The Telephone Exchange (1982)

A wonderful educational film (made by British Telecommunications) showing how telephone exchanges work and how they connect one telephone to another when you make a call. From the earliest mechanical switches to the latest (well in 1982 anyway) microchip technology. The film does a good job at explaining the basics at how these systems work and why they are needed.

It reminds me when my Dad took me to his work at a telephone exchange in the late 1970s, big rooms full of switches and wires. It's probably all replaced by a single box on the wall now.

The Rink (1916)

Charlie Chaplin is a waiter in a restaurant, though as you can imagine much slapstick mayhem ensues. In his lunch break he goes roller skating in the park. At the park Mr Stout (Eric Campbell) is making advances to an unwilling girl (Edna Purviance). 

After showing off his roller skating skills, Charlie poses as an aristocrat and is invited to a party at the girl's house. Mr Stout and his new partner also show up.

This is a fine enough film, the usual slapstick antics. The film is most notable for showing off Chaplin's excellent roller skating skills.

Alice's Egg Plant (1925)

The Alice series were early Walt Disney live action / animation hybrids. 

Alice (Anne Shirley) and Julius the cat are the owners of an egg factory. Unfortunately, the hens are a bit lazy so Julius has to keep them hard at it. Then a new hen arrives, Little Red Henski from Moscow who is going to try and bring communism to the egg plant!

An unexpectedly political little film, we were only a few years into the Russian Revolution. Whether kids would get it though is a good question.

The Blacksmith (1922)

Buster Keaton is working in a blacksmithing shop with plenty of mayhem of course. Buster ends up in a fight with the actual blacksmith (Joe Roberts) which ends up the blacksmith being in jail. Buster takes it on himself to serve the blacksmith's customers which involves him shoeing various horses and destroying a Rolls Royce!

This is a fine little silent comedy by one of the all-time greats though maybe a little more slapstick than usual. Not his best but still pretty good.

The Rounders (1914)

Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle play a couple of drunken gents in this early Chaplin comedy. The gents get drunk together amid much slapstick and end up passed out on the tables in a restaurant before getting thrown out and returned to their long-suffering wives (Phyllis Allen and Minta Durfee). 

This is all a bit rough and crude compared to the kind of film Chaplin would be making his name in in a few years. It is fine enough for what it is.

A Movie Star (1916)

A fine little silent comedy. A new Western starring Mack Swain is starting at the local movie theatre and a large crowd is assembling. To their delight the star of the film has turned up to see the film himself! As Mack and the audience watch his heroic antics on screen, Mack finds that not everyone in the audience is as enamoured as he is. 

This is a delightful early comedy, more understated and subtle than some of the slapstick of the time which has helped it not date as much as some films of the period, the parodying of the still young movie industry is superb.

All Lit Up (1920)

Snub Pollard is a dandy who is hanging around a park chasing butterflies in a net. After some flirting (with girls not butterflies) he ends up in a jazz cafe and more mayhem ensues. Snub finally ends up in jail in this short piece of slapstick. A decent enough silent comedy though without making much sense or being that subtle. 

Fine for what it is but not really in the first division of silent movie comedies. Ernest Morrison plays a good role as one of the children Snub ends up having to look after at one stage.

The 23 (1979)

Two cockney criminals (Tommy Godfrey and George Sweeney) break into an office to break into the safe, but this isn't a blag from the Sweeney, this is a promotional film from the General Post Office for it's fancy new Number 23 teleprinter! George becomes obsessed with the machine while his old man works on the safe and helpfully reads out from the manual all of the swish new features. This is great fun, how a promotional film should be done. I certainly want to buy a 23 after seeing this, though i guess eBay will be required these days...

Her First Flame (1920)

A curious comedy short. We are in the year 1950 (though looks remarkably like 1920 still!) and men and women have switched roles. Unfortunately, those roles are rather stereotyped and quite dated. Women are now strong and forthright while men mostly stand around giggling and do domestic chores...

Lizzie Hap (Gale Henry) wins election as the town's fire chief, by cheating Minnie Fish (Phyllis Allen) using a variety of disguises. Lizzie now forms an all-girl fire brigade. Naturally when there actually is a fire things do not go very smoothly but Lizzie manages to save her love Willie (Milburn Morante).

Not the greatest silent comedy ever, the staging is often as dated as the attitudes, but does some decent visual gags.

Norman Gives a Speech (1989)

The fourth and final of the curious series of short films documenting the mishaps of Norman.

Norman (Douglas P Macintosh) is to give a speech at a business conference. What could go wrong? Well everything of course, ranging from a clumsy cleaning woman covering his notes with coffee, to Norman dropping all of his carefully arranged materials on the floor... to the fire alarm going off during his speech!

It is all quite odd and strangely awful / brilliant at the same time, as with the other Norman films. I have no idea why these little films existed but i am glad they did.

The Count (1916)

A Charlie Chapin comedy short which is a decent satire on high society.

Charlie's boss, a tailor (Eric Campbell) finds an invitation to a party in a pair of trousers and goes to the party pretending to be an important Count so he can woo a rich young woman (Edna Purviance). Charlie also sneaks into the house, but so he can woo the cook! Of course Charlie ends up at the party as well and mayhem ensues, then the real Count (Leo White) turns up...

A fun little film, though it does include Charlie yet again either being mistaken or pretending to be someone more important which is a plot device he overused a bit. It is fine, if a bit over familiar.

The Golf Specialist (1930)

A wonderful, if somewhat aimless, comedy short by the amazing WC Fields.

Bellweather (Fields) is at a hotel in Florida. After some awkward antics with a flirty wife (Shirley Grey) of the violently jealous hotel detective (John Dunsmuir), and with an angry sailor (Jack Irvin) wanting money from him, Bellweather goes to play some golf with many slapstick mishaps.

This is a great piece of fluff, it doesn't really go anywhere (and probably spends too long on the golf course) but is entertaining all the same and well worth watching. Fields early on mentions television, i wonder if this was the first time television was ever mentioned in a film?

The Bees' Buzz (1929)

A surreal and highly strange (and amusing) comedy that has to be seen to be believed!

Andy (Andy Clyde) is announcing the engagement of his daughter Peggy (Barbara Leonard) to the rich oil man Homer (Harry Gribbon). However, Peggy is in love with Tyler (Tyler Brooke) instead and she elopes with him. Andy and Homer head off in pursuit which sparks a series of bizarre antics including car chases, people in cow suits and angry bees stinging everyone on the bum!

This is a rather strange little film which wouldn't seem out of place a few decades later in a psychedelic pop video. Highlights include a justice of the peace running around a golf course still in his sauna box and a man trying to get out of a barrel of water which falls apart drenching everyone. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever and can't be considered high art but it is very funny and does the job.

The Trans-Atlantic Mystery (1932)

A rather baffling short crime feature, the last in the Carr & Crabtree series.

In England Miller has stolen the famous Stanhope diamonds, he takes them over to New York on an ocean liner where he plans to sell them. His partner in crime Waite (Ray Collins) double-crosses Miller and kills him, aided by the valet Dodge (Walter Kingsford). Waite then assumes Miller's identity. However, there is a woman (Betty Pierce) aboard the liner who has a grudge against Miller...

When a body is found aboard the liner in Miller's cabin, Inspector Carr (John Hamliton) and his friend Dr Crabtree (Donald Meeks) come aboard. The body is found to be neither Miller or Waite! A baffling mystery therefore, though Dr Crabtree soon unearths some clues...

There is a lot of storyline here packed into just over twenty minutes, which is all the more impressive when you consider the rather slow and ponderous pace of the film. Unfortunately due to the short length it can be confusing at times. It is a decent enough mystery though could have been a lot better.

The Wall Street Mystery (1931)

Part of the Carr & Crabtree crime series, and a very decent little tale in less than twenty minutes!

Two stock brokers are found dead in their office. Inspector Carr (John Hamilton) and his friend Dr Crabtree (Donald Meek) investigate, deducing that the crime in a double murder not murder-suicide. There are two suspects, Dorothy Paige (Frances Dale) and Martin Hill (Hobart Cavanaugh), whom Carr suspects is the culprit mostly by shouting at everyone.

Dr Crabtree has a more cerebral approach and we see a nice bit of detective work, this culminates in the murders being solved, and there is a rather nice twist here.

One of the better entries in the series of crime short features, this has a nice straight forward story that has room to breathe even in the reduced running time.

A Few Moments with Eddie Cantor (1923)

While the Jazz Singer in 1927 became the first full-length feature film to have lip-synched sound and music, there were earlier films released experimenting with sound and this is one of the earliest.

The Phonofilm method of recording sound onto film was developed in the early 1920s and used to make a number of short demonstration films. Ultimately however, Hollywood chose other methods for recording sound (Vitaphone being used for the Jazz Singer) and Phonofilm faded into obscurity. Two hundred films were made and like this one are now of considerable historical value and interest.

This film was recorded in early 1923 and includes vaudeville performer Eddie Cantor who would go on to having a long career on the stage, radio and appear in quite a few films (even some TV at the end). In this film he tells some jokes and sings a couple of songs. There isn't much to it, he just stands there and performs but its a fine and fascinating short film.

One A.M. (1916)

An early Charlie Chapin short comedy, the first in which he appears (mostly) alone.

A drunk (Chaplin) returns home from some sort of event which included booze, indeed a lot of booze as Charlie is very drunk indeed! After many awkward slapstick antics he manages to get out of his taxi allowing Albert Austin to finally drive off. Charlie's next job is to get into his house...

Well we have all been there! This is solo slapstick of the highest order as everything becomes a near insurmountable obstacle to negotiate past. A short and simple film which just about manages to not out live it's welcome. Don't ask why the film is called "One A.M." yet it is bright sunlight outside!

Alice Gets Stung (1925)

Another early Walt Disney animation / live action hybrid.

After an innovative if perhaps slightly overlong chase between a cat and a rabbit, Alice (Virginia Davis) appears on the scene to help Julius the cat get the rabbit which has continually outsmarted him. Alice also tries to hunt bears and ends up getting trapped in a barrel with a beehive (hence this short feature's name)...

So, a short animation feature mostly involving animal hijinks and dancing, with Alice appearing and interacting with the characters. It is quite clever and inventive, just not that funny maybe because the storyline is ultimately somewhat cruel. 

Alice the Whaler (1927)

Another of Walt Disney's early Alice animation / live action hybrids.

Alice (Lois Hardwick) is dancing aboard a ship with a crew of animals. The chef is a cat, for example, with a mouse as his sous chef tasked with peeling the potatoes! To be honest there isn't much plot in this film, it mostly consists of animals dancing and the occasional hijinks. The mouse plays the biggest role and isn't a very sympathetic character.

Ultimately there isn't a great deal to this short film and it isn't really that good. The Alice series of films was running out of steam but fear not, Mickey Mouse was about to make his screen debut for Disney and that changed everything.

Alice's Day at Sea (1924)

One of the earliest Walt Disney films, this is a comedy short which mixes live action and animation.

Alice (Virginia Davis) and woken up by Peggy the dog and heads off to the seashore. When she is there she hears a story of an old shipwreck and then dreams of visiting a mysterious world under the seas including an underwater zoo!

Although not the first to be made this was the first Alice film to be released and is a fun little thing with it's mix of styles. There isn't much to it but it has a bit of charm. It is probably most notable for historical reasons though.