KsSFF: "Our Hospitality" (1923) Keaton; "The Yankee Clipper" (1926) Hopalong Cassidy

[Bob Pr.]

The 14th annual Kansas Silent Film Festival just concluded and I saw 2 featuires and a number of shorts.

"Our Hospitality"(1923) (75 min.), comedy, stars Buster Keaton and is a take-off on the famed Hatfield-McCoy feud, altering the names to Canfield & McKay. The plot has Willie McKay (Keaton) being taken north and raised in NY state after his father is killed in the feud. He's tricked into returning to inherit his father's estate (practically non-existent) and runs into the wealthy Canfield family who are intent on murdering him. Also on the journey back is a lovely young lady -- a Canfield as it happens -- who invites Willie to supper in her home with her father and 2 brothers. Because of the customs of Southern hospitality, the father forbids his sons to kill Willie in their home, so they try tricks to get him outside. A funny movie with many surprises. Keaton loved trains and had "The Rocket" built especially for this film. IMDb rates this film 8.1 of 10 stars.

"The Yankee Clipper" (1926) (80 min.), drama, stars William Boyd (the future Hopalong Cassidy) and child star Junior Coughlan. It depicts a fictitious race between a USA clipper ship and an English vessel, both intended to be the fastest to take tea from China to Boston. There's a love interest, a storm at sea, and a tight race. Junior Coughlin (IMO) was especially good. IMDb rates this film 6.1 of 10 stars.

Among the many shorts, I especially enjoyed --

"Angora Love" (1929) (20 min) Laurel & Hardy. A goat falls in love with Stan and won't leave him. The boys check into a rooming house hiding the goat and trying to keep its presence unknown to the landlord who lives in the room just below. Vintage L&H.

"The Vagabond" (1916) (20 min). This is considered the first film in which Chaplin mixed pathos/poignancy with comedy. In this, he's a violinist who rescues a young lady who'd been stolen as a child (by gypsies?). Vintage Chaplin.

"Rescued by Rover" (1905) (8 minutes). The first ever of the dog to the rescue movies. A baby is stolen, the parents are grief-stricken, and Lassie -- uh, "Rover" -- sets out to find the baby, does so, and leads the father back to recover him. Many subsequent dog movies are inflated variations of this English movie. The Hepworth family (of the Hepworth film company in Great Britain) used themselves and their own collie, Blair, for this short. It was SO popular, shown SO many times, the film stock kept wearing out so often the family had to refilm this episode at least 4 times. We saw 2 of the delightful, restored, very similar versions. Poor Blair must've gotten tired of having to swim that dang river so many times.

Most, perhaps all, of these films are available on DVD.