This 1961 episode from the Series “Silents Please” looks at the work of Mack Sennett’s “Fun Factory”, an iconic slapstick comedy production studio that produced some of the most famous actors of the silent film era. The film shows scenes with comedians like Charlie Chaplin, Marie Dressler, and Mabel Normand, and Ben Turpin. It also covers footage of some of the iconic special effects that Sennett pioneered, such as a spinning background for chases scenes and different camera tricks to speed up cars and trams.
0:06 a car drives wildly down a road and crashes into a storefront, 0:16 Title “Silents Please”, 0:32 different scenes from Mack Sennett’s “Fun Factory”, 0:59 Mack Sennett sitting at a desk, 1:18 Some of Sennett’s early acting scenes as a Butler and in a classroom, 1:47 different scenes from Sennett’s first success “The Bang Ville Police”, 2:29 a smoky police vehicle chasing after some criminals but breaking down and exploding, 2:49 first scene from “The Keystone cops” with them chasing youngsters on a boat, 3:31 completely disorganized police officer antics shown with them falling into mud and running into each other, 4:00 scene from “Tilly’s Punctured Romance” with Marie Dressler shooting at Charlie Chaplin as he tries to escape, 4:58 the cops try to stop the shooter but end up driving into the ocean, 5:33 cops try to rescue Dressler from the water but fail miserably, 6:01 Charlie Chaplin walks into a restaurant and uses a man’s beard as a napkin, 6:57 Chaplin eats next to Max Wayne and is very annoyed with his rude behavior, 8:14 the two begin fighting each other and wreck the restaurant in the process, 9:25 demonstration of a revolving background to give more realism to chase scenes, 9:46 Sennett’s “Bathing Beauties” including Phyllis Haver, 10:05 Haver and a group of women play beach Volleyball, 10:27 women having a snowball fight, 10:42 Gloria Swanson in scenes with Wallace Beery and Bobby Burnett, 11:32 Scene with Carol Lombard, 11:41 Mabel Normand jumping into the water and then being cast as an actress in a skit, 12:39 Normand in “The Extra Girl” trying to transform a dog into a Lion and then accidentally coming into contact with a real lion, 13:51 Normand walking through the Sennett studio with a lion on a leash which causes widespread panic as the lion begins chasing her through the studio, 16:46 Scene with Ben Turpin from “The Daredevil” where he is meant to rescue the heroine who is played by Madeline Hurlock, 18:14 Turpin fires a gun but the powder gets stuck and blows up half the room, 18:35 Turpin runs into different realistically painted doors, 19:06 demonstration of optical illusions to speed up cars and trolleys, 20:06 Turpin tied to a pole in a room that is slowly filling up with water for a movie scene but the whole crew leaves him to film a fire instead, 21:11 Turpin who was just pulled out of the water is made to run inside the burning building to help a woman but brings out a device that explodes instead, 22:09 a car chasing a motorcycle including through a building and over roofs which causes mayhem, 23:46 a man completing road works and nearly hit by racing cars each time, 23:57 racing cars miss road closure sign and all crash into each other, 24:28 Credits begin rolling with film scenes in the background
Mack Sennet was a Canadian actor, filmmaker, and studio head who lived from 1880-1960. He was dubbed the “King of Comedy” for the silent film era. Unfortunately, he proved less successful during the sound film era and went bankrupt.
Mack Sennett (1880 – 1960) was a Canadian actor, filmmaker, and studio head, known as the ‘King of Comedy’. Born in Danville, Quebec, he started in films in the Biograph Company of New York City, and later opened Keystone Studios in Edendale, California in 1912. Keystone possessed the first fully enclosed film stage, and became famous as the originator of slapstick routines such as pie-throwing and car-chases, as seen in the Keystone Cops films.
Sennett’s work in sound movies was less successful, and he was bankrupted in 1933. In 1938 he was presented with an honorary Academy Award for his contribution to film comedy.
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