The history of Columbia Pictures can be traced back to 1918, when Harry Cohn, along with brother Jack and partner Joe Brandt, formed CBC Film Sales. CBC produced low budget shorts and featurettes, and in 1922, produced their first feature film MORE TO BE PITIED THAN SCORNED. With the profit made from the feature (it was produced for $22,000.00 and earned $130,000.00), Cohn set his sights on future film productions and in 1924, Columbia Pictures was founded.
The studio was located at Sunset and Gower ("Gower Gulch"), and in addition to producing feature films, handled the distribution of short subjects produced by other studios. These included a series of two-reel comedies billed as SUNRISE COMEDIES, which were produced by The Lambs Club (a group of professional actors including Leon Errol and Will Mahoney). Also in the lineup was a handful of MICKEY McGUIRE comedies produced by Larry Darmour, the Charles Mintz KRAZY KAT and SCRAPPY cartoons, and Walt Disney's MICKEY MOUSE and SILLY SYMPHONIES cartoons, just to name a few.
In 1933, Cohn decided to develop a short subjects division for Columbia. To get the ball rolling, Cohn hired Jules White to help shape and head the department. No stranger to comedy, White had previously directed shorts at the studios of MGM, Hal Roach and Educational Pictures. Jules was also responsible for the MGM series of DOGVILLE COMEDIES. These spoofs of then-current feature films with an all canine cast was co-created by Zion Myers, the brother of silent screen star Carmel Myers.
After a month with no progress, a frustrated White left Columbia. Zion Myers accepted Harry Cohn's offer to replace White's position. Myers first act as producer was to hire Archie Gottler, who developed Columbia's first official series, THE MUSICAL NOVELTIES. At Myers request, Jules White returned to the unit in 1934. White then immediately went to work by hiring a top-notch crew of comedy writers and directors, most having previously worked for Mack Sennett and other studios. Among those Jules hired included Del Lord, Clyde Bruckman, Elwood Ullman, Felix Adler, Charles Lamont, Harry Edwards, James W. Horne, and James Parrott. White brought in his brothers Sam and Jack (who is often credited as "Preston Black") to also write and direct two-reelers for the unit. It was at this time, on August 8, 1934, that Columbia moved it's comedy department from Gower Street to the old, rickety California Studio on Beechwood Drive.
During the 1930's, some of the comedians hired to head their own series of shorts included Leon Errol, Andy Clyde, The 3 Stooges, Buster Keaton, Harry Langdon, Walter Catlett, El Brendel, The Radio Rogues, Smith and Dale, and Charley Chase, who not only starred in his own series, but also wrote and directed several other comedies being produced on the lot. On average, 25 shorts per year were produced. In 1937, Hugh McCollum, the business manager for the shorts department, was promoted to the position of producer, sharing production duties equally with Jules White. Both White and McCollum ran their own separate units within the department, alternating production chores for each series. This move also gave White more freedom to direct several of the comedies.
The 1940's brought more talent to the unit. In 1944, Edward Bernds (a sound mixer at Columbia since the shorts department's beginnings) began writing scripts for the shorts, and was soon given his chance to direct. Bernds is responsible for some of the finest two-reel comedies Columbia made. New series were also initiated. People like Hugh Herbert, Vera Vague, Sterling Holloway, and Gus Schilling and Richard Lane were seen in their own comedy shorts. Shemp Howard, Joe DeRita, and Joe Besser even had their own series of solo comedies before becoming more famous as "3rd Stooge". Columbia continued to add more comedians to the roster. Harry von Zell, better known today for his association with George Burns and Gracie Allen, starred in 8 enjoyable shorts. Wally Vernon and Eddie Quillan were teamed for a series, as were former boxers Max Baer and "Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom. Others who popped up in their own Columbia two-reelers include Billie Burke, Roscoe Karns, Alan Mowbray, and Johnny Downs. There were also several single entry shorts featuring a variety of performers who passed through the Columbia gates. Comedians like Franklin Pangborn and Danny Webb (who also provided voices for Columbia's theatrical cartoons) only made one short for the studio. Most of these single entries were failed attempts at creating a new series or comedy team. One of the best of these one-shots was the pairing of Tim Ryan and Wally Brown in FRENCH FRIED FROLIC (1949).
Every now and then, there were casting ideas for proposed series that never got off the ground. Jules White had contacted character actor Henry Armetta about starring in a series of comedy shorts, but when the meeting with Armetta proved to be a big mistake (Henry demanded to choose his own co-stars, writers, directors, etc.), having none of that, Jules quickly nixed the plans. In the mid-1940's, Jules had approached Danny Thomas' manager about hiring Thomas for a series of comedy shorts. Thomas' manager informed Jules that a series of two-reelers was not in Danny's plans, as he was being groomed for "bigger things". Jules White once admitted that had the team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy been available, he would have jumped at the chance to hire them to appear in shorts for the studio.
On a casting note, supporting players were also very important to the popularity of the films. Jules White knew this and hired some of the best, both veterans and newcomers. Without the talents of those like Vernon Dent, Dudley Dickerson, Dorothy Appleby, Bud Jamison, Ann Doran, Jack Norton, Bess Flowers, Symona Boniface, Duke York, Phil Van Zandt, Kenneth MacDonald, Dick Wessel, and the multi-talented Christine McIntyre and Emil Sitka, these films would have lost much of their charm. Others include Stanley Blystone, James C. Morton, Esther Howard, Dick Curtis, Jack "Tiny" Lipson, and Harry Semels. Others who turned up in these Columbia shorts early in their careers were Lucille Ball, Jimmie Dodd, Lloyd Bridges, Yvonne DeCarlo, Noel "Lois Lane" Neill, and Walter Brennan.
By the late 1940's, changes were on the way. The cost of producing two-reel short-subjects had skyrocketed, and several films became remakes of earlier titles. It was easier (cheaper) to lift footage from an earlier production and shoot wrap-a-round sequences to match up with the existing footage. Also, the amount of shorts produced had been reduced from 25 per year to 15. To make up the difference, in 1949 the studio began to reissue earlier shorts. These reissues were billed as COMEDY FAVORITES. The first of these reissues was PEST FROM THE WEST, a 1939 Buster Keaton comedy.
The comedies were also reissued in the 16mm home movie format. Excel Movie Products released several silent abridged 3 Stooges and Andy Clyde shorts in 50, 100, 150, and 200 ft versions. These home movie versions were marketed for Excel's toy projector sets. Most of these films were given new titles such as HISS AND MAKE UP (featuring footage from a currently lost Andy Clyde short TWO LOCAL YOKELS) and HUNGRY THREE (which contained footage from The 3 Stooges short HALF-SHOT SHOOTERS). Official Films was another company licensed to issue prints for non-theatrical use. Many comedies featuring Buster Keaton, Charley Chase, Andy Clyde, and El Brendel, among others, were available through this 16mm rental outlet.
In 1952, Hugh McCollum was fired from his position as producer. With the number of shorts-per-year reduced, Jules White was able to convince the studio that keeping two producers on the payroll was unnecessary. Ed Bernds also left the studio, and Jules White continued to both produce and direct the comedies, with brother Jack re-writing several earlier shorts. In many cases, the amount of stock footage used in these shorts enabled White to complete a "new" two-reeler in one day! Throughout the 1950's, Columbia continued to reissue earlier shorts, and went on to release THE COLUMBIA LAFF HOUR, a 1956 feature length compilation of shorts starring Hugh Herbert, Andy Clyde, Vera Vague, and The 3 Stooges.
In 1958, Harry Cohn died and Jules White left the studio. The doors of the shorts department had finally closed. That same year, Screen Gems (Columbia Pictures television subsidiary) packaged together the shorts of The 3 Stooges for television and history was made. The Stooge comedies became an over-night success. Television stations all over the country were airing the Stooge shorts, and Columbia was making a mint, prompting the studio to issue the theatrical film THE THREE STOOGES FUN-O-RAMA, which was merely a festival of 3 Stooges shorts featuring Joe Besser as "3rd Stooge". It should be noted that the popularity of these Stooge comedies brought the team back into the limelight. Besser was replaced by Joe DeRita, and they went on to appear in several feature films and television programs until the early 1970's.
Encouraged by the television success of the Stooges comedies*, Screen Gems put together a package called THE HILARIOUS HUNDRED, which consisted of, despite the package's name, 200 shorts. In the Spring of 1959, many comedies starring Hugh Herbert, Vera Vague, Schilling & Lane, Harry Von Zell, El Brendel and others were made available to the television market. Also included in this package were some of the earlier mentioned Mickey McGuire comedies, as well as MY WIFE'S AN ANGEL, a Ben K. Blake produced musical-comedy starring Allen Jenkins. Columbia's selection of titles in the syndicated television package did not include every title from one particular series. According to Ted Okuda, author of THE COLUMBIA COMEDY SHORTS, many of the Schilling and Lane films were in the package, but evidently not the elusive HOLD THAT MONKEY, their final effort. Mr. Okuda also informed me that Columbia numbered the films in alphabetical order, as he once owned a 16mm print of the Vera Vague short, YOU DEAR BOY, which was marked on the film leader "Columbia #200". This would be the last film to be included in the 1959 group of syndicated prints.
Some cities ran only a handful of these non-Stooge two-reelers. Often, the comedies were mixed in with BUGS BUNNY and POPEYE cartoons, and one such program was titled NUTS AND BUGS. Boston's WNAC-TV program MAJOR MUDD showcased the shorts along with the more popular Stooge titles. In Detroit, the non-Stooge Columbia's were seen only briefly on programs like CURTAIN TIME and THE JOHNNY GINGER SHOW. Other cities, like Cleveland and Cincinnati, ran every one of the shorts in the package (the Cincinnati version was shown under the blanket titles A MILLION LAUGHS and LAFF HOUSE GANG). Conversely, other cities like Chicago and Rockford, Illinois focused only on the shorts with the most "contemporary" appeal: ie, the Andy Clyde and Buster Keaton shorts (both of these actors were still flourishing and popular in the late 1950s-early 1960s). It has also been brought to my attention that during some of the Chicago broadcasts, a few Vera Vague two-reelers were spotted over a period of time.
Whatever the case, the non-Stooge Columbia shorts were never able to build up much of an audience on TV. They did however stay in theatrical circulation until the late 1960's. Buster Keaton's 1940 short PARDON MY BERTH MARKS, for example, was reissued in February 1964. Columbia also continued to reissue the popular 3 Stooges comedies, mainly those with Shemp Howard and Joe Besser, at the traditional eight per year. The Stooge comedies stayed in theatrical release until 1968. During this time, only two Curly shorts were re-released to theaters.
During the 1960's, Columbia issued silent and sound home movie prints of select comedies on 8mm. Most of these were edited versions of 3 Stooges subjects, however, a few Buster Keaton and Andy Clyde titles were issued, as was a edited version of Harry Langdon's TO HEIR IS HUMAN. Later, in 1973, Columbia Pictures again released a series of shorts in the Super 8mm format called COMEDY CLASSICS. These were complete, unedited versions of comedies with such stars as Andy Clyde, The 3 Stooges, Harry Langdon, Leon Errol, Roscoe Karns, and Charley Chase. This would be the first time that many of the Chase comedies would be seen since their original theatrical release, as they were not a part of the 1959 Screen Gems television package, nor were they ever reissued theatrically by Columbia. Only two of Chase's Columbia comedies received post-theatrical exposure; Official Films released THE WRONG MISS WRIGHT and CALLING ALL DOCTORS in the late 1940's as part of the company's non-theatrical 16mm rental division. However, further research has revealed that in 1974, 15 of the Charley Chase Columbia two-reelers were available for use over the facilities at channel 57 in Springfield, MA.
I suspect that this same group of Chase titles that was available in Springfield, MA was also available to other television facilities nation-wide. What year they were included into the Screen Gems package, I have no clue. My personal collection of Chase subjects have all original Columbia titles/logos. No Screen Gems logos, nor have I ever seen a Chase subject with a Screen Gems logo.
Due to such low sales of the non-Stooge material, Columbia's home movie division would focus only on the comedies of The 3 Stooges for future 8mm releases, as well as the later home video market. Today, on occasion, some of the more obscure non-Stooge titles are dusted off and screened at film festivals, while a few others have made their way recently to DVD, but with the exception of the extremely popular comedies of the 3 Stooges, the majority of Columbia's comedy shorts (or, for that matter, short subjects in general) remain inaccessible.
*Just for the record, it should also be mentioned that the popularity of the televised Stooge films also encouraged other distributors to come up with their own syndicated packages. For example, United Artists Television (AAP) sent out a "franchise" show called BIG MAC AND HIS MAGIC TRAIN, which featured several Vitaphone comedy shorts of the 1930s. Guild Films came up with BIG RASCALS, a package of RKO shorts featuring Edgar Kennedy, Leon Errol, Clark and McCullough, Gil Lamb and The Newlyweds. Others include MGM-TV's 101 HUNKS OF FUN, a package featuring the Pete Smith shorts, and another distributor put together COMEDY CARNIVAL, made up of the Educational Shorts with Buster Keaton, Harry Langdon, Danny Kaye etc.
TED OKUDA, ED WATZ, HAL ERICKSON, RALPH CELENTANO and
SCOTT MacGILLIVRAY DESERVE A BIG THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING MUCH OF THIS INFORMATION.
