Tweet Romayne Comedies?

Does anyone know if any of the 13 or so Romayne Comedies survive today? Charles Avery directed these comedies in 1920 and 1921 and many of the newsapaper,com sources list Dot Farley as the lead comedienne in most of the comedy series although her credits don't list any of these 2 reel short comedies. Arrow Film Corp. distributed via states rights throughout US at that time,but unclear what happened to them after that.

Moving Picture World December 25, 1920 and Exhibitor's Herald January 28, 1921 list the following so far made for Romayne Comedies:

Hicksville
Beachnuts
Peaceful Valley
Keyhole Reporter
Stale Eggs and Sweethearts
The Villain Still Pursued Her
She's in the Kitchen
Underground Romeo
Twenty Legs Under the Sea
Sewerside
Rhinestone and Robbers
Daffy House

These two-reelers are mentioned as being slapstick in comedic type.

Maybe someone else here would know their survival rate. As far as I know, the American Silent Feature Film Database only lists feature films and not silent film shorts.

I am unaware of any similar database for film shorts but again maybe someone else on board might know more about this.

Good luck with your search.

Thanks for the information. I also saw that on Lantern, but no idea what the 13 th comedy was called (or if even released) or if any of the 12 you listed survive today. It us unclear which of these Dot Farley was in even though these references point out that she was the lead in some of them. Perhaps there are some Romayne Studios experts out there.

Dana

Hi guys
Not much info around on the Romayne Company. Of the above list of shorts the only one I know of existing is DAFFY HOUSE ('21) which is at Library of Congress. Ben Model, Rob Stone, and I looked at it a few years ago and it finally got officially identified at one of the Mostly Lost conferences.

As mentioned Dot Farley was in some of them, although not in DAFFY HOUSE which stars Joe Bonner. In it's short life Romayne also produced a THE SAGE-BRUSH LEAGUE ('19), a five-reel feature comedy that starred Merta Sterling. Like most of the Romayne product this isn't known to exist either.

After it went out of business as a production company the Romayne Studio became a rental lot. It was used for some of the early Monty Banks shorts produced by Warner Brothers.

HI Steve,

I was just at LOC DC in late June and if I would have known Daffy House 1921 was found and at LOC, I may have tried to view it. Good reason to go back someday soon. Even though my grandfather was listed in the credits on imdb for this short reel comedy there was some reference to maybe him appearing in more than just one of the Romayne Comedies.

He did not appear in too many other titles in 1921 other than a small role in A Small Town Idol 1921, The Haunted House 1921, 2 Philo Gubb comedies 1921 (Webster Cullison directed),and vaudeville (who knows which cities?). I have two standard studio photos in poor condition with Dot Farley's handwriting on it addressed to him (""Slim Hamilton" with happy recollections of the Sennett Lot.... Dot Farley") and one from Ben Turpin, but it is very UNCLEAR what other films that he may have appeared with them. This Dot Farley photo is on his imdb page under the title The Three Way Trail 1926.

Thanks for your insight,
Dana

It's possible that some of the titles in the above list of 12 may have been altered prior to release, including DAFFY HOUSE, which may actually have played as LOVERS AND LUNATICS.

Here are some notes I made following the screening of DAFFY HOUSE at Mostly Lost 4 in 2015 (though I suspect we could easily pinpoint earlier theatrical playdates for some of these thanks to the greater number of digitized newspapers now available):

A new suggestion re: this Arrow/Romayne comedy, which was clearly produced as DAFFY HOUSE: it could possibly have been released under the title LOVERS AND LUNATICS.
This series was evidently released branded as 'Kipling Comedies' in a number of states (definitely MA/ME/NJ/PA/TX), with most of the titles as given in the Exhibitors Herald announcement (the earliest month for each that I've located in newspaper listings is in brackets):
BEACHNUTS (April 1920), PEACEFUL VALLEY (May 1920), THE KEYHOLE REPORTER (May 1920), THE VILLAIN STILL PURSUED HER (May 1920), SHOT IN THE KITCHEN (June 1920), STALE EGGS & SWEETHEARTS (June 1920), UNDERGROUND ROMEO (April 1922), RHINESTONE AND ROBBERS (May 1922).
- From the Exhibitors Herald list, I haven't found 'Kipling Comedy' listings for: HICKSVILLE, TWENTY LEGS UNDER THE SEA, SEWERSIDE, DAFFY HOUSE, [UNNAMED 13TH ENTRY IN SERIES].
- However, the following titles that aren't in the Exhibitors Herald list appear as 'Kipling Comedies' in newspaper listings: CHESTNUTS (May 1921), LOVERS AND LUNATICS (April 1922), A ROLLING STONE (May 1922).
- Obviously LOVERS AND LUNATICS would fit the plot of [DAFFY HOUSE] perfectly, and it was certainly released as one of the later entries in this 'Kipling Comedies' series.

Hi Dana
Just remembered that we saw one of the Dot Farley Romaynes' in 2016 at Mostly Lost 5. We're pretty sure that it was UNDERGROUND ROMEO and it starred Farley, Dorothea Wolbert, and "Bumps" Adams. The plot was a bit of a rip-off of the second reel of Roscoe Arbuckle's THE BUTCHER BOY ('17), as Dot is sent away to a girl's school and her country swain "Bumps" Adams dresses in drag as a new student to be near her.

As Robert mentioned this one was distributed or re-distributed as a Kipling Comedy, and I'm sorry to say that unlike DAFFY HOUSE your grandfather didn't turn up in it.

Hi Dana,

Please post a portrait of your grandfather Hamilton as I may have seen him in other films if he's worked with people like Ben Turpin and Dot Farley. I've been watching and studying early film - especially silent comedy - for fifty years now, and would be happy to help.

- Steve Rydzewski

Hi Robert and Steve: I see the Kipling Comedy titles and will do a search under that name instead of Romayne Comedies as many of the states you mentioned were more than likely states that a new owner of the prints and state's rights to redistribute in late 1921 or in 1922. These were popular 2 reel comedies according to reviews, but some may have title changes as you mentioned. Glad that there are so many notable folks that attend Mostly Lost to help identify lost titles.

Hi Steve R. I will try to post a Pinterest photo, but you can view stills on his imdb.com page (Mark Hamilton (I) has 54 credits to date) or better yet there are a few comedies in the public domain that he had small character parts in that are not lost.

Comedies to date that he appears in:
-Oil's Well 1923 (tallest soldier 6'6" tall, in fact tallest comedian in Hollywood at that time) video on line at New Zealand Preservation Foundation under Lost and Found: New Zealand.

-Oh! What A Day 1923 (uncle Bim or see my avatar photo of him) video at National Film Preservation Foundation website

-Crushed 1924 (subway rider) Ham: The Lost Magic of Lloyd Hamilton LTL

-Dizzy Daddies 1926 (Little Eva's Husband) on you tube

-Fool's Luck 1926 (Express Truck Driver) on you tube

I spent my day yesterday with my 82 year old mom (his daughter) on her birthday and she was surprised on a lot of the type of films he appeared in as she thought he was more of silent western character actor instead of playing comedy characters in the first half of the 20's. Appreciate your assistance!

Dana