then forcibly looking for some affection from her. She refutes, and gets fired for her efforts! Loaded with the final chase scenes, our heroes get tied to a train track only to be saved in time by the drunken father. The villains ultimately drive into a huge chasm, hundreds of feet down, only to walk away unscathed from the mashed up car, with our own Paddy McGuire not letting the Irish side down by his last words of the film, "Lets go and get a drink".

"Mabel's Wilful Way" 1915 - 4/10.

In this one reeler, Mabel (Normand) is having a day out with her parents but ditches them to have some fun with 2 young men who try to woo her at an amusement park. The 2 men are played by Roscoe Arbuckle (although not as the "Fatty" character) and a pre slow-burn Edgar Kennedy. Best gag is when a policeman hits Roscoe so hard he slides up a helter skelter. Not the funniest of films but its picks up in the second half.

"Fatty's Spooning Days (aka Fatty, Mabel and the Law)" 1915 - 7/10.

This one reeler farce has Fatty (Roscoe Arbuckle) in trouble with his wife (Mabel Normand) for paying too much attention to their house maid. Elsewhere another husband (Harry Gribbon) is in a similar position with his better half (Minta Durfee - Arbuckle's real life wife). During a mutual walk in the park, both husbands attempt to flirt with the other man's wife and break the strictly enforced "No Spooning" rule. All four fall foul of the law and end up at the police station. This is a great little film with some real laugh out loud moments - Mable decking Arbuckle, Gribbon eying up the home help and the Keystone Kops appearing from nowhere to arrest Fatty. Well worth checking out.

"Mabel & Fatty's Married Life" 1915 - 6/10.

This Mack Sennett short has Mabel (Normand) and Fatty (Roscoe Arbuckle) enjoying married bliss. A walk in the park ends up in confrontation with an organ grinder and his monkey. Later at home, with Fatty gone to work, Mabel is convinced the organ grinder is back for revenge and calls the Keystone Kops for help. This is a nice, simple one reeler with good performances from the 2 leads. One to make you smile throughout but lacks any laugh out loud moments. On a side note, this short is of interest to Laurel and Hardy fans as it has one of the earliest screen appearances of the "eternally ever popular" Mae Busch.

"Mabel At The Wheel" 1914 - 6/10.

In this 2 reeler Mabel (Normand) has a boyfriend, Harry McCoy, who is a racing driver. A love rival, played by Charlie Chaplin, gives Mabel a ride on his motorbike bike but she falls off into a muddy puddle and is rescued by McCoy. An angered Chaplin starts a rock throwing fight before kidnapping his rival and stopping him from entering the car race. Mabel takes his place and despite Chaplin's best efforts (including throwing bombs at her) she wins the race. While this has its enjoyable moments it is a bit jarring to watch Chaplin play an outright villain (no sign of the plucky tramp character here). He has no problem hitting Mabel on several occasions, as well as throwing rocks at her, sticking pins in her and trying to blow her up. This is Norman's film however, and she is more than a match for him and of course wins through in the end. Along with the lead players it boasts a�strong cast which includes Chester Conklin as Mable's father and Mack Sennett, Charley Chase, Edgar Kennedy and Minta Dufree as race spectators.