Author Archive: Retro

Just before he hit it big with Felix the Cat, Pat Sullivan did a handful of Charley Chaplin cartoons for Universal Pictures. In this one, as you might guess, the Tramp gets a job on a farm.

In CHASING THE CHASER, written and directed by comedian Stan Laurel, a cross-dressing detective is hired to expose a husband with a wandering eye. Watch for a brief appearance of Fay Wray (of KING KONG fame) as the nursemaid.

Outlaw leader “Draw” Egan, believed dead, turns up in the town of Yellow Dog. The townsfolk believe him to be William Blake, a strong and law-abiding man. They appoint him sheriff to rid the town of the hoodlums who have nearly taken over. He does so with dispatch, becoming a genuinely lawful and respected member of the town’s society. But then Arizona Joe, one of Egan’s old gang, shows up in Yellow Dog, threatening to expose Egan if he doesn’t help his old comrade take over the town

Robert and Beth Gordon are married but share little. He runs into Sally at a cabaret and the Gordons are soon divorced. Just as he gets bored with Sally’s superficiality, Beth strives to improve her looks. The original couple falls in love again at a summer resort.

An intrepid reporter and his loyal friend battle a bizarre secret society of criminals known as The Vampires.

Two men are released from prison after having served their sentences. One is determined to go straight and stay out of trouble, but his fellow ex-con has other ideas, and his plans wind up spelling trouble for both of them.

When Flora Finch has the leg show that Peggy Shaw is appearing in closed, her son invites the entire chorus home for a party. When his mother, a burglar and a fire appears, chaos ensues in this one-reel comedy.

Porter’s sequential continuity editing links several shots to form a narrative of the famous fairy tale story of Jack and his magic beanstalk. Borrowing on cinematographic methods reminiscent of ‘Georges Melies’, Porter uses animation, double exposure, and trick photography to illustrate the fairy’s apparitions, Jack’s dream, and the fast growing beanstalk.