She Blogged By Night

The holidays may be almost over, but there's still time to talk about one of my favorite Christmas movies, "Fitzwilly."

As usual, this post contains spoilers. This probably won't be a problem for you, though, as "Fitzwilly" is a notoriously difficult movie to find. Released briefly in 1998 on VHS, never on DVD, and only rarely shown on TCM, it's likely you'll never even see this film.

And that's a shame, too, because "Fitzwilly" is a charming light-hearted romantic comedy that never pretends to be anything else. It's simple and refreshing, and probably one of the few "family friendly" movies I'll ever review here.

Charles Fitzwilliam is "Fitzwilly" (Dick Van Dyke), indispensable butler to the slightly batty, wealthy, philanthropic and elderly Miss Vicky (Dame Edith Evans). At first Fitzwilly seems like the perfect butler, but soon we realize there's a layer of deception surrounding him. While ordering expensive silverware from a local luxury store, Fitzwilly dons a fake name and feigns a British accent -- Van Dyke sounds just like Michael Caine here, with his accent much improved over the iffy accent he used in 1964's "Mary Poppins" -- and has the silver sent to a false address. He repeats this with different items in different shops, and his contacts in the mail rooms of all the largest department stores in New York happily intercept these packages and relabel them to be sent to the St. Dismas Thrift Shoppe, a fake thrift store that's really storage for all the stolen loot. Most of Miss Vicky's staff is involved, and they prove to be quite adept at faking identification, letters, business cards, and telegrams for the cause.

Early on it's revealed that the money raised by this stealing is used to fund Miss Vicky's charities. Her father, an apparently horrible and irresponsible man that even kindly Miss Vicky hated, died several years earlier and left her exactly $180.00. Fitzwilly and the upstairs maid Grimsby (Anne Seymour) at first pulled a few capers to quietly raise money for Miss Vicky to live on, so she didn't have to know she was ever broke. When it became clear that she was intent on giving to worthy causes, the capers soon increased to fill that need. Grimsby stopped participating in the schemes, and chastises Fitzwilly for not just telling Miss Vicky that she has no more money to give. Fitzwilly doesn't want to stop stealing from the rich; "I'm just so good at it!" he explains.

Trouble for Fitzwilly and his band of thieves arrives in the form of Juliet (Barbara Feldon), a lively and beautiful Columbia University graduate student hired to help Miss Vicky with her new book. Miss Vicky wants to write a reverse dictionary, a compilation of misspelled words with their correct spellings listed. Juliet turns out to be perfect for the job as she can't spell; Roger Ebert's 1967 review of the film notes that, since Juliet cannot spell, "She must have been attending the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism."

Fitzwilly doesn't want an "outsider" in the home, and discourages Juliet from staying. Juliet is bright and observant and stubborn; within minutes she knows Fitzwilly is up to something. This revelation isn't important, however. In fact, the plot isn't that important, either. In "Fitzwilly", it's not the destination that matters, it's how we get there. The dialog is snappy and amusing once Juliet arrives, making a somewhat dull film delightful. When the door to Miss Vicky's mansion opens and Juliet is greeted by the sight of Fitzwilly, she exclaims, "Oh! I've never seen a butler in full rig before. Are there many of you left?"

When Juliet lets Fitzwilly know that she's certain he's up to no good, and that she doesn't want to hear any more of his "buttery butlery lies," he relents and lets her stay on as Miss Vicky's secretary out of sheer spite. The rest of the staff is concerned that this will breach security and cause difficulties for their new scheme.

The new scam is rather simple: Byron Casey, son of a footman at another manse nearby, is an interior decorator who was given $150,000 to decorate a home. However, he spent some of the money on "a personal matter" and is now in a panic. He needs Fitzwilly to furnish the home with $150,000 worth of furniture on only $75,000. Fitzwilly agrees and promises the staff that Juliet will not get in their way. They set to work on the plan while also making sure Juliet has no time to snoop around the house.

Juliet is obviously going to stay, as Miss Vicky is quite fond of Juliet and the dictionary for people who can't spell is coming along well. No longer just a list of difficult words, it is now peppered with Miss Vicky's own definitions: "A psychiatrist is a doctor to whom you tell things that you wouldn't tell your own mother, and if you did, she would have the common decency not to believe you."

Meanwhile we, and Juliet, learn more about Fitzwilly's character. Juliet was decidedly unimpressed with Fitzwilly initially, confused that a college educated man would choose to be a servant in an unchallenging job, yet she starts to soften when told he sends bibles and notes of comfort to families of the recently deceased. What she doesn't know is he and the staff scour the obituaries and send families a "leatheroid" King James bible, hoping for contributions to their fake charity "Serenity Through The Word". He also uses the bible for a "Samson and Delilah" hustle at local bars, betting people that Delilah isn't actually the one who cuts Samson's hair. He's right, of course, and the hustle earns them a few hundred dollars.

He is also the troop leader, along with Miss Vicky, of The Platypi, a group of neighborhood boys from the richest families. A young Platypus explains that they are a "manly and virtuous" group, committed to good deeds, and "opposed to almost every sin - we hate reefers, girls, and gin." The multi-talented Fitzwilly composed that motto just for them.

Juliet, of course, eventually throws the thieves into a predicament by catching the footman Arthur stealing a check from a man leaving Miss Vicky's home. The man had been visiting on behalf of a charity and Miss Vicky had given $20,000 to his cause. Juliet returns the check to the man, and talks to the footman about his problem. Arthur, a fallen former minister, reveals his shame at his compulsion and receives compassion from Juliet.

After the loss of $20,000, Fitzwilly decides Juliet has to go, and determines to scare her off by hitting on her. She agrees to a date, though, and within minutes they're kissing. This is a 1960s romantic comedy, which means that seconds later they're fighting. Juliet decides she can't work in the same house with him anymore. Again, this is a romantic comedy, and Fitzwilly is obviously not as happy about his plan working as he should be.

After a heist at Abercrombie & Fitch makes the papers, Juliet realizes just what Fitzwilly has been up to all along. She pries the information out of Arthur and finds herself far less moral than she imagined, deciding that Fitzwilly's theft ring isn't that big of a deal, as it's "just insurance companies" who get harmed. Fitzwilly clearly knows that doesn't excuse a thing.

Juliet and Fitzwilly declare their love for each other, and immediately -- as in the next sentence -- start talking about marriage. Juliet demands he quit his life of crime, however, thanks to Juliet's accidental interventions, the $75,000 they were to earn from the house furnishing plot has already been spent by Miss Vickie on several charities. Fitzwilly decides he has to do One More Job to keep Miss Vickie set for life.

The job is to rob Gimbel's of their cash on Christmas Eve. Through a series of blocked doors and distractions provided by some unaware Platypi, and while dodging a former victim of one of his scams, Fitzwilly manages to get upstairs to the offices and pretend to be an insurance man who has come to secure the money off premises. It all works as planned until Albert, in a fit of redemption, decides to turn himself in. To save Albert from being charged with a serious crime, Miss Vicky gives $190,000 to Gimbel's to reimburse them for what was stolen. While she believes Arthur had nothing to do with the theft, Fitzwilly of course knows better, and knows the $190,000 stolen will have to be returned to Miss Vicky's account so she never finds out what really happened.

Lest we forget this is a cheery holiday movie where all ends well, we discover Miss Vicky's dictionary -- really more of an eccentric biography of her hideous father -- has sold for $500,000. And now, we presume, everyone lives happily ever after.

"Fitzwilly" was based on Poyntz Taylor's novel A Garden of Cucumbers, and is one of the first films Van Dyke starred in after his run on "The Dick Van Dyke Show". It met with mixed critical notice on release on December 20, 1967. Some reviewers found it pleasant but dull, while others positively hated it. That it's not available now is somewhat odd, but I presume this is because it's not very well known. Someone on the Usenet group rec.arts.movies.past-films once speculated the failure of the film was that people didn't want to see Van Dyke in the role of a scoundrel, but he's hardly offensive at all. Yet the inclusion of Arthur, a fallen minister who stole from the donation plate at services, and the use of the bible in two prominent hustles, could have offended -- especially in a Christmas movie, which is what "Fitzwilly" was marketed as.

Barbara Feldon was already well-known and in the midst of her co-starring role in "Get Smart" during the filming of this movie. Feldon was quite good in the film, confident, competent and charming, and it's almost inexplicable that she wouldn't have another film role until "Smile" 8 years later. The film is also notable as one of John William's first movie scores (he's credited as "Johnny Williams"), as one of Dame Edith Evans' few film roles -- this was the same year she appeared in her award-winning role in "The Whisperers" -- and as the first appearance of actor Sam Waterston.

"Fitzwilly" appears occasionally on Turner Classic Movies. It was last aired in December, 2006, which is when I fell in love with it (and author/blogger Jack Pendarvis became momentarily obsessed with it). Old VHS copies are available, but before you shell out big bucks, remember that the VHS copies are pan and scan, and the copy I saw already had some major color loss, despite it being less than a decade old. We need to pester TCM en masse to release the film on DVD.

Have a good weekend everyone, and I'll see you next year.

LINKS:
Go.com's review
Dame Edith Evans bio
Roger Ebert's review

Monday was the premier of TCM's annual memorial reel, "TCM Remembers." The reel is now available on the TCM website here. As always, it's a beautiful memorial.

Sadly, I learned today of the passing of John Harkness, film critic, author, poker player, and music reviewer. John was someone I knew on Usenet for over a decade. His posts, online articles and blogs were extremely influential in my conversion from a casual movie viewer to an amateur critic.

John studied under Andrew Sarris and was a founding member of the Toronto Film Critics Association. He wrote for Now since 1981, and contributed to Sight and Sound, Cinematheque and Take One. His book, The Academy Awards Handbook, is an essential reference source on the Oscars and has been through many printings. Recently I discovered John Harkness was also a well-known member of BARGE, the "Big August Rec.Gambling Event" poker tournament. If you're going to read just one article about John, read this one from NOW Magazine Online.

It's strange calling him "John", because I usually called him "Harkness", but that just doesn't seem appropriate right now. His recommendations and opinions on film and film books were always valued, and while he could be brusque, his candor was usually appreciated.

I hate having to write this. John will be missed.

LINKS:
Torontoist article on John Harkness
andPOP headline article
John Harkness Remembered on Northern Stars News
Nicholas Kohler remembers John Harkness on Macleans.ca

photo from claudia1967 at flickr

Like most of my film entries, this post contains spoilers.

"Robinson Crusoe on Mars" is a science fiction adaptation of the Daniel Defoe classic. Set sometime in the future, it's a surprisingly modern and compelling imagining of space travel between the Earth and Mars. The Criterion Collection DVD of this film was released in September; the previous laserdisc and VHS versions are long out of print.

If the title and the subject didn't already seem campy enough, the opening scene features Adam West and a trained monkey. Despite initial appearances, though, the film and set are quite understated. West plays Colonel Dan "Mac" McReady, the captain of a two man ship also occupied by Commander Christopher "Kit" Draper, played by Paul Mantee. Mantee is probably best known for his recurring role on "Cagney and Lacey" or his dozens of guest starring roles between the 1960s and 1990s. Mona, the monkey in a monkey-sized space suit, is their test subject, but Draper has become fond enough of her that he's decided to take her back to Earth with them instead of leaving her behind on Mars as planned.

The effects in "Crusoe" are quite good for the time. The minimalist interiors of the spaceship are extremely well-done, and avoid the temptation to crowd buttons and flashing lights into the scene to make everything look more "sciencey". The grey paint on the ship even has a few wear spots and chips, making the ship look used. The exteriors of the ship and the pods look like American space exploration vehicles of the day.

The first shot of the U.S. spaceship is impressive, and the opening credits of the original "Star Trek" are so similar that they must surely have borrowed from "Crusoe". Later in the film the effects devolve into stock footage and reused clips from earlier in the film, and while it's adequate, it does disappoint after such terrific effects earlier in the film

When the ship avoids being hit by a meteor, Mac and Kit are forced to eject in separate escape pods. Kit's lands roughly but he survives. After discovering the air isn't fit to breathe for more than a few seconds, Kit sees Mac's pod land some distance away, so he makes the trek across the harsh landscape, stopping only to set up shelter in a cave. He continues to Mac's pod, only to discover Mac didn't survive. Kit buries Mac under a mound of stones.

Up to this point the film borrows heavily from Western films, with the stark, barren terrain, lost partner, and Kit even drawing a hand gun when he senses danger. It should be noted that the cinematography by Winton C. Hoch is incredible, especially the scenes filmed in Death Valley at Zabriskie Point. Hoch was the cinematographer for many Westerns such as "The Searchers" and "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", and his experience in that genre is used to great effect here.

Kit takes Mona, who has survived, with him back to the cave. He is forced to ration the food and oxygen but eventually discovers the yellow rocks he's been burning have small stores of oxygen within them, and he's able to release enough oxygen to survive by burning the stones. He fills his tanks with some oxygen so he can explore the planet; meanwhile he sets up his cave as a living space with a makeshift chalkboard, alarm clock, and furniture. He puts a plaque and American flag up on the "front door" to make the place homier.

The radar he scavenged from the wreckage suddenly alerts him to the presence of a ship. The ship he and Mac had ejected from is still circling the planet, unmanned. Kit attempts to control the ship via voice-activated commands, but the ship has no fuel, so it can't be manipulated. As his water is running out, he views some survival videos that come with the remaining equipment, but the now-humorous instructional video -- hosted by the world's biggest nerd -- is of no help.

When Kit realizes Mona never seems to need water, he tricks her into showing him where she goes during the day. He finds several pools of potable water and some edible reeds floating within. With his water, food, and oxygen needs filled, he decides to start exploring the planet.

The sense of cheerful adventure is short-lived, however, as a stew made of the edible reeds makes Kit so sick he hallucinates that Mac has returned, but joy soon turns to terror when he realizes Mac won't speak to him. Later he discovers a grave on the Mars surface. The deceased is someone who met a violent end and Kit, cautious and worried, takes down all the outward signs of his existence in the cave and sets the ship to self-destruct to hopefully avoid catching the attention of the probably hostile residents.

When his equipment senses another ship approaching, he sees small alien ships zap at the rock and quickly zip away. Kit decides to follow them one night and surreptitiously films them. While doing so a person dressed like an Egyptian slave in a Cecil B. DeMille movie surprises him. You can tell the guy is going to be important, because he's the recipient of what Roger Ebert calls the "Unmotivated Close-Up." The small spaceships start shooting at Kit and the new guy, so they run away and go back to the cave shelter. There Kit reviews the film he took and discovers the new guy is a slave, used by an unknown race to help mine the ore on Mars.

Kit immediately acts like a supreme jackass, telling the new guy -- who obviously doesn't even understand him -- that "I'm the boss now". He decides to just give the man the name "Friday", "with apologies to Robinson Crusoe," instead of attempting to discern the man's real name. When he hears Friday speak, he decides he's going to force Friday to learn English; when they go to the water pool to get water and reeds, Kit sits in his stone chair like it's a throne and orders Friday to do all the work. Kit's craptastic behavior becomes almost unbearable when he yells at Friday that he's "retarded" because he can't understand English.

If you were wondering why Friday looks so familiar, it's because he's played by Victor Lundin, who was a Klingon in the first episode of "Star Trek" that ever featured Klingons. Lundin has appeared in many TV shows and films, and he's even composed music based on "Crusoe" and performs these songs at sci-fi conventions.

Kit and Friday go exploring and come across a cave of dead slaves. Kit seems chagrined but doesn't get a chance to apologize before a meteor hits the atmosphere and rains suffocating ash down on them. Friday saves Kit from smothering under the ash, and now they're buddies.

Friday has wristbands that the unknown alien race can track him down with, resulting in the cave being zapped by the mining ships. With Mona in tow, they climb through some caverns and eventually get Friday's cuffs off so they can elude the attacking spaceships. They make it to the polar ice caps, their new water source, but it's so cold they're all about to freeze to death. Miraculously, a meteor hits nearby and melts the ice, warming the area up. Immediately afterwards a U.S. spaceship zips by, and Kit's able to contact them via his salvaged radio. Abruptly, the movie is over and everyone is saved.

The Criterion Collection DVD comes with a 20 minute featurette called "Destination: Mars", an interesting but somewhat dry comparison of real scientific knowledge versus the science shown in "Crusoe". The featurette is marred by the distracting use of the Comic Sans font throughout, but otherwise provides useful information, especially about the original idea of including Martian monsters in the film.

"Crusoe" was advertised as being scientifically accurate, with technology that was just over the horizon. Interestingly, the notion that Mars might have breathable oxygen and some stores of water was dashed just one year after the film was released.

The print on the Criterion DVD is simply beautiful. The sound is terrific and mixed well, making the deep silence of isolation more intense, and the lovely serene music more beautiful. This is a lovely film, very intimate and impressive, and suitable for the whole family.

More screencaps are posted after the LINKS section below.

LINKS
The Criterion Collection entry on "Robinson Crusoe on Mars"
The Cozy Lummox blog entry on "Crusoe"
Review of the film from Home Theatre
Essay on the film from Reverse Shot
The Star DVD review
Zabriskie Point

As some of you know, I live in Kansas, which has been pummeled by ice most fierce for a couple of days. My Internet connection and power have been intermittent, which is why I haven't regaled you with more overly-long posts about half-forgotten entertainers that have a fan base of maybe two dozen people.

That doesn't mean I don't care about you, gentle readers. Today I decided to compile a few links of websites I enjoy, just for you. I know work is boring, especially when it's cold and dreary and you'd rather be home snuggling with your honey, or with something fuzzy... or with your fuzzy honey. Hey, who am I to judge?


Anyway, here are a bunch of links to keep you happy for days to come.

Pulp of the Day is one of my favorite all-graphics sites. To get to the archives, pick a month, then click "yesterday" or "tomorrow" above the image. I tell you this because it took me a while to figure out. The pulp image above was shamefully stolen from their archives.

Paleo-Future is a terrific site featuring the past's version of what our future would look like. Excellent stuff. I'm particularly fond of their House of the Future posts. Unfortunately I don't remember where I got this neat picture, but it was so detailed that it would have been a shame to shrink it down. I hope you'll forgive me for the large picture.

I can't say enough great stuff about Thrilling Days of Yesteryear. There's enough there to keep you busy for a decade. Not only is the content amazing, but once you read through his archives, take a gander at his massive (heh) sidebar.

How about several links on the 1939 World's Fair? Good, glad you agree with me. This site from about the 1939 World's Fair, including the famous Futurama exhibit, is lots of fun. Here's a gallery of images from the Futurama exhibit, and here's another gallery that tours the entire fair.

And, finally, if you're curious about what my ice-covered house and neighborhood looks like, you can find out here.

Much of my information came from online sources (listed below) and the book pictured here, Anthony Slide's Eccentrics of Comedy. Originally, my plan had been to thrill you all with a quick one-two punch, er, I mean series of El Brendel-related posts. That is, until my plans were waylaid by an uncooperative fact that involved a few days of research... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

There's nowhere else to begin but at the beginning. Elmer Goodfellow Brendel was born March 25, 1891, in Philadelphia, PA. Louie of the fabulous El-focused blog Give Me The Good Old Days! has a terrific run down of El's first years and of his family. Both that post and the entire blog are highly recommended.

When I first heard of El Brendel many years ago on the Usenet group alt.movies.silent, I thought El Brendel was a Latin name which meant something like "The Silly Person." Imagine my relief when I discovered "El" was short for "Elmer".

Contrary to his famous stage and screen persona, Brendel did not come from a Swedish family; his father was German and his mother was Irish, and Brendel spoke with with no descernable accent. In 1913 Brendel started in vaudeville as a German dialect comedian. However, because of anti-German sentiment during WWI, he changed his shtick to a faux Swedish accent. This characterization became known as "The Simple Swede" and, by all accounts, was a success. His trademark accent routinely swapped a "y" sound for "j", which lead to his most famous catchphrase, "yumpin' yiminy!" This catchphrase is occasionally used to this day, and is probably more recognizable than the original "jumpin' jiminy" it was based on. The best I can tell, Brendel was responsible for the creation and popularity of "yumpin' yiminy", although few nowadays know where the phrase originated.

By the late teens, Brendel was playing larger shows in vaudeville and on Broadway, often with his future wife Sophie "Flo" Bert. Brendel and Bert were married in 1924 after partnering on stage for several years. Bert was in some well-known Broadway productions in the teens and early 20s, and recorded many popular songs of the day.

One of Bert and Brendel's biggest stage hits was "Cinderella on Broadway" in 1920. There are a few online reviews and notices of other shows, such as "Over Here" from 1918 and "The Mimic World", which played in 1921. The New York Times' archive of the August 18, 1921 review states that Brendel played a "Swedish youth of possibilities", a role which "coaxed an occasional gaggle". Otherwise, the "dreary" play fell flat, and "all was silence".

El began acting in movies in 1926 when he signed with Famous Players-Lasky. He made several films in 1926 alone, the first being "The Campus Flirt" (1926), which was released just two days before his next film "You Never Know Women" hit the theaters. His first major role was in the 1927 classic "Wings," where he plays the comic relief character Herman Schwimpf.

And it's here where things got kind of sticky. I have a copy of the film "Wings" and El's character is, indeed, Herman Schwimpf, a mild-mannered German-American who runs into trouble when trying to enlist for World War I. His patriotism is questioned because of his heritage, but he always proves himself by revealing an American flag tattoo on his arm. Schwimpf joins the U.S. Signal Corps (which later became the Air Force) the same day Jack and David do. Although he flunks out of the Corps, he becomes a mechanic and is stationed at the same base Jack and David are.

Anthony Slide's book, however, makes a large point of stating that Brendel's character was an Irishman named "Patrick O'Brien". I thought that was odd, as Slide is an excellent historian and it's unlikely he'd make such a mistake. What was even odder was that many online sources agreed with Slide, most notably the "Wings" commentary on Silents Are Golden and the "Wings" entry on the Progressive Silent Film List.

The fact is, though, that it is indeed a mistake, perhaps originating with programs for the movie that erroneously list Brendel's character as "Patrick O'Brien". Why the programs printed in 1927 for the film's release have the wrong character name, though, is as yet unexplained. It is not the result of a re-cut or last minute change. Rodney Sauer, member of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, confirmed on alt.movies.silent that his copy of the original score for "Wings" refers to Brendel's character as "Herman". This score was used on the night of the premier, so the character was obviously Herman and not Patrick from the very first day the film showed. Daniela on the same group was kind enough to point out that the German word for "dishonor" is "schimpf", which is extremely close to Herman's last name.

Although I was unable to find the reason for this incorrect character name, I am still looking into it, and would love to unearth more promotional material for "Wings" to see how many mistakenly list Brendel's character as Patrick O'Brien rather than Schwimpf. One day I hope to be able to tell you the mystery is solved. But back to El...

Brendel was allegedly unhappy with his small roles in films, including "Wings", where he claimed much of his work wound up on the cutting room floor. Personally, I find that an odd thing to say, as his role in "Wings" was significant. Regardless of whether his complaints were valid or not, Brendel left Famous Players-Lasky and went to Fox just in time for talkies, especially musicals. Between 1929 and 1931, Brendel was featured in most of Fox's major releases, including "Sunny Side Up" and the sadly lost "New Movietone Follies of 1930".

In 1930, Brendel was given the lead role in the science fiction romantic comedy musical "Just Imagine", which I blogged about recently. This was followed just 5 months later with "Mr. Lemon of Orange", a comedy where Brendel played the double role of a mild-mannered Swedish immigrant and a gangster who spoke with no accent at all. "Mr. Lemon of Orange" was billed as being El's first starring role, despite his lead status in the previous "Just Imagine." While many claim that "Just Imagine" is what caused Fox to decide Brendel couldn't carry the lead, it's most likely that his second starring film was the reason. A New York Times review said, "Mr. Brendel is mildly funny in some of the scenes, but a little of this Swedish-accented comedian goes a long way."

According to several sources, Brendel was the most popular comedian in 1930-31. In the 1931 musical "Delicious" -- described as "yet another Fox retread of 'Sunny Side Up'" -- Brendel popularly performed the Gershwin song "Blah Blah Blah". His popularity was short-lived, though, likely due to this limited repertoire. Anthony Slide reports that Brendel actually had no desire to continue with the Swede character, but studio executives wouldn't let him change the formula that had made him popular. Yet by 1932 his contract with Fox was being renegotiated to a lower salary, and in 1933 they declined to renew his contract. Within a few years he was playing only supporting or bit roles in films such as the Shirley Temple film "Little Miss Broadway" and the Bing Crosby vehicle "If I Had My Way" (1940, pictured, with Bing Crosby and Gloria Jean.)

In the 1940s Brendel found himself getting smaller parts in feature films, but starring roles in a series of Columbia Pictures two-reel comedies. Nearly 20 of these were produced, although most were "some of the worst produced by a major Hollywood studio." A few shorts were quite good and one, "Blitzkiss" (1941), was nominated for an Academy Award. In this series of shorts Brendel was first paired with Tom Kennedy, and when that didn't work out, he was paired with Elsie Ames as a "scatterbrained former eccentric dancer". When that pairing didn't pan out, Brendel went solo, but by 1945 he was paired with Harry Langdon. The Langdon shorts are notable only for being the last pictures Langdon ever made. Many of these shorts were remade into Three Stooges shorts which were much better received by audiences and critics.

His career on a steady slope downward, Brendel received some unexpected help from director Preston Sturges in 1949. Sturges gave Brendel a featured role in "The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend", but the film flopped and it didn't lead to better roles for Brendel. El's final film, "The She-Creature" (1956), is a sci-fi Z-grade cult classic which has been featured on "Mystery Science Theater 3000". It will be featured on this blog, too. Brendel's wife Flo Bert also has a small part in the film.

In the 1950s and 60s, Brendel had a few small parts in television shows, but for the most part he had disappeared completely. He died of a heart attack in April, 1964.

You'll notice that I've made it this far without mentioning once that El Brendel is almost universally loathed. When I first joined alt.movies.silent, El Brendel was mentioned only in sarcastic tones or in-jokes. As I began to delve deeper into the silent and early talkie/pre-code era of American films, I discovered a tangible, visceral hatred of the guy lurked just below the surface of the film community.

Brendel has been described, in more charitable moments, as "inescapable" and "history's most irritating comedian". Richard Barrios seems to have a specific hatred for the little fellow. As much as I like Brendel, I have to confess that his comedy can get really old really quickly. It's stale vaudevillian shtick reminiscent of Zoidberg's uncle Harold Zoid in that "Futurama" episode nobody likes. Brendel's Swedish characterizations were unflattering and occasionally racist. But it's a mistake to judge an early 20th century comedian entirely with our 21st century sensibilities. It's impossible for us to completely step outside our own culture, yet we should in some capacity try to understand the culture that, for a brief moment, made El Brendel the most famous comedian in America.

LINKS & SOURCES
El Brendel obituary from Time, April 17, 1964
Descriptions of some of Brendel's Columbia shorts
New York Times biography on El Brendel
Sophie "Flo" Bert info page, includes songs
All Movie Guide's summary of "Ham and Yeggs"
New York Times archive (garbled) listing Brendel in "Over Here"
Eccentrics of Comedy by Anthony Slide on Amazon
1931 New York Times review for "Mr. Lemon of Orange" (may require registration)
Time article on "If I Had My Way" (1940)


OTHER BLOGS:
The Third Banana's post on "Just Imagine"
Vitaphone Varieties blog post "Dancing the Devil Away", features "Just Imagine"

CREDITS
"Defective Detectives" poster from the terrific "The Wonderful Christine McIntyre" page
Thanks to Rodney Sauer and Daniela on alt.movies.silent
Thanks again to amy_jeanne of LiveJournal and DVRBS for the El Brendel performance ad

INTERESTING STUFF
A what-if scenario about Charlie Chaplin and El Brendel
Lyrics to "Blah Blah Blah"
YouTube clip from "Just Imagine", similar to Brendel's vaudeville act

Edited 12-10-07