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Joe Martin Turns 'Em Loose | |
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Directed by | Paul Bourgeois |
Written by | Paul Bourgeois |
Produced by | Carl Laemmle |
Starring | Joe Martin (orangutan) |
Release date |
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Running time | 30 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Joe Martin Turns 'Em Loose is a two-reel black-and-white silent comedy film released by Universal Pictures on September 15, 1915. [1] [2] It is not found in the Library of Congress' film preservation database and as such, is believed to be a lost film. [3] The film was regarded by contemporary reviewers as a remarkable for its integration of plot, animal performance and stuntwork. [4] The film’s animals were the trained tigers of Paul Bourgeois (aka Paul Sablon) paired with the menagerie of the recently established Universal City Zoo, under the leadership of Rex De Rosselli. Bourgeois was the director and scenarist. [2]
The film, distributed by Universal, is credited, variously, to one of two production companies under the Universal umbrella: Rex Motion Picture Company [5] or Victor Studios. [6] Some sources [7] [8] say it was a one-reel film but with a reported running time of 30 minutes that is likely an error. [9]
During production in August 1915, Motion Picture News reported, "A near riot was caused on the rear stage and in the zoo of Universal City the early part of this week when practically all of the animals were turned loose for the filming of the one-reel animal comedy, Joe Martin Turns 'em Loose. The name part is taken by the chimpanzee…" [7] The animal cast included the "least domesticated members" of the Universal City Zoo, including Charlie the Elephant and Princess the Tiger. [10]
Ad copy published in The Moving Picture World reads, in part, "It isn't often that Universal 'turns loose' to the extent of a page to boost a two-reeler—you can judge from this spread that we think mighty well of Joe Martin." [11]
The title-character ape was an orangutan who had been known as Charlie Chimpanzee but whose stage name was changed to Joe Martin, seemingly as a result of the success of this picture. Joe Martin went on to have a long movie career, appearing in films until 1923. [12] "Joe Martin" became a cultural shorthand and common name for other performing simians of the era. [13] [14]
Carl Laemmle was seemingly proud of his involvement in Joe Martin, such that the studio magazine reported in 1933: "Joe Martin was a monkey and he scored heavily with audiences — so heavily, in fact, that Mr. Laemme recently decided to inject a new 1933 version of the same idea in Nagana." [15] In the case of Nagana starring Melvyn Douglas, the animals collectively save a human life. [15]
Joe Martin, ničema was played at the 1920 inauguration of "The People's House (Czechia) , the center of the Czech Social Democratic Party." [16]
In a 2001 article about the scandalous and somewhat criminal Hollywood era of Paul Bourgeois' career, the film was characterized as "riotous." [17]
A positive review by Peter Milne was published in Motion Picture News at the time of release: "...An elephant shoves the police station in the river, tigers enter a millinery establishment and completely devastate its contents as well as petrifying the occupants, several bears wreck a delicatessen store, an entire boarding house is thrown into pandemonium by the unheralded entrance of all varieties of animals. All this and a lot more that is both thrilling and funny…" [18]
Jack Pickford, was a Canadian-American actor, film director and producer. He was the younger brother of actresses Mary and Lottie Pickford.
The Thundering Herd is a 1925 American silent Western film, now lost. It is directed by William K. Howard and starring Jack Holt, Lois Wilson, Noah Beery, Sr. and Raymond Hatton. Based on Zane Grey's 1925 novel of the same name and written by Lucien Hubbard, the film is about a trader who uncovers a scheme to blame the Indians for a buffalo-herd massacre. It was one of a series of critically and commercially successful Zane Grey westerns produced by Jesse Lasky and Adolph Zukor for Paramount Pictures.
The Selig Zoo in Los Angeles, California was an early 20th century animal collection managed by Col. W.N. Selig for use in Selig Polyscope Company films and as a tourist attraction. Over the years the zoo was also known as the Luna Park Zoo, California Zoological Gardens, Zoopark, and, eventually, Lincoln Amusement Park. After Westerns, "animal pictures" were Selig's second-most popular genre of film product.
Rex De Rosselli, was an American actor of the silent era, mainly appearing in Westerns. He appeared in more than 150 films between 1911 and 1926. He was born in Kentucky and died in East Saint Louis. He also served as head trainer of the Universal City Zoo from approximately 1915 to 1917. Rex De Rosselli was described as a "silver-haired Beau Brummell" who alternated film work in the winters and circus work in the summers.
The Captive is an American silent-era film released on April 22, 1915. It was released on five reels. The film was written, directed, edited, and produced by Cecil B. DeMille. Jesse L. Lasky was another producer and Jeanie MacPherson worked with DeMille to write the screenplay. The film is based on a play written by Cecil B. DeMille and Jeanie MacPherson. The Captive grossed over $56,000 on a budget of $12,154. Blanche Sweet stars as Sonia Martinovich, alongside House Peters who stars as Mahmud Hassan. The film details the romantic war-era plight of Sonia and her lover Mahmud.
Helen Louise Gardner was an American stage and film actress, screenwriter, film producer and costume designer. She was the first film actor to form her own production company. Her productions were primarily feature-length films, making her one of the earliest adopters of the feature film. Gardner's work was distinct for frequently centering female characters. Gardner is also considered one of the screen's first vamps.
Good Night Elmer is a 1940 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon short, directed by Chuck Jones, animated by Phil Monroe and written by Rich Hogan. The short was released on October 26, 1940, and features Elmer Fudd.
Providencia Ranch, part of Providencia Land and Water Development Company property named for the Rancho Providencia Mexican land grant, was a property in California, US. It was used as a filming location for the American Civil War battle scenes in The Birth of a Nation (1915) and other silent motion pictures. The valley was also the site for two Universal Studios west coast operations in 1914.
Jungle Cavalcade is a compilation of footage from Frank Buck’s first three films depicting his adventures capturing animals for the world's zoos.
The Moving Picture World was an influential early trade journal for the American film industry, from 1907 to 1927. An industry powerhouse at its height, Moving Picture World frequently reiterated its independence from the film studios.
No. 16 Martin Street was a 1916 American silent Short film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. The film was based on the detective story and screen adaptation by Bess Meredyth. The drama stars Dorothy Davenport, Emory Johnson, and an all-star cast of Universal contract players.
Joe Martin was a captive orangutan who appeared in at least 50 American films of the silent era, including approximately 20 comedy shorts, several serials, two Tarzan movies, Rex Ingram's melodrama Black Orchid and its remake Trifling Women, the Max Linder feature comedy Seven Years Bad Luck, and the Irving Thalberg-produced Merry-Go-Round.
Universal City Zoo was a private animal collection in southern California that provided animals for silent-era Universal Pictures adventure films, circus pictures, and animal comedies, and to "serve as a point of interest" for tourists visiting Universal City. The animals were also leased to other studios. The zoo was closed in 1930, after cinema's transition to synchronized sound complicated the existing systems for using trained animals onscreen.
Harry Burns was a vaudeville performer, boxing referee, actor, assistant director, animal-picture director and producer, and Hollywood magazine publisher. Burns was married to the actress Dorothy Vernon; the silent-film slapstick comedy star Bobby Vernon was his stepson.
Paul Sablon, later Paul Bourgeois, was a Brussels-born actor, director, cinematographer, writer and animal trainer, who worked in the early film industry, including for Pathé Frères in Europe and Universal in the United States.
Algernon Maltby "Curley" Stecker was an early Hollywood animal trainer, Universal City Zoo superintendent, animal-film producer, and occasional actor-stuntman.
Charlie, sometimes Charley or Old Charlie, was an elephant who lived at the Universal City Zoo in Universal City, California, United States, from approximately 1914 to 1923 and appeared in scores of silent-era films. He was euthanized in approximately August 1923 for his attack on trainer Curley Stecker. Carl Laemmle, by wire from Europe, characterized the plan to end Charlie's life as an execution.
William S. Campbell was a film director, scenarist and producer of Hollywood's silent and early talkies era, recognized for his skill in working with children and animals.
Otto F. Breitkreutz, universally known as Big Otto, was an American circus man and film producer during the early 20th century. He was called Big Otto because he weighed somewhere between 350–480 lb (160–220 kg) and was "big in heart and policy."
Joe Martin the orangutan was a film star of the 1910s and 1920s.