Mack Sennett spent his formative years at Biograph, emerging from the ranks of the Griffith stock company to become a regular comic lead and, soon, the primary director of Biograph’s comedy unit. These short, “split-reel” comedies, all from Sennett’s first year as a director, find him developing the broad, frenetic slapstick style that he would bring to his own company, Keystone, in 1912. Sennett appears as an actor in most of these shorts (including one of his many spoofs of Sherlock Holmes, $500 Reward), alongside future Keystone stars Mabel Normand, Fred Mace, and Charlie Murray. Restored by The Museum of Modern Art and the Film Foundation, with funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation. Additional preservation work made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, Celeste Bartos, and the Lillian Gish Trust for Film Preservation. Piano accompaniment by Ben Model (September 9), Donald Sosin (September 15, 18).
Program approx. 75 min.
The Manicure Lady. 1911. USA. Directed by Mack Sennett.
Curiosity. 1911. USA. Directed by Mack Sennett.
The Ghost. 1911. USA. Directed by Mack Sennett.
$500 Reward. 1911. USA. Directed by Mack Sennett.
The Beautiful Voice. 1911. USA. Directed by Mack Sennett.
The Inventor’s Secret. 1911. USA. Directed by Mack Sennett.