Bert Williams 100 Years -- March 4, 2022

Chicago Whip, 11-March-1922

Bahamian-American comedian Bert Williams died 100 years ago today, on 04-March-1922. Williams broke racial barriers, appearing in mainstream vaudeville and the Ziegfeld Follies. He appeared in about three movies. One was apparently not completed. 

7000 AT BERT WILLIAMS' BIER

POLICE HOLD

BACK CROWD

AT FUNERAL

Whole Nation Mourns As

Curtain Rings Down On

Premier Entertainer

NEW YORK CITY, March 8. -- More than 7,000 persons jammed the streets leading to the church at Bert Williams’ funeral here Tuesday. Details of mounted policemen patrolled the streets to keep the crowds back.

NEW YORK CITY. March 11 -- Bert Williams, considered by many critics the foremost American comedian of all times, died at his home here Saturday night of pneumonia. He was 52 years of age.

He collapsed on the stage at Detroit Monday night in the midst of the second performance of "Under the Bamboo Tree," in which he was starring. He had been in ill health for more than a year, and shortly before his collapse was under the constant attendance of physicians, who remained with him at all times, even accompanying him to and from the theatre, and sleeping in adjoining rooms with him.

Immediately after his collapse in Detroit he was taken to New York City, where it was hoped a blood transfusion would restore his health. A relapse occurred Saturday from which he was unable to recover.

Funeral services were held Tuesday afternoon at St. Phillip's Church, with a second ceremony to be held Wednesday afternoon under auspices of St. Cecile Lodge of Masons. He was a member of Haverly Lodge, of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Scores of telephone and telegraph messages were received by his widow at their home, 135th Street and Lenox Avenue. All day Sunday and Monday Bert's admirers, both on the stage and off thronged the house and requested the opportunity personally to pay their respects to the memory of the great entertainer.

Went on Nerve

During his recent engagement at the Studebaker Theatre in Chicago Wiliams is said to have gone through his ' performances on sheer nerve, expecting a collapse at any moment, although the audience was unaware oi the fact.

Born in West Indies

Williams was born in Nassau, British West Indies and came to this country when two years of age. He worked at odd jobs in New York, and after serving an enlistment in the army, went on the stage.

He began his stage career as a banjo player with a minstrel show. He then joined with George Walker in a variety show and made a name along the Pacific Coast.

Their first hit was at Jack Halahan's Midway Theatre in San Francisco. From variety the team went to "three a-day" in vaudeville. Success finally crowned their efforts in "Dahomey," and Williams & Walker became an American institution.

One of Williams' greatest shocks was the death of his partner, George Walker. He threatened to leave the stage at Walker s death, but was persuaded by his friends to remain. Williams & Walker appeared both in this country and abroad at private entertainments and at special showings before royalty and nobility.

Scored with Follies

Bert Williams reached the zenith of his career with the Ziegfeld Follies, being even a greater drawing card than Ziegteld's far-famed. shapely limbed chorus girls. Declining health compelled him to forsake the "Follies" for a production which taxed his strength less.

No figure on the American stage was impersonated more often than was Bert Williams. Every vaudeville impersonator of stage celebrities included Bert Williams in his repertoire. His pantomime of "the poker game" is familiar to thousands of theatre-goers who never even saw Bert.

He created a comedy method of his own, which has been imitated universally. The slow, shambling gait, the balanced intonation, the clear diction and the skillful pauses, are familiar to theatre-goers.

When the famous comedian broke down in Detroit, the play. "Under the Bamboo Tree," in which he was starring was immediately disbanded. No attempt was ever made to find an understudy for him. It is said that Shelton Brooks, noticing his failing health, applied for the position.

He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Lottie Williams, formerly of Chicago.

His best-known songs were "Constantly," "I Never Done Nothing to Nobody," "Woodman, Spare That Tree," "Nothing From Nothing Leaves Me," "When the Moonshine Shines Upon the Moonshine," "Save a Little Dram for Me," and "Puppy Dog."

Washington Herald, 11-May-1913

Bert Williams is listed last among the performers in the Ziegfeld Follies. Ching Ling Foo (Chee Ling Qua) was a Chinese-born magician who toured the United States in vaudeville and the Follies. Their fellow performers in this edition of the Follies included Australian Leon Errol, who later starred in short films and B features for RKO, Elizabeth (not Fanny) Brice. Williams and Errol performed as a team, and Errol was the only white pallbearer at Williams' funeral.

Moving Picture World, 19-August-1916

"America's Greatest Comedian."

Big Colored Picture! -- January 29, 2022

Dallas Express, 28-January-1922

I admire John Harris, owner and manager of the Grand Central Theater in Dallas. His ads were always interesting and always featured a photo of himself. I like to see a man who was proud of his work. In this ad, he mentioned that he was bringing By Right of Birth back by popular demand. We saw an ad for the previous showing in September:
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/2021/09/race-films-in-dallas-september-30-2021.html

The Lincoln Motion Picture Company, founded in Omaha in 1916 by brothers Noble and George Johnson, is often called the first company to make "race films," independent production with all- or almost-all-African American casts. In 1918, the company moved to Los Angeles, where it remained until it folded in 1922. The Johnsons left the company in about 1920. By Right of Birth, starring Clarence Brooks, was the company's fifth and last production. Actor Clarence Brooks went on to appear in many race films and some mainstream films during his career.

Dallas Express, 14-January-1922

This program consisted of movies not produced by African Americans, but one short comedy, "The Custard Nine," featured black performers. It was based on a story by a white guy, Harris Dickson.

Dallas Express, 28-January-1922

The Dallas Express was African-American owned. 

Evening Capital and Maryland Gazette, 21-January-1922

The bill at the Star Theater in Annapolis included a vaudeville program and a 1916 Biograph comedy, "A Natural Born Gambler." It starred Bahamian-American comedian Bert Williams. Williams appeared in vaudeville and the Ziegfeld Follies. He died tragically young in 1922.

The ad promised a real race film, The Sport of the Gods, based on the novel by poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Robert Levy, a Jewish immigrant from Britain, made it through his company, Reol Productions. 

Evening Capital and Maryland Gazette, 23-January-1922

This ad is hard to read, but I thought it was worth including. 

1916, A Funny Year -- January 12, 2014

 

Film Fun, January, 1916

This post is part of  the Classic Movie History Project Blogathon hosted by Fritzi at Movies Silently, Ruth at Silver Screenings and Aurora at Once Upon a Screen.   Each participant is posting about a year from 1915 to 1950.  Be sure to click on most images to see larger versions.  

1916 was not a funny year for the 300,000 men killed at the Battle of Verdun or the one million killed at the Battle of the Somme.  1916 was not a funny year for the 8500 men killed at the naval Battle of Jutland.  1916 was not a funny year for the 12 members of the IWW killed at the Everett Massacre.  1916 was not a funny year for the 64 men killed during the Easter Rising in Dublin and the 16 later executed by the British.  1916 was not a funny year for the 16 people killed in San Francisco by the Preparedness Day Bombing, nor for Tom Mooney and Warren Billings, who were convicted of the bombing and sent to prison for 23 years even though neither was guilty.  1916 was not a funny year for Mary the circus elephant, who was hanged in Tennessee for killing her handler, nor was 1916 a funny year for her handler. 

So why do I call this post "1916, A Funny Year"?  I call it that because among the important cinema events of 1916, which included the premiere of DW Griffith's Intolerance and the rising popularity of movie serials, was a great deal of growth in the genre of slapstick film comedy. 

The 03-September-1949 issue of Life Magazine carried an article by James Agee, "Comedy's Greatest Era."  He looked back at the era of silent comedy, which had been dead for about 20 years, if one doesn't count Charlie Chaplin's City Lights from 1931 and Modern Times from 1936.  Agee said that he was trying to "suggest what it was like in its glory in the years from 1912 to 1930, as practiced by the employees of Mack Sennett, the father of American screen comedy, and by the four most eminent masters: Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, the late Harry Langdon and Buster Keaton."  Note that Mack Sennett and three of the "four most eminent masters" were still alive when Agee wrote the article. 

Motion Picture Studio Directory and Trade Annual, 1916.

Back in 1916, Mack Sennett was going strong, even though he had lost some of his independence in joining the Triangle Film Corporation.  Triangle was founded in 1915 by Harry and Roy Aitken. The three points of the Triangle represented its three prestigious producers, DW Griffith, Thomas Ince and Mack Sennett. 



Moving Picture World, October, 1916.

The advertisement, from the 14-October-1916 Moving Picture World, features several current Keystone stars like Roscoe Arbuckle, who might have been a member of Agee's Pantheon if not for a scandal in 1921 that unjustly ruined his career.  Gloria Swanson and Bobby Vernon often worked together as a team.  Miss Swanson went on to become one of the biggest stars in the movies and Vernon had a long career as an actor and writer in comedies.  Louise Fazenda and Harry McCoy worked in comedy into the sound era.  I don't remember much about Ora Carew or Harry Booker.  Arbuckle left Sennett in 1917, as Chaplin, Ford Sterling and others had already gone because Sennett would not or could not pay them what they were worth. 



Moving Picture World, January 1, 1916.

At the end of 1914, Charlie Chaplin had left Sennett to go to Essanay.  At the end of 1915, Chaplin left Essanay to make a wonderful series of shorts for Mutual release.  Essanay took his penultimate production for the studio, "Burlesque on Carmen," and expanded it from two to four reels by adding outtakes and a whole subplot featuring Ben Turpin, who wasn't in the original movie.  Chaplin sued but lost. 

Moving Picture World, May 20, 1916

Chaplin's last production for Essanay, "Police," is commonly called his best for that studio.  I like the design of the ad. 

Moving Picture World, May 27, 1916

Mutual knew it had a hot property in "The Floor Walker," Chaplin's first two-reeler under his new contract.  They were paying Chaplin $650,000 a year, and they wanted to get their money's worth. 



Moving Picture World, June 10, 1916

Essanay knew it had a hot property in the second to last film Chaplin made under his old contract. 

Chaplin's second Mutual release, "The Fireman," played at 14 theaters on Broadway during its first run. 



Moving Picture World, July 8, 1916



I like the image in this ad for Chaplin's third Mutual, "The Vagabond." 

Moving Picture World, July 15, 1916

This Mutual ad touted Chaplin as "the greatest laugh maker that ever lived."  It also says, for some reason, that "This year under the Mutual environment he has acquired UNCTION -- that indefinable something which marks the difference between the bread worker and the true artist." 

Moving Picture World, August 19, 1916

I remember seeing "One A.M," which is a solo performance by Charley, except for the appearance of a cabbie, on television.  Note the warning about "Chaplin Fakirs!!  Ancient films are being dug out of the grave, duped and retitled to be sold to exhibitors as parasites on the fame of Charles Chaplin."  Keep in mind that Chaplin had been making movies for just over two years. 



Moving Picture World, September 9, 1916

Essanay contined to tout its last two Chaplin movies.  Note that they were released through two different companies, General Film Service and V.L.S.E. (Vitagraph-Lubin-Selig-Essanay). 

Moving Picture World, September 23, 1916

I remember seeing a version of "The Count" with sound effects on television when I was young. 

Moving Picture World, September 23, 1916

The same issue of Moving Picture World carried an ad for Essanay's next attempt to squeeze all it could out of Chaplin's legacy, the five reel Essanay-Chaplin-Revue.  "Especially arranged by the Essanay Company from the Essanay-Chaplin comedy successes 'The Tramp,' 'His New Job,' 'A Night Out.'"  It warns infringers that all the Essanay-Chaplins were protected by copyright.  Note that this is listed as the "FIRST Essanay-Chaplin-Revue."  Essanay would do this again in 1918 with Triple Trouble. 

Moving Picture World, October 7, 1916

In his wonderful book The Silent Clowns, Walter Kerr gives a loving description of the scene where Charlie, as the pawnbroker's assistant, evaluates an alarm clock, treating like a succession of different objects. 

Moving Picture World, November 11, 1916

The image shows Chaplin's regular nemesis, Eric Campbell, Charlie, and his regular leading lady, Edna Purviance. 



Moving Picture World, December 16, 1916

I remember a television station showing "The Rink" in the 1970s when roller skating became popular. 



Motography, April 1, 1916

By 1916, Chaplin may have been the most popular man not only in film but in the whole world.  Everyone wanted to see his movies, especially the soldiers in the trenches. 

Film Fun, April, 1916

Lots of people wanted to be Charlie Chaplin.  Kids could be Charlie by sending ten cents to the NUIDEA Company of Brooklyn.  They would receive a "Chas. Chaplin Mustache," an imitation gold tooth, a $1000 bank roll of stage money an "Ish Ka Bibble" lapel button and the "Great Chaplain Coin Vanisher."  I wonder why it includes a gold tooth.  The "Ish Ka Bibble" button is interesting.  I remember Ish Kabibble, Mervyn Bogue, who performed with Kay Kyser.  According to Wikipedia, "Ish Ka Bibble" is a fake Yiddish expression that is said to mean "I should worry?"  I'd love to own a Great Chaplain Coin Vanisher. 



Film Fun, January, 1916

Adults often participated in Charlie Chaplin look alike contests.  The Film Fun images are from such a contest in Dublin.  There is a popular story that Chaplin himself entered a look alike contest and came in second.  This is probably not true, but it is a good story. 

Moving Picture World, December 9, 1916

Other people who wanted to be Charlie Chaplin did it professionally.  Billy West used the tramp costume in a long series of comedies for different studios.  Note the large top photo.  The round insert shows West out of makeup. 

Moving Picture World, June 3, 1916

The Juvenile Film Corporation presented Joseph Monahan imitating Charlie Chaplin in a burlesque on Charlie Chaplin's "Burlesque on Carmen." 

Moving Picture World, November 11, 1916

Billie Ritchie was a special case.  He dressed in a tramp costume and wore a small moustache, but Ritchie claimed he was wearing the tramp costume two or three years before Chaplin was born in 1889, and that Chaplin was imitating his act. Chaplin and Ritchie are seen in the Film Fun cover at the top of this post. 

Moving Picture World, April 8, 1916

Harold Lloyd, another of James Agee's "four most eminent masters," starred in a series of Lonesome Luke comedies.  Lonesome Luke resembled Chaplin with some variations, like a thin moustache instead of a toothbrush, and tight pants instead of baggy.  The Rolin Film Company was founded by Hal Roach and Dan Linthicum.  Note that Lloyd's name does not appear in this April ad. 

Moving Picture World, August 5, 1916

Harold Lloyd's name is featured prominently in this August ad for "Luke Crystal Gazer." 

Moving Picture World, September 9, 1916

This ad for "Luke Joins the Navy" includes photos of Lloyd's two frequent co-stars, Bebe Daniels and Snub Pollard.  Bebe Daniels left Lloyd in 1920 to star for Cecil B DeMille.  She became a major star.  Australian Snub Pollard had a long career in comedy. 

Moving Picture World, September 23, 1916

This ad for "Luke and the Mermaids" mentions Luke, Snub and Bebe by name.  It does not use Harold Lloyd's real name.  Lloyd got tired of imitating Chaplin.  In 1917, he got the idea for the "glasses character" that he used to become a member of the comedy pantheon. 

Moving Picture World, December 16, 1916

Meanwhile, back at Essanay, partner George Spoor was looking for a comedian to take Charley Chaplin's place.  He signed international star Max Linder.  Linder had appeared in early Pathé slapstick comedies in France. He became a major star before World War One.  There is some confusion about what he did in the war, but he was wounded or became seriously ill and newspapers reported that he had died.  This was not true, but the French film industry, the most powerful in the world before the war, had mostly shut down.  Max took the offer from Essanay and came to America, signing a deal to make six short films.  The first two did poorly and the third did only a little better, so that was the end of the series. 

Tacoma Times, December 2, 1916

James Agee's "four most eminent masters" included my personal favorite, Buster Keaton.  In 1916, Keaton was still appearing in vaudeville with his father Joe and his mother Myra.  This ad for the Pantages Theater in Tacoma bills the Three Keatons as "Fun's Family."  I like way Ricker and Winifred are billed as "Riotous Funsters."  Keaton made his film debut the following year with Roscoe Arbuckle. 

New York Tribune, November 12, 1916

The last of James Agee's "four most eminent masters" was Harry Langdon, who didn't make his film debut until 1923.  In 1916, he was appearing at the apex of the vaudeville world, New York's Palace Theater, with his wife in "Johnny's New Car."  Irene Bordoni was an important actress and singer.  George Whiting wrote the lyrics for "My Blue Heaven." 



Moving Picture World, June 24, 1916

Walter Kerr argues in The Silent Clowns that James Agee's list of four was limiting.  He said that Laurel and Hardy need to be considered among the great silent comics, although he allows that their sound career was more important.  Oliver "Babe" Hardy was a veteran of silent comedy in 1916.  He appeared in a series of Vim comedies partnered with little Billy Ruge as Plump and Runt.  Vim's other comic team was cleverly named Pokes and Jabs (Bobby Burns and Walter Stull). 

Variety, April 14, 1916

Hardy's future partner, Stan Laurel, would make his film debut the next year, using his original name, Stan Jefferson.  In 1916, Stan was appearing in vaudeville with his wife, Mae, and another person, billed as the Keystone Trio or the Stan Jefferson Trio.  Stan Jefferson imitated Charlie Chaplin in the act, which was appropriate because he had been Chaplin's understudy with the Fred Karno pantomime troupe. 

Bryan Daily Eagle and Pilot, 18-July-1916

Walter Kerr suggested that another candidate for the pantheon might be Lloyd Hamilton, who starred in short comedies into the sound era.  In 1916, we was usually teamed with little Bud Duncan as Ham and Bud.  These were some roughneck comedies.  Sadly, many of the solo movies Hamilton made for Educational during the 1920s are lost.  The Dixie Theater featured Ham and Bud in "The Great Detective."  Harry Myers, who would appear on the next day's bill with his regular partner Rosemary Theby, later played the drunken millionaire in Chaplin's City Lights. 

Daily Capital Journal., 24-March-1916

Walter Kerr said that women did not have the same opportunities as men to star in slapstick comedies.  Mabel Normand made many wonderful comedies, but her career was cut short by scandal and ill health.  "Fatty and Mabel Adrift" was one of several movies she made with Roscoe Arbuckle. 

Moving Picture World, August 19, 1916

Another person who did not get the same opportunities as some men was the Bahamian-American comedian Bert Williams, who made two short films for the Biograph in 1916, "A Natural Born Gambler" and "Fish."  Williams appeared in vaudeville and the Ziegfeld Follies.  He died tragically young in 1922. 

Moving Picture World, October 14, 1916

Henry Lehrman got his nickname, "Pathé," when he showed up at the Biograph studio and claimed to have had lots of experience with the Pathé company in France.  Director DW Griffith, amused by his audacity, gave him work as an extra and a stuntman.  Lehrman worked his way up to directing comedies before Mack Sennett left to form Keystone.  Lehrman came along, and wound up directing Charlie Chaplin's first movie, "Making a Living."  Lehrman left Sennett along with Ford Sterling to make movies for Universal.  Lehrman broke up with Sterling to form the L-KO (Lehrman Knock-Out) Komedy Kompany.  Lehrman was also nicknamed "Suicide" because he was known for risking the lives and limbs of his performers.  L-KOs had a reputation for being rough and ready comedies.  I assume that this L-KO ad includes an image from "The Surgeon's Revenge."  I include a detail view below. 

Moving Picture World, October 14, 1916

Moving Picture World, October 28, 1916

Cross-eyed Ben Turpin will never make it into the pantheon of slapstick comedians, but he had a very long career and made a lot of people laugh.  "He Died and He Didn't" is an interesting title.  Notice the Vogue motto: "Slapstick with a Reason." 

Moving Picture World, October 14, 1916

I don't remember reading much about Marcel Perez, who played a character called Tweedledum or Dweedledum or Tweedie in slapstick comedies for various companies.  He started out in pre-World War One French comedies, then moved to Italy, then came to America because of the war.  He worked for various companies, performing and directing. I learned about his career from a chapter in Steve Massa's book Lame Brains and Lunatics.

Moving Picture World, October 21, 1916

Comedy producer and director Al Christie left Nestor in 1916 to form the Christie Film Company with his brother Charles.  The Christie Brothers produced comedies in competition with Mack Sennett and Hal Roach until 1933.  "Christie Comedies set a high mark in clean wholesome fun -- not slapstick but funny." 

Moving Picture World, January 1, 1916

Sammy Burns was an obscure slapstick comedian.  I don't know why Vogue chose to omit his last name from this ad and call him "Sammy???"  Notice that Vogue's motto is stated as "Slapsticks with a Reason."  His previous release, "Sammy's Scandalous Scheme," involved Sammy's character imitating Charlie Chaplin. 



Moving Picture World, April 8, 1916

Handsome Harry Watson, Jr played Musty Suffer in a series for George Kleine. 

Moving Picture Magazine, November 1915

And finally, I thought I would end with a surprise.  It is from 1915, but I couldn't resist.  I think I know what it is.  Would anyone else care to offer an opinion?  Nice drawing of Charlie. 

This post was part of  the Classic Movie History Project Blogathon hosted by Fritzi at Movies Silently, Ruth at Silver Screenings and Aurora at Once Upon a Screen.   Thank you to all three of them for all the hard work.  Thank you to everyone who visited and I encourage you to read and comment on as many posts as you can.  

 



I participated in several movie blogathons at my other blog, The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion. You can visit them here.