Undercrank Productions Targets Aug. 10 For The DVD Rollout Of Edward Everett Horton: 8 Silent Comedies

Undercrank Productions announced this past week that a double-disc collection of rare silent comedy shorts starring Edward Everett Horton will be heading home on Aug. 10.

One year ago Undercrank’s Ben Model launched a film-fan Kickstarter project to bring all eight of Horton’s comedy shorts to the home entertainment marketplace.   All of the 35mm negatives were stored in the vaults at the Library of Congress … the project was successful and the necessary funding was raised.

Titled Edward Everett Horton: 8 Silent Comedies, the collection kicks off with Director N. T. Barrows’ August of 1927 silent short film, No Publicity, which teams Horton with Ruth Dwyer (The Brown Derby, The Reckless Age) and Josephine Crowell (The Man Who Laughs).

In October of 1927 we find the next entry, director J.A. Howe’s Find the King, an odd Western comedy that sees Horton as an Eastern dude suddenly in charge of a saloon and involved in a high-stakes poker game with Dynamite Dawson (Jack Curtis) with the hand of the local beauty as part of the pot (played by Violet Bird — Jazzland, The Cyclone Cowboy).

Filmmaker J.A. Howe and Horton will team for the next three short films in the series, all released in early 1928 … these are Dad’s Choice (with Sharon Lynn — Sunny Side Up, Way Out West), Behind the Counter (co-starring Dorothy Dwan — The Fighting Legion) and Horse Shy (with Nita Cavalier).

Director N. T. Barrows rejoins the parade for Horton’s next two silent short films, Scrambled Weddings (Ruth Dwyer is back as Horton’s love interest) and Vacation Waves (Duane Thompson co-stars as Horton’s wife — Her Summer Hero, Wizard of the Saddle).

This ultra-rare collection of silent short films concludes with Call Again, which re-teams him with Duane Thompson under the direction of J.A. Howe.

A couple of things of note.   Horton would go on to be one of the great character actors in Hollywood during the 1930s and 40s, working right up until his death in 1970 (his last screen appearance in director Norman Lear’s Cold Turkey was released theatrically after his passing) … some of his films include Alice in Wonderland (as the Mad Hatter, W.C. Fields was Humpty-Dumpty), The Gay Divorcee, Top Hat, Lost Horizon, Arsenic and Old Lace and more.

And, many of Horton’s female co-stars in these silent short comedies did not transition into the sound era … the reason for that is a discussion for another time, but it was interesting to note during the research for this DVD release announcement.