Silent Era : PSFL : A Clever Dummy (1917)

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This listing is from The Progressive Silent Film List by Carl Bennett.
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A Clever Dummy
(1917) American
B&W : Two reels
Directed by Herman Raymaker, Ferris Hartman and Robert Kerr

Cast: Ben Turpin [a romantic janitor], Claire Anderson [an object of affection], James Donnelly [her inventive father], James DeLano [his interested partner], Wallace Beery [a vaudeville manager], Juanita Hansen [a leading lady], Chester Conklin [a playful property man]

The Keystone Film Company production; distributed by Triangle Distributing Corporation. / Produced by Mack Sennett. Scenario by Mack Sennett. Cinematography by Elgin Lessley. / Released 15 July 1917. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.37:1 format. / Kalton C. Lahue notes that this was originally a one reel film but expanded to two on order of Mack Sennett. Lahue also notes that there are inconsistencies in the cast and story line between reels.

Comedy.

Survival Status: Prints exist the Film Preservation Associates film holdings (Blackhawk Films collection), and in private film collections [8mm reduction positives].

Keywords: Actors: Vaudeville - Inventors - Robots

Listing updated: 1 September 2009.

References: Film credits, film viewing : Katchmer-Eighty p. 957; Lahue-Kops pp. 125, 164; Lahue-World p. 178; Spehr-American p. 597 : ClasIm-223 p. 56.

Home video: VHS.

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