A Brewerytown Romance

A Brewerytown Romance
A Brewerytown Romance
	Raymond McKee in a publicity still from A Brewerytown Romance
Directed by	Frank Griffin
Written by	Frank Griffin
Produced by	Arthur Hotaling
Starring	Eva Bell; Raymond McKee ; Frank Griffin ; Oliver Hardy
Release date	June 2, 1914;
Running time	7–8 minutes (c. 600 feet)
Country	United States
Languages	Silent film; English intertitles

Last updated November 09, 2023

A Brewerytown Romance is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company, starring Eva Bell, Raymond McKee, Frank Griffin, and Oliver Hardy.

Plot

Lena's jealous boyfried Emil is furious when Lena dances with Heinz, the local tango champion. Emil pulls a gun and chases Heinz, who dives into a river and swims to a nearby boat in order to escape. But the boat is loaded with nitroglycerine, and when Emil shoots at it, it explodes, blowing Heinz into the air. He falls on top of Emil, and the two men continue to fight until they are stopped up by Cassidy, the cop, who happens to be Lena's old sweetheart. When Lena is given an ultimatum and forced to choose between Emil and Heinz, she chooses Cassidy instead, and the couple push Emil and Heinz into the river.^[1]^[2]

Cast

Eva Bell as Lena Krautheimer
Raymond McKee as Emil Schweitzer
Frank Griffin as Tango Heinz (as Frank C. Griffin)
Oliver Hardy as Cassidy (as Babe Hardy)

Production

A Brewerytown Romance was filmed in Jacksonville, Florida, at the Jacksonville unit of the Lubin Manufacturing Company, under the supervision of Arthur Hotaling.^[2] It was a short split-reel comedy, lasting approximately 7–8 minutes, and sharing a single reel of film with a second, unrelated comedy, Summer Love, which featured Eloise Willard, Edward Lawrence, Frances Ne Moyer, and Jimmy Hodges.^[1] The films were released by the General Film Company on June 2, 1914.^[2] Both were written and directed by Frank Griffin, who went on to direct several other short comedies for Lubin in 1914 and 1915.^[1]^[2] A sequel to A Brewerytown Romance, entitled The Kidnapped Bride and featuring the same cast and characters, was released a month later.

A Brewerytown Romance is one of several films made in the spring of 1914 that include the earliest screen appearances of Oliver Hardy. In most of these films he was an uncredited extra, but in a A Brewerytown Romance he played a small but important role and was identified by name in the film's credits and in studio advertisements.^[1]^[2] This was Hardy's first screen appearance under the nickname "Babe" Hardy; in his only previous screen credit, in the Lubin comedy Outwitting Dad , released several weeks earlier, he was listed as O. N. Hardy.^[3]

Like most of the earliest Lubin shorts, A Brewerytown Romance does not survive. It is assumed that the negatives and original prints perished in the disastrous explosion and fire that destroyed the Lubin film vault in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 13, 1914.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Reception

The reviews of the film in the trade papers were tepid at best. The New York Dramatic Mirror wrote, "Characterized à la Ford Sterling, in the burlesque of the German characters, and with the slapstick element reigning supreme, the offering starts where the rival insults the man, and the rest of the half reel is a chase not noteworthy for anything more than the blowing up of an old boat. The usual rough and tumble acrobatics accompany it. The characters are all made up as Teutons, all except the policeman."^[2] According to The Moving Picture World, "there is nothing to praise and much in the way of detail to condemn in this alleged comedy on the same reel with Summer Love. One of the funny(?) things offered is a chase in which the principal comedian shows great fear of losing his trousers — incidentally, he shows considerable shirt-tail."^[7]The Motion Picture News, on the other hand, was more positive: "This comedy would signify that Lubin has taken up the slapstick and facial expression variety of comedy. The story is that of the two rivals for the same girl and the chase, brick throwing and other accompaniments are sidesplitting."^[8]

Related Research Articles

Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in the silent film era, they later successfully transitioned to "talkies". From the late 1920s to the mid-1950s, they were internationally famous for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy, childlike friend to Hardy's pompous bully. Their signature theme song, known as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos" was heard over their films' opening credits, and became as emblematic of them as their bowler hats.

Oliver Norvell Hardy was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his comedy partner Stan Laurel in 107 short films, feature films, and cameo roles. He was credited with his first film, Outwitting Dad, in 1914. In most of his silent films before joining producer Hal Roach, he was billed on screen as Babe Hardy.

The Lubin Manufacturing Company was an American motion picture production company that produced silent films from 1896 to 1916. Lubin films were distributed with a Liberty Bell trademark.

Outwitting Dad is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company and featuring Billy Bowers, Raymond McKee, and Oliver Hardy in his first known screen appearance.

Casey's Birthday is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company and starring Daniel Casey, Mae Hotely, and Billy Bowers. The young Oliver Hardy had a small role.

Building a Fire is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company and starring Mae Hotely, Julia Calhoun, and Jerold Hevener. Also among the cast is Oliver Hardy, who has a small role as a policeman.

He Won a Ranch is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company and starring Jerold Hevener and Raymond McKee. Also among the cast is Oliver Hardy, who has a small role as a cowboy.

The Particular Cowboys is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company and starring Frances Ne Moyer and Raymond McKee. Also among the cast was Oliver Hardy, who had a small role as a cowboy.

For Two Pins is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company and starring Jimmy Hodges, Marguerite Ne Moyer, and Raymond McKee. Also among the cast was Oliver Hardy, who had a small role as a policeman.

A Tango Tragedy is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company and starring Billy Bowers, Frances Ne Moyer, and James Hodges. Also among the cast was Oliver Hardy, who had a small role as a man at the dance.

The Female Cop is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company and starring Mae Hotely and Julia Calhoun, with Oliver Hardy as a "boob cop".

Good Cider is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company, featuring Jane Calhoun, Ben Walker, Billy Bowers, Oliver Hardy, and James Levering.

Long May It Wave is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company, featuring Raymond McKee, Mae Hotely, Marguerite Ne Moyer, Ed Lawrence, Ben Walker, and Oliver Hardy.

His Sudden Recovery is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company, featuring Oliver Hardy, Eloise Willard, Frances Ne Moyer, and Marguerite Ne Moyer.

The Kidnapped Bride is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company, starring Eva Bell, Raymond McKee, Frank Griffin, and Oliver Hardy. It is a sequel to A Brewerytown Romance, released earlier the same year.

Back to the Farm is a lost 1914 silent comedy short film that co-starred Oliver "Babe" Hardy and Herbert "Bert" Tracy. Written by Will Louis and produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company of Pennsylvania, the short was filmed in Jacksonville, Florida. It was directed by Joseph Levering, likely in collaboration with the chief director on Lubin's production staff in Jacksonville, Arthur Hotaling.

The Servant Girl's Legacy is a 1914 American silent comedy film featuring Mabel Paige and "Babe" Hardy. Produced by Lubin Manufacturing Company, this short is the earliest surviving film performance of the comedian Hardy.

The New Adventures of J. Rufus Wallingford is a 1915–1916 American silent film serial produced by the Wharton Studio in Ithaca, New York, and starring Burr McIntosh and Max Figman.

Epes Winthrop Sargent was an American vaudeville critic, who wrote under the pen-names Chicot and Chic.

Billy Bowers was a comedic actor in the United States. He starred in many Siegmund Lubin comedy shorts with Oliver Hardy. He was also in films produced by Arthur Hotaling and directed by Jerold Hevener.

References

1 2 3 4 The Lubin Bulletin, vol. 1, no. 13 (June 30, 1914), p. 3.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Rob Stone, Laurel or Hardy: The Solo Films of Stan Laurel and Oliver "Babe" Hardy (Temecula, CA: Split Reel Books, 1996), pp. 11–12, 18–19.
↑ The Lubin Bulletin, vol. 1, no. 11 (April 29, 1914), p. 17.
↑ "Devastating Fire at Lubin Plant", Billboard vol. 26, no. 25 (June 20, 1914), p. 78.
↑ "Lubin Mourns Lost Negatives", Motography, vol. 12, no. 2 (July 11, 1914), p. 64.
↑ Rob Stone, Laurel or Hardy: The Solo Films of Stan Laurel and Oliver "Babe" Hardy (Temecula, CA: Split Reel Books, 1996), p. 18.
↑ Moving Picture World, vol. 20, no. 12 (June 20, 1914), p. 1688.
↑ Motion Picture News, vol. 9, no. 24 (June 20, 1914), p. 63.