The Century, Rainbow, and Stern Brothers Comedies of Julius and Abe Stern

26/02/2025

Julius Stern had a relationship with Universal head Carl Laemmle that dated back to 1903. He was an integral part of Laemmle’s expanding film business from 1906, which led to a twenty-three-year association. Brother Abe Stern’s relationship with Laemmle was almost as long, dating back to 1910. The trust between the three of them—it didn’t hurt that they were brothers-in-law—was complete and unwavering, or at least up until 1922 when Julius resigned his position as vice president of Universal. The business relationship continued, however, the Sterns providing a reliably steady stream of two-reel comedy product to round out and enhance the Universal schedule. This stream continued unabated from 1916-29, initially with the Sterns’ L-Ko Komedies, followed by their Century and Stern Brothers Comedies. Within the industry, their intertwined relationship was an ironclad given.

So it came as a shock when news made the pages of the February 26, 1929, issue of FILM DAILY:

Universal City—Contract of Stern Film Co., with Universal will not be renewed, THE FILM DAILY learns. The Sterns for years have supplied comedies for the Universal program. New releases now is being negotiated. A new company is being formed, it is understood, headed by Julius Stern with Abe Stern reported planning to retire from the picture business.

An article in VARIETY offered a bit more information, some of it rather startling:

Universal will discontinue releasing Century Comedies made by Stern Brothers, in-laws to Carl Laemmle. Decision was made prior to his departure for Hot Springs.
Meanwhile the brothers, one of whom does not speak to Laemmle, have had a quarrel among themselves as to whether they shall persist as producers with their release channel shut off.

The Sterns closed shop.

This all followed on the heels of a terse telegram received by the Sterns a mere two weeks earlier on February 16, written in a dismissively, cold-hearted fashion by Laemmle:

DECIDED MAKE OUR OWN COMEDIES.

So what happened, and why?

In 1929, Universal was having some cash flow issues. Laemmle, having a pretty good sense of Julius’s considerable worth by this time, asked Julius for a loan. Julius, not unreasonably, said that he required a payback date. Laemmle took this as a personal affront, and he refused to provide one. So Julius refused to extend a loan, and one can infer that it was Julius who was referred to in the above article as “one of whom does not speak to Laemmle.” The long-standing relationship between Laemmle and the Sterns had come to an abrupt, chilly end.

FILM DAILY summed it up in one short, straight-faced sentence: “Now who would have thought such a thing could have happened!”

If you’d like to learn more about the Stern Brothers, their L-Ko, Century, and Stern Brothers Comedies, and their rocky relationship with Carl Laemmle, look no further than TIME IS MONEY! THE CENTURY, RAINBOW, AND STERN BROTHER COMEDIES OF JULIUS AND ABE STERN (by Thomas Reeder; 2021; BearManor Media).

28/01/2025

One of Hollywood’s more unique screen “stars” from the mid-1910s into the 1920s was the orang-outan Joe Martin. Brought over from Singapore back in 1911, Martin had appeared in a handful of comedies and dramas from as early as 1915 in Universal’s Victor brand, the first of these titled JOE MARTIN TURNS ’EM LOOSE (September 15, 1915), although it appears that he had at least one previous, uncredited role in the Joker Comedy WHAT HAPPENED TO SCHULTZ (August 15, 1914).

Perhaps Martin’s most successful period took place when he was starred in a series of Universal Jewel two-reelers from 1919 to 1922, the initial entries MONKEY STUFF and THE JAZZ MONKEY (both 1919). These shorts were directed by William S. Campbell, whose base of operations was at Universal’s back ranch, a 1,299-acre property at the lower part of Universal City. Campbell filmed a five-reel feature starring Martin later in 1919—as if anyone would actually want to sit through five reels of Joe Martin—which ended up being torn apart and released as three short comedies, A PROHIBITION MONKEY, A WILD NIGHT (both 1920), and MONKEY BUSINESS (1921). New connecting footage was shot in an attempt to make some on-screen sense of the cannibalized footage, Campbell attributed as director of the first, Al Santell for the second, and no one for the third.

Campbell’s assistant director on his three Universal Joe Martin comedies was a fellow named Harry Burns (1885-1948), who followed Campbell over to Chester Comedies when the latter left Universal in late 1919, at first assisting and, according to contemporary reports, eventually taking over direction of Chester’s simian star, Snookee the Humanzee. Burns left Campbell and Chester in late 1920, and was signed by Universal to take the helm of the revived Joe Martin comedies. Burns’s efforts resulted in A MONKEY HERO, A MONKEY MOVIE STAR, A MONKEY BELL HOP (all 1921), and A MONKEY SCHOOLMASTER (1922)

The Joe Martin comedies were generally well reviewed, but by the time Burns’s A MONKEY BELL HOP was released the series was wearing thin. “Just about as poor a comedy as it is possible to make,” wrote one angry exhibitor from Bellaire, Ohio. “Not funny and at times disgusting. Martin is poorest of the monkey actors.” An exhibitor in Mississippi agreed, having this to say about A MONKEY BELL HOP and A MONKEY MOVIE STAR: “Take a tip and lay off these two comedies. The first Joe Martin comedies were great, but for some cause these are silly and nothing to them.” William Campbell’s contributions, it would appear, were sorely missed.

While Martin had earlier been described as “the most tractable of actors and as gentle as a kitten,” by later 1919 Martin had made an about-turn, now under surveillance after a three-day rampage in which he wrecked his trainer’s quarters. “[The] uncanny animal tore the door from its hinges, unlocked the wolves’ cage, freed the elephant and created general havoc at the world’s film capital,” wrote MOVING PICTURE WEEKLY. Martin’s mood change likely precipitated William Campbell’s departure from the studio. “I was terrified of Joe,” wrote Diana Serra Cary, the name that child star Baby Peggy would come to be known by in later years. “My skin crawled whenever the chimp put his hairy arm around my shoulders or flashed an entire keyboard of yellow ivories in a grimace known the world over as ‘Joe Martin’s Smile’.”

Things went from bad to worse by 1922, when Martin, on loan-out for Rex Ingram’s production of TRIFLING WOMEN, got a bit over-enthusiastic while filming a scene with Edward Connelly and “crushed” him in his arms. “The actor is at present confined to his home in Hollywood suffering from severe nervous shock as well as from injuries about the body and a bite in the hand.” Martin was placed in solitary confinement.

There were two final Joe Martin comedies released in 1924, both of them single-reelers attributed to Harry Burns: A WHITE WING MONKEY and DOWN IN JUNGLE TOWN, the latter released on this date—January 28—in 1924. These were both quickie productions slapped together with footage from earlier Joe Martin productions, intended for one last quick buck to capitalize on the Joe Martin name. The reason? That very same month it was announced that Martin had been sold to the Al. G. Barnes Circus for $25,000 where he would be a headliner…behind bars. His place before the cameras was taken by “Jiggs,” ballyhooed as a “remarkable chimpanzee.”

16/01/2025

The Stern Brothers Comedies’ final few years —1926-29—were given over solely to series adapted from “popular” comic strips that included “Buster Brown” and “The Newlyweds and Their Baby.” Another series was the “Mike and Ike—They Look Alike” comedies that initially co-starred Charles Dorety and Charlie King as the “Look Alike” twins of the series’ title, although “look-alike” is stretching the term rather thin.

One of the later entries in the “Mike and Ike” series was director Sam Newfield’s HOLD YOUR HORSES, released on this date—January 16—in 1929. This particular film demonstrates just how far the series had fallen by this time. Dorety and King were no longer in the leads, their replacements the comedically-challenged Joe Young and Ned La Salle. Here the twins run into a pair of young ladies at an equestrian shop, and proceed to boast about their respective abilities as horsemen. When push comes to shove, however, their lack of riding ability becomes painfully evident. One unamusing “gag” follows another at the Riding Academy as they get kicked through barn walls, accidentally ride a cow, end up at the wrong end of a mule’s hoofs, and suffer a climactic ride through a campsite’s tents and a group of picnickers; you get the idea. The opening rooming house sequence seems rather incongruous in that it appears to be set in an opulent mansion, an unlikely setting for such a motley group of ill-mannered and slovenly tenants.

This so-called comedy is a total yawn, with only one or two tiny laughs buried in it, and most of them cheap and stale laughs at that. As the twins, Young and La Salle have vaguely similar appearances with their tiny, pencil-thin mustaches, slicked back hair, and matching tuxedos, so much so that it’s frequently impossible to tell which is which. Since both actors are lacking any sort of charisma—or at least in this humble viewer’s opinion—and deliver barely adequate, humorless performances, it really doesn’t matter much. Viewing this teaming makes one realize just how accomplished and likable King and Dorety were in these same roles. If Sam Newfield had a gag writing team at his disposal, it must have been a very off day for them.

For what it’s worth, Joe Young would change his name to Roger Moore much later on in his career, likely to distance himself from his earlier career as a comedy actor, and for the Sterns no less. Perhaps the best thing that can be said about this film is that it is one of the few Stern Brothers comedies to survive in a print held by the film archives of the Museum of Modern Art, and one that I had the dubious pleasure of sitting through.

17/11/2024

By late 1926, Wanda Wiley had become one of the Stern Brothers’ top stars, with top flight comedies such as THE QUEEN OF ACES, A SPEEDY MARRIAGE (both 1925), FLYING WHEELS, and A THRILLING ROMANCE (both 1927) to her credit.

The plans for the upcoming 1926-27 season included a new series of thirteen films to feature Wiley, with stories written by Roy Evans and tentatively labeled “The Adventures of Jane;” the series name would be changed to “What Happened to Jane” shortly thereafter. By April 1926, five units had been at work for some time on the Sterns’ various series, with newcomers to the directing ranks Sam Newfield and Francis Corby alternating helming the “Jane” entries. By mid-April came the stunning news that Wiley’s contract had been terminated, despite the fact that as previously reported Wiley had been signed to a five-year contract back in November 1924, which still had 3 ½ years to go. One can only speculate as to the reason for Wiley’s termination, since it was never reported.

Along with the current season’s twelve releases, which included CUPID’S VICTORY, YEARNING FOR LOVE, PAINLESS PAIN, PLAYING THE SWELL, and the aforementioned A THRILLING ROMANCE, Wiley had already completed six of the upcoming season’s “What Happened to Jane?” films by the time she was canned. These included JANE’S INHERITANCE, JANE’S TROUBLES, JANE”S FLIRTATION, JANE’S PREDICAMENT, THANKS FOR THE BOAT RIDE, and JANE’S ENGAGEMENT PARTY, released on this date—November 17—in 1926.

Directed by Sam Newfield, who had been with the Sterns since 1919 in both an acting and writing capacity, Newfield was now a director, his first released effort one of “The Excuse Maker” series, WHICH IS WHICH, released a week before his first in the “Jane” series. The plot of JANE’S ENGAGEMENT PARTY was typical of the series, with Wiley’s co-star Tony Hayes rescuing his love Jane (Wiley) from her engagement to a man who is actually a wanted bigamist. He pays a bunch of kids to show up and claim the fellow is their father, and dresses as a woman to claim to be one of the wives.

With Wiley’s removal from the lot, the remaining “Jane” entries were divvied up between Ethlyne Clair, Thelma Daniels, and Marjorie Marcel. All of the initial entries were well received by reviewers and the public alike, but by the end of the series’ run it had run out of steam. A review for the final entry, director Scott Pembroke’s PLAIN JANE (August 17, 1927) starring Marjorie Marcel, was tepid at best: “The story, the action, incident and acting take pretty much the line of least resistance, without anything unusual in the line of comedy, plot or humor taking place.”

You can read more about Wanda Wiley’s career and the films of the Stern Brothers in TIME IS MONEY! THE CENTURY, RAINBOW, AND STERN BROTHERS COMEDIES OF JULIUS AND ABE STERN (by Thomas Reeder, BearManor Media, 2021).

13/09/2024

There are any number of motion picture directors who are more than happy to tell stories about their earlier, pre-industry lives and exploits, and often entertainingly so. And then there are some who go to lengths to hide their former, less savory lives from public exposure. Silent comedy director Scott Pembroke was one of the latter.

Scott Pembroke (1889-1951; born Percy Stanley Pembroke) is not what you’d call a household name, given that his run as a film director was confined primarily to the silent era, and almost exclusively to short comedies. His most prolific runs were for Hal Roach, Joe Rock, and the Stern Brothers, with the random film for others helped to fill in the gaps. There was the occasional feature as well, such as FOR LADIES ONLY (1927; co-directed with Henry Lehrman!) and THE DIVINE SINNER (1928). The earlier films frequently credit him as “Percy Pembroke” rather than the more common “Scott Pembroke.”

Pembroke’s start in the industry, however, was in front of the camera in films for Essanay at their Niles studio in later 1914, remaining with that company up until its close in 1916, with some side jobs for the Liberty Film Company in San Mateo in early 1915. Described as a “strong, manly type,” Pembroke found work with Kalem as well, where he starred in their THE HAZARDS OF HELEN serial. By 1917 he was with Universal, where he described his duties as “racing driver and actor,” and avoided being drafted by claiming exemptions of “dependents and crippled hand.” Pembroke would continue to appear in films into the mid-1920s for Universal, Metro, Balboa, and Bison, alternating from 1920 with his stints as director.

It's Pembroke’s earlier, darker years that seem to have been lost to history, or at least until I tracked it down for my book on the Stern Brothers, TIME IS MONEY! Born in Oakland, California to Samuel J. Pembroke and his wife, Marian Scott Pembroke, Percy soon fell in with a gang of his peers which came to be known as the “Jim Crow” gang. This didn’t end up well, when Pembroke and two of his friends were charged with the robbery and grizzly murder of an employee of a grocery store that took place in 1905, one of a series of crimes the youths were involved in. Pembroke turned on his two friends and gave evidence that resulted in their life sentences in prison. After two hung juries, sixteen-year-old Pembroke was acquitted during a third trial. The law didn’t give up on him, however, charging him in connection with a robbery that took place two years earlier. Found guilty and awaiting sentencing, the seemingly unfazed Pembroke made an unusually brazen and self-confident announcement, as reported in the San Francisco Call:

“Percy Pembroke today announced his intention to go on the stage as soon as he has obtained his freedom. He said that there was no necessity of a youth working hard who had had the advertising he had secured during the course of his five trials, and that he intended to utilize his notoriety to the best advantage.
‘There are plenty of courts this thing can go through,’ said Percy in speaking of his chances of appealing his case. ‘There is even the Supreme Court at Washington. If the bond is not too high—that is, in the neighborhood of $40,000 or $50,000—I can easily have my freedom while I can go on the road with a stock company which I have been planning to organize.’”

Self-confident little bu**er, huh?

Pembroke’s plans would be delayed for a while, however, when the now seventeen-year-old was sentenced in March 1907 to ten years in San Quentin.

As it turned out, Pembroke DID have some previous stage experience, having acted in actress Olga Nethersole’s production of SAPHO back in 1906. Four years later in 1910, Nethersole came to his aide and successfully applied to Governor Gillett for a pardon for Pembroke, and by 1914 he had received a full pardon. With his release, Pembroke resolved to stay on the straight and narrow, and by 1913 was working as a traveling sales rep for an Oakland-based outlet of the Regal Motor Car Company. There was some theatre work as well with roles at San Francisco’s Alcazar Theatre. And then he struck cinematic gold, entering the film industry and quietly sweeping his more sordid past under the carpet.

Pictured here: Photos of Pembroke are difficult to come by, but here are a few clipped from the trades. The caption of each provides the context.

If you’d like to learn more about Pembroke and his work in film, it’s covered in my book TIME IS MONEY! THE CENTURY, RAINBOW, AND STERN BROTHERS COMEDIES OF JULIUS AND ABE STERN (Thomas Reeder; BearManor Media, 1921).

20/08/2024

KICKSTARTER CLOSING SOON!

We are just under ten days from the end of the Kickstarter campaign for the great book HOMETOWN TINSEL. If you are a fan of Laurel & Hardy, or of movies in general, you’ll want this book. The story of Virginia Karns’ career from the stage to her time in Hollywood to her work in radio and television is told in an interesting and engaging way by someone who knew her.

Kickstarter campaigns and are all or nothing! We need you to support this project for it to happen, so please do not hesitate to join in. Split Reel LLC looks to provide access to books on film that are not the “same old, same old” but rather interesting, well researched books on the lesser lights of Hollywood. Supporting this book helps the next one get published. See details below, and do please make a pledge….

A NEW BOOK FOR LAUREL & HARDY DEVOTEES!

Although Virginia Karns' performing career has been primarily defined by her role as "Mother Goose'' in Laurel & Hardy's 1934 comic operetta BABES IN TOYLAND, this multifaceted entertainer's many other accomplishments have been little documented - at least until now! In a new biography of the singer-actress titled HOMETOWN TINSEL, film historian Jim Kerkhoff skillfully chronicles Virginia's fascinating life, career, and friendships with countless show business personalities - some of whom include fellow Hal Roach Studios performers like Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Billy Gilbert, Charley Chase, and Betty Mack.

HOMETOWN TINSEL is written not only from the perspective of a film historian but also from the personal insight of a close friend having access to Virginia's scrapbook. Bolstered by in-depth research that provides details about her intriguing life, HOMETOWN TINSEL is an excellent follow-up to Randy Skretvedt's recent book profiling the making of BABES IN TOYLAND and includes many additional details about her involvement in its filming. In fact, Randy has been kind enough to write the foreword for HOMETOWN TINSEL.

Support this KICKSTARTER campaign launched by Split Reel LLC to get Virginia's book into print and you can obtain an advanced copy by becoming a backer! Not only that, but all proceeds received by the author from this campaign and future royalties will be donated to the NORMAN STUDIOS SILENT FILM MUSEUM in Jacksonville, Florida, in honor of Oliver "Babe" Hardy - a personal friend of Virginia's who began his film career in that great city some 110 years ago! Jim Kerkhoff is on the museum's board of directors and very much dedicated to helping to preserve Jacksonville's silent film legacy!

To learn more about our the KICKSTARTER campaign be sure to go to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/split-reel/new-book-on-hal-roach-studios-actress-virginia-karns to make a pledge!

Thank you!

HOMETOWN TINSEL: The Life, Career, and Friendships of Virginia Karns by Jim Kerkhoff

26/06/2024

Julius and Abe Stern, who had taken over ownership of the L-Ko Komedy Kompany brand in mid-1916, cleaned house of most of former owner Henry Lehrman’s stock company. One who survived this purge was Alice Howell, who had attained prominence as the company’s star female comedienne.

Lehrman had lured the thirty-year-old Howell away from Keystone back in 1915, one of several acquisitions from the Keystone studios around that time. Born on May 20, 1886, in New York City, and a former vaudevillian, the five foot two inch, one hundred thirty-pound Howell had been forced to seek work when her second husband and fellow performer Richard “Dick” Smith contracted tuberculosis, bringing their act to an end. Bit parts at Keystone followed in 1914, and her comedic talents and rough-and-tumble willingness were quickly noted.

With the Sterns’s takeover of the studio and the aforementioned jettisoning of the bulk of L-Ko’s comedians, the company’s one constant and all-around workhorse was Alice Howell, whose initial appearance on film was in FATHER WAS A LOAFER (1915). Howell starred in a total of thirty-five comedies during 1915 and 1916, that latter year including A BUSTED HONEYMOON, THE GREAT SMASH, TILLIE’S TERRIBLE TUMBLE, THE BANKRUPTCY OF BOGGS AND SCHULTZ, PIRATES OF THE AIR, HIS TEMPER-MENTAL MOTHER-IN-LAW, and TATTLE-TALE ALICE. So successful were these comedies that Julius decided that Howell deserved a studio of her own and the success that would go with it, rather than continuing to churn out comedies for L-Ko where she was only one cog in the larger wheel.

Beginning with 1917’s BALLOONATICS, Howell and her director John G. Blystone churned out eight comedies released over a ten-month period before the release of the ninth, IN DUTCH, released on this date—June 26—in 1918. IN DUTCH features Howell as a wooden-clogged stowaway who ends up marrying one of her shipboard protectors, later landing a dancing gig at the night club where he serves as a waiter. Howell has plenty of opportunity to shine in this film, her various attempts to steal food from two below-deck sailors—one of them an uncredited Jimmy Finlayson—while stowed away in a crate is an extended delight, as are her charming little dances in the night club, one of them sped up to such a degree by under-cranking that her moves become a visual blur. Her co-stars, Hughie Mack as her waiter husband and Neal Burns as a persistent suitor, take part in another sequence that is one of the film’s highlights. When Howell spurns Burns after his repeated attempts to woo her, he decides to kill himself. Mack, eager to have this nuisance out of the way, impatiently waits outside for him to do so, barring both the owner and a waiter from entering until the deed is done. Burns’s attempts all fail. First, his pistol jams and then the hammer slams on his finger, so he tosses it away. Mack quickly replaces it with his own pistol, but it turns out he forgot to load it, so then Mack sneaks in a large knife. It bends when Burns attempts to plunge it into his chest. Frustrated, Mack enters and tries to club Burns with a coat tree, but Burns exits while the tree is hung up in a drape. The sequence is a hoot!

We are fortunate that two of the initial nine comedies—NEPTUNE’S NAUGHTY DAUGHTER (1917) and IN DUTCH—have both survived, and are available on DVD, courtesy of UnderCrank Productions’ THE ALICE HOWELL COLLECTION. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy!

If you’d like to learn more about Alice Howell and her comedies for both L-Ko and Century, look no further than my books MR. SU***DE: HENRY “PATHE” LEHRMAN AND THE BIRTH OF SILENT COMEDY and TIME IS MONEY! THE CENTURY, RAINBOW, AND STERN BROTHERS COMEDIES OF JULIUS AND ABE STERN (by Thomas Reeder, BearManor Media).

16/06/2024

LIONS’ JAWS AND KITTENS’ PAWS, released on this date—June 16—in 1920, is another lucky survivor of the ravages of time, the print held by the Museum of Modern Art a showcase for young Harry Sweet’s considerable talents and comic timing. Written and directed by William Watson, this is another of the seemingly endless string of “lions on the loose” comedies churned out by Julius and Abe Stern’s Century Comedies for release through Universal, 1919-22.

Sweet and wife Edna (yes, Edna; not Ena) Gregory live in an apartment building upstairs from “Ladies Tailor” Zip Monberg and his wife, played by Merta Sterling. Zip takes measurements of Edna for a fitting, and proceeds to flirt with her. Merta observes this and brings it to Sweet’s attention. Sweet arrives, pistol in hand, and after some verbal threats a chase ensues, Sweet’s pistol spewing forth what seems like dozens, if not hundreds, of bullets. Sweet eventually tires of the chase, but follows up by unloading a truckload of caged lions into the apartment house. The beasts bound up and down staircases, crash through doors, and leap through open transoms, terrorizing every one of the building’s occupants. Zip and Merta eventually flee to their bed and cover themselves, a bunch of lions quickly joining them. There’s a dissolve from the lions to a bunch of kittens on the bed, the whole film—or at least the lion portion of it—turning out to have been a bad dinner-induced dream.

Sweet, who gained a lot of weight within a few years of these early comedies, is pleasantly slim in this one. His single-minded determination to kill Monberg is surprisingly bloodthirsty, especially given the latter’s essentially non-threatening flirtation with Sweet’s wife. Monberg plays his role as the tailor comparatively straight in this one, a far cry from his ruthless thug in the Sterns’s ALL FOR THE DOUGH BAG. Edna Gregory is an attractive presence, but sadly given little to do here. And then there are the two black janitors, on board here for the obligatory—for the era, at least—sequence where they are scared out of their wits by the marauding lions. One of them jumps into a furnace to escape the lions, while the other garners some good laughs with a close-up of his terrorized face, going through all sorts of eye-bugging, cheek-puffing contortions before the closing shot where he shrinks and un-shrinks multiple times in a clumsily, not-so-special effect shot. As for those lions, director William Watson’s handling of them is competently executed, or reasonably so, with lions seemingly everywhere making numerous breath-taking leaps. These sequences are occasionally marred by some poorly executed double exposures, the lions “crossing” that dividing line into the other half with the actors, their snouts and heads momentarily “disappearing” as they cross the matted line.

As Monberg’s jealous wife, Merta Sterling was another transplant from the Sterns’ earlier L-Ko brand, having appeared in nearly two dozen comedies for that company before switching brands. Wisconsin-born Sterling (1892-1944) had been a stenographer in the office of Klaw and Erlanger, supposedly managing to convince producers to let her take part in a revival of THE PRINCE OF PILSEN. Success in this role led to some work in vaudeville, after which she joined up with Kalem in 1915 and appeared in films for that company (as Myrtle Sterling) before moving over to L-Ko and Phil Dunham’s unit in films such as A LIMBURGER CYCLONE and THE FAT LITTLE RASCAL (both 1917), and later in Vin Moore’s CANNIBALS AND CARNIVALS (1918). Her first for Century was A LION IN THE HOUSE, followed by a handful more which included ROMEO AND JOLLY JULIETS (1919), GOOD LITTLE BROWNIE (1920), and LIONS’ JAWS AND KITTENS’ PAWS, all directed by William Watson.

If you’d like to learn more about the Stern Brothers and their various comedy brands, look no further than my book TIME IS MONEY! THE CENTURY, RAINBOW, AND STERN BROTHERS COMEDIES OF JULIUS AND ABE STERN (by Thomas Reeder, BearManor Media, 2021).

14/04/2024

From the Shameless Self-Promotion Department:

POVERTY ROW ROYALTY: THE FILMS OF PRODUCER SIGMUND NEUFELD AND HIS BROTHER, DIRECTOR SAM NEWFIELD, my (Thomas Reeder) latest, soon-to-be-published book, details the films and careers of two of Poverty Row’s long-ignored key figures. With careers that spanned that spanned most of the silent era and lasted well into the 1950s, the brothers were collectively responsible for more than 300 films that we know of, dozens more from the earliest years released without credit.

From a start at Carl Laemmle’s IMP in 1911 and an education in all aspects of filmmaking with the Stern Brothers’ comedy studios 1916-29, the 1930s were an extremely prolific period that resulted in films starring the Tiffany Chimps, Tim McCoy, Bob Steele, Kermit Maynard, and many others. The brothers’ critical importance to the success, and comparative longevity of, the studio that would become Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) 1939-46 is documented in detail, followed by a final decade of films for studios that included Lippert, Film Classics, Regal Films, and Associated Film Releasing Corp., along with several series for television.

The Neufeld and Newfield families provided considerable support to the writing of this book, most importantly with the frank and detailed recollections of Sig’s son, Sig Jr., and Sam’s son, Joel, both of whom were frequent observers of, and occasional participants in, many of the films produced from 1939 on. Dozens of never-before-published photos from the families’ albums help to illustrate the text.

POVERTY ROW ROYALTY will be published in the next few months by Split Reel Books. If you are interested in pre-ordering a signed copy of the book, and would like to contribute to the Kickstarter campaign currently running to fund its publication, details can be found here:

POVERTY ROW ROYALTY: The Films of Producer Sigmund Neufeld and His Brother, Director Sam Newfield