Tweet Vitagraphs from 1912-13

I am researching Robert McWade, Sr. (1835-1913), who starred in a 1912 Vitagraph of Rip Van Winkle and appeared in at least 15 other shorts between 1912-1913. Is it possible that any of these old films still exist?

This is his filmography from IMDB.com:

There's Music in the Hair (Short), 1913
The House in Suburbia (Short), 1913
The Dog House Builders (Short), 1913
Cinderella's Slipper (Short), 1913
Papa Puts One Over (Short), 1913
A Trap to Catch a Burglar (Short), 1913
The Joke Wasn't on Ben Bolt (Short), 1913
His Wife's Relatives (Short), 1913
The Bringing Out of Papa (Short), 1913
The Delayed Letter (Short), 1913
The Curio Hunters (Short), 1912
The Scoop (Short), 1912
Captain Barnacle, Reformer (Short), 1912
Father's Hot Toddy (Short), 1912
As You Like It, 1912
Rip Van Winkle (Short), 1912

I know a lot about the actor so I'm not looking for biographies, etc. I'd just love to see _any_ example of his film work.

(BTW, most film references to "Robert McWade" are to his son, Robert, Jr. (1872-1938), who was very active on Broadway and in films in the 20s and 30s. Another son, Edward McWade (1865-1943), was almost prolific in films in the 20s-40s.)

Thanks for any help!

-Bob

FATHER'S HOT TODDY is in the collection of the Library of Congress. I viewed it there about three years ago.

FATHER'S HOT TODDY is in the collection of the Library of Congress. I viewed it there about three years ago.

That's great news, Steve. I've seen a couple of sites that claimed to have a copy of Father's Hot Toddy - but then didn't.

I've also searched the LOC online catalog and didn't find it (or any of his others). I guess that they have lots that's not in the catalog. Is there any special procedure to see it if I show up at the LOC? Is it even possible to get a digital copy?

Thanks again for your help.

-Bob

I've also searched the LOC online catalog and didn't find it (or any of his others). I guess that they have lots that's not in the catalog. Is there any special procedure to see it if I show up at the LOC? Is it even possible to get a digital copy?

Thanks again for your help.

-Bob

The LOC has four or five catalog data bases and several are not on-line. I searched for years looking for a Texas Guinan western and finally found it was listed on the MAVIS directory at the LOC. Try contacting [email protected] and ask them to see if it is listed.

FATHER'S HOT TODDY is in the collection of the Library of Congress. I viewed it there about three years ago.

FYI, I called the LOC research desk and they confirmed that FATHER'S HOT TODDY is in their collection. They described to me the process to have it digitized, saying that it would cost at least $350 and take six weeks to do it.

They are also checking my list to see if any other of those films are in their collection and especially whether any of them may already have been digitized.

If anyone happens to know another place where I might see one of these films, then I'd still love to know it, of course.

But thanks again, Steve, for setting me on the right path. I won't make the mistake of trusting their online catalog again!

BTW, can I ask why you happened to be interested in FATHER'S HOT TODDY? They tell me that to just view it you must notify them a week or more in advance - so I guess that you specifically sought it out.

Cheers,

-Bob

Well, I've been lucky to be something of a frequent visitor at LOC's archive. Ben Model and I have had the opportunity to do a number of film shows in their Packard Campus Theatre, and for almost the past ten years we've been screening the silent comedies in the collection. Many of our DVD releases, like THE MISHAPS OF MUSTY SUFFER and THE MARCEL PEREZ COLLECTION, are in partnership with LOC.

FATHER'S HOT TODDY is listed on FIAF's TREASURES FROM THE FILM ARCHIVES database. That's how I originally found it and scheduled it to look at.

A 1913 Vitagraph exists in the LOC called "Red & White Roses". Don't know if either Robert McWade, peres or fils, is in the film. It stars Earle Williams, William Humphrey, Julia Swayne Gordon and Leah Baird.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0226369/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

The main Library of Congress silent database won't yield short films as of now. Sometimes short films creep into the AFI Feature Catalog such as many Griffith Biographs.

LoC silent film online main database:
http://lcweb2.loc.gov:8081/diglib/ihas/ ... -home.html

Thanks for the info on Father's Hot Toddy, i thought that title sounded familiar. A missing quotation mark in the HTML made it disappear from my Norma Talmadge filmography! I had requested seeing it a few years ago while i was researching her films, but it was still in the preservation process and they didn't have a print i could view yet. So, how was it? I wasn't able to find a review of it at that time so i don't know anything about it other than the cast. The title sounds like a comedy.

greta

I wasn't able to find a review of it at that time so i don't know anything about it other than the cast. The title sounds like a comedy.

Synopsis from imdb.com:

"Tired of living alone with his two motherless daughters. Jones decides to take unto himself a wife. She is a charming woman and his daughters readily accept her as their stepmother. A few months later he is seized with a violent attack of grippe. He brings home a bottle of whiskey and asks his wife to prepare a hot toddy for him. She is a teetotaler and advises him to take chamomile tea and a foot bath He does not want to make known his fondness for toddy and agrees to take her remedies. She makes the tea and gets ready the boiling water. His daughter, knowing his liking for his toddy, empties the tea out of the jug and fills it with whiskey. Their stepmother, not knowing what has been done, gives her husband a liberal potion, which he drinks with a great deal of relish, following it with one or two more. After a while, he feels quite hilarious and acts so funny his wife does not know what to make of it. The girls, to shield their daddy, say he is delirious. He is put to bed and is soon lost in slumberland. Next day, he feels so much improved that he goes to business and in the evening on his return home, brings a beautiful bouquet of flowers for his wife and a box of candies for the girls, in appreciation for the kind services they have rendered and the cure they have effected."

-Bob

Thanks!

Greta