Was thinking the exact same or The Goodies or Spike Milligan hah ha lol. Maybe that type of 'Python' humour is older than we think. Would be interesting to see if it was used in theatre around those times.
Blue Washington, who plays the butler, had an interesting life. He played in the Negro Leagues and his son was among the first players to desegregate the NFL in 1946. His last film was The Hustler (1961).
The 'Fantom' or 'Grandpa' reminds me very much of Pa in the Katzenjammer Kids cartoons. I've got a sneaking idea that L C Segar drew someone similar in early Popeye strips.
Charles Bowers is up there With Harry Langdon, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel Hardy, Stan Hardy, Marx brothers, Ralph Balski George Formby and Norman Wisdom among others. This guy is actually more unique because he also directed stop motion animation like the legendary Jan Svankmajer. These was the guys we turned too before the rise of the conspiracy theorists like David Icke. Don Chaffey and Ray Harryhausen use too be my two favourite people before i learned of Charles Bowers. Truly Terrific Work 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Hello, hello, hello I'm Scotland Yard over the pond with indeed certainly identified with the Amityville Horror movies. Charley Bowers in There It Is | 1928 Silent film Comedy | Snark Ensemble score by Maurice Saylor. My lord and one or thing going on and most peculiar ideas with amazing Conservative late Margaret Thatcher and I'll bet in the reliable Butler with evil grandpa...Beautiful Lady and handsome four Kilt's with amazing 1929 and pure Comedy 🤣👍
I have never heard of this comedian and I have seen some bizarre movies in my 84 years but this takes some of the cake. It's absolutely amazing I think Salvador Dali must have seen this before he started to paint. I have to find out more about this fellow.
Entertaining, charming short-more wackily absurd than “surreal,” even if the Surrealists (understandably) admired it. Nice score too! It complements the film well.
Thank you thank you for uploading this masterpiece of film! And for the enchanting score! And by GOlly GEe Whitakers whiskers! Thank you YT algorhyrhms for bringing me here. Whatever and however I have been feeding the YT algorhyms, I promise i will keep it up! Here is to the of love discovering new brilliantly ingenious human creative endeavors!
Absolutely 💯hilarious!! The technology that produced it was so advanced for the day...I can't imagine how long it took to edit and piece together all the stills to pull it off. Never heard of Charley Bowers B4 (I am a Laurel & Hardy guy) but Now I have a new under-rated star to follow from the early days of film. Thank You for bringing him to my attention, definitely worth watching.
Given that it was first released in 1928, this movie is officially public domain in 2024. Given how much stop-motion has advanced almost 100 years after this came out, imagine how smooth this bug would look with somebody like Henry Selick animating him.
Got curious about early animation and just discovered Charley Bowers' wonderfully odd work. This is a favorite of what I've seen with its deadpan absurdity and nonstop unpredictable zaniness. The effect is in no small part due to the score. It is artistic without distracting from the action (something I find happens with some modern scores of silent movies) and the whiplash from staccato madness to the sentimental "love theme" and back again had me cracking up. Bravo, and thank you for the upload.
So i advise you to look for material from the Russian animation school of the very early 1900s, especially the works in Stop Motion by Alexander Shiryaev.
@@jackburton5085 I had been watching some of Starevich's animation (fascinating-- I highly recommend "Cameraman's Revenge," stop motion film starring insects!) but I had not heard of Shiryaev, who is earlier. Thanks very much for this tip.
Here I was feeling sorry for myself because the recent storm canceled my Christmas plans. Now I'm laughing and in utter amazement at this little treasure. Your score enhanced every scene to perfection. Thank you, thank you, thank you. My day will be spent sharing this with friends and family.....right after I subscribe.
This film is so incredibly adorable and amazing. The special effects are so advanced too--what a masterpiece! The insect is so cute too, and moves far more naturally than most stop-motion animation. They really mastered special effects to an amazing degree. This film should go viral and become legendary--it deserves that!! ~~ And Maurice--your score is so fun and fitting for the film--it really fits so perfectly! And some later-made scores for silent films feel so modern and do not fit the film at all and are just irritating. Your score sounds like it could have been an original score and have been from the era the film was made in, so it just fits so naturally and seamlessly, not sticking out distractingly like more modern sounding music foisted upon older film, which just sounds tacky regardless of how good the music would be just on its own. So you nailed the score for this film, and I am interested in seeing other silent films you have scored, and I hope you are still scoring more silent films and then sharing these forgotten treasures with everyone, and I hope the audience for this film soon reaches into the millions, and for any other good old films too!! ~~ Thank you so much for sharing this amazing, timeless film masterpiece, and for sharing your own great work too, and for a great time enjoying them both together!! I hope all is well with you and that you are having a great week!!
Thank you for your kind and encouraging words. I have written a few dozen film scores, many of which can be seen here on my UA-cam channel. Most of my scores were either commissioned by places that screen silent films - the American Film Institute, Library of Congress, National Gallery of Art, and such - or were written for release on DVD sets. My Snark Ensemble - after 14 years of writing, performing, and recording silent comedies - disbanded 5 years ago. Still, I have been working to re-score some of my favorite film scores for orchestra to present in concert screenings. If you'd like a few viewing suggestions, try Buster Keaton's The Goat (1921) and Frank Capra's Matinee Idol (1928) - both with scores by me and found here on this channel. Thanks for watching and taking the time to write your thoughts. Maurice
@@Saylor1957 I got halfway through before realizing the score couldn't have dated from the 20s like the film itself. My only "complaint" would be the absence of a cacophony for the back-seat bagpipe bleating. There's nothing so amazing as a silent film with an appropriate score -- especially if you experience it live. I got to see many such masterpieces at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, and even got to pick the band for one show (Pops Bayless' Shorty Long with The Navigator and Coke Ennyday's Case of the Leaping Fish) and I think even the most jaded modern theatergoer would find themselves floored by the experience...
@@Saylor1957 Fascinating film. Has Python type humour (that Scotland Yard scene is so comedic 70's English stereotype of the Scotts), stop gap animation PRE Ray Harryhausens that is better than Harryhausens. The Phantom looks like the Thompson twins from Tin Tin... well worked soundtrack too.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments. Please do try some of the other films on my page. There It Is was my first film scores. My Snark Ensemble created and performed new scores to silent comedies fir 15 years. So there are a great many of them posted. I'm just starting to post the Snark scores of the two other composers-performers that made up the core of the ensemble.
Exactly. That's the FIRST thing I noticed, to be honest. You know, I think Greedo said it best when he uttered the immortal phrase "Maclunkey.". It's my mantra; the thing I tell myself every morning while staring all bleary-eyed at my reflection in the bathroom mirror -- immediately before I heave another despirited sigh and dejectedly slither back under my blankets in a state of utter defeat.
I asked my Scottish mother Who's maiden name was Mac Donald How can you tell when a bagpipe is out of tune? She asked, how? I said, you can't. She didn't think it was funny. But this, this was hilarious. Thanks for sharing Auld Lang syne 12/26/22
Deserves more views than the 42k I see at time of this comment. It's an amazing piece and well ahead of its time. I wonder if Terry Gilliam and the Monty Python team knew of this.
I had never seen or heard of this film before. I really enjoyed it and the score was decent! Sometimes I watch silent movies on here with the sound off because some of the scores sound way too modern and it takes away from my experience but this score complimented the movie nicely. Thanks for sharing it with the UA-cam community!
I have long wanted a Mac Gregor as well. Adorable and amazing animation. I love the section where he pulls the string across the door (and I enjoy my music from that moment as well *grin*).
@@Saylor1957 Everything he does is cute and funny. I like his bed in the matchbox but he needed a little house! I wonder what insect he was supposed to be?
@@melizmatea McGregor is a bit like a bug but he also has fur like a mouse - plus he is anthropomorphic. Browers was so imaginative. I'm glad you enjoyed my music score. One day when I have time, I plan to score it for orchestra for live performance. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
Badge with a telephone dial, lmao! He must know Suzie like I know Suzie. On Sunday she praises the Lord but on Monday she's as busy as a telephone switchboard. Pythons must've watched this. Seeing elements of Terry Gilliam, and character 'Ewin McTeagle'.
Really enjoyed the score! Great stuff! I'm a music composition major,and the thought occured to score silent films just for fun. Really admirable work! Great film to get inspired by..wow!
Chaplin and the crew were great and geniuses but this also great , very modern in some ways, stop- motion and surrealistic characters, way before its time - wonder if there is a lot more stuff like this hidden away in vaults somewhere? Scotland yard as a yard, hilarious, must watch it again to see what I missed!
Between you and me I'm a little tired of hearing about Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton who were arguably wonderful but there were a lot of other wonderful comedians too at the same time making films as I'm sure you know but I don't think too many of the folks know who do these retrospectives on silent comedians. Let's not forget Charlie Chase and Ben Turpin and quite a few others and because of old age I can't remember their names take care.
@@roderickfernandez5382 great art is timeless and universal, When a lot of the modern era has been forgotten, these funny. eccentric characters will keep percolating to the top. Someone will discover them once again. Cheers.
The Scotland yard bit was like a Monty Python skit. Excellent score!
Was thinking the exact same or The Goodies or Spike Milligan hah ha lol.
Maybe that type of 'Python' humour is older than we think. Would be interesting to see if it was used in theatre around those times.
Blue Washington, who plays the butler, had an interesting life. He played in the Negro Leagues and his son was among the first players to desegregate the NFL in 1946. His last film was The Hustler (1961).
Kenny Washington's father????
@@oluhamilton2121 Yes!
That brings back some memories. I had a friend that played in The negro leagues as well. Joe B. Scott.
Denzel....?
He can also be seen as John Wayne’s sidekick in Haunted Gold (1933), available on You Tube.
The 'Fantom' or 'Grandpa' reminds me very much of Pa in the Katzenjammer Kids cartoons. I've got a sneaking idea that L C Segar drew someone similar in early Popeye strips.
Just delightful!! Thank you, UA-cam algorithm, for tossing this gem my way!
This film was made before my mother was born. I watched the whole film. Thank you for preserving history.
That imagining of Scotland Yard was worthy of Benny Hill and Monty Python put together!
Charles Bowers is up there With Harry Langdon, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel Hardy, Stan Hardy, Marx brothers, Ralph Balski George Formby and Norman Wisdom among others. This guy is actually more unique because he also directed stop motion animation like the legendary Jan Svankmajer. These was the guys we turned too before the rise of the conspiracy theorists like David Icke.
Don Chaffey and Ray Harryhausen use too be my two favourite people before i learned of Charles Bowers.
Truly Terrific Work 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Hello, hello, hello I'm Scotland Yard over the pond with indeed certainly identified with the Amityville Horror movies.
Charley Bowers in There It Is | 1928 Silent film Comedy | Snark Ensemble score by Maurice Saylor.
My lord and one or thing going on and most peculiar ideas with amazing Conservative late Margaret Thatcher
and I'll bet in the reliable Butler with evil grandpa...Beautiful Lady and handsome four Kilt's with amazing 1929 and pure Comedy 🤣👍
I have never heard of this comedian and I have seen some bizarre movies in my 84 years but this takes some of the cake. It's absolutely amazing I think Salvador Dali must have seen this before he started to paint. I have to find out more about this fellow.
Loved that insect puppet! The stop motion was excellent!
This is wonderful, can’t believe the composer of the score didn’t glom onto any Scottish reels , or any Scottish theme for that matter.
Thanks for this amazing Silent work with accompanying score soundtrack.
Extraordinary old film the score follows along perfectly I'm going to look for more THANKS!
Glad you enjoyed it
Entertaining, charming short-more wackily absurd than “surreal,” even if the Surrealists (understandably) admired it. Nice score too! It complements the film well.
Thank you for your thoughts, C.H. I would love to score more Bowers films. He was an amazing animator. What an imagination!
Thank you thank you for uploading this masterpiece of film! And for the enchanting score!
And by GOlly GEe Whitakers whiskers!
Thank you YT algorhyrhms for bringing me here. Whatever and however I have been feeding the YT algorhyms, I promise i will keep it up!
Here is to the of love discovering new brilliantly ingenious human creative endeavors!
That was so cute - the special effects and comedy were great
---Cheers
This is incredible; thanks for sharing it! Your score really does this quirky gem justice.
Absolutely 💯hilarious!!
The technology that produced it was so advanced for the day...I can't imagine how long it took to edit and piece together all the stills to pull it off. Never heard of
Charley Bowers B4 (I am a
Laurel & Hardy guy) but Now I have a new under-rated star to follow from the early days of film.
Thank You for bringing him to my attention, definitely worth watching.
Very modern feel to something almost 100 yrs old. Good work!
hilarious cartoonish film from the 20's thanks for uploading.
What a wonderful, odd, quirky little masterpiece! Brilliant score and animation! Love his character too!
No lie. The Scotland Yard gag made me lol.
This is brilliant
Given that it was first released in 1928, this movie is officially public domain in 2024.
Given how much stop-motion has advanced almost 100 years after this came out, imagine how smooth this bug would look with somebody like Henry Selick animating him.
Got curious about early animation and just discovered Charley Bowers' wonderfully odd work. This is a favorite of what I've seen with its deadpan absurdity and nonstop unpredictable zaniness. The effect is in no small part due to the score. It is artistic without distracting from the action (something I find happens with some modern scores of silent movies) and the whiplash from staccato madness to the sentimental "love theme" and back again had me cracking up. Bravo, and thank you for the upload.
So i advise you to look for material from the Russian animation school of the very early 1900s, especially the works in Stop Motion by Alexander Shiryaev.
@@jackburton5085 I had been watching some of Starevich's animation (fascinating-- I highly recommend "Cameraman's Revenge," stop motion film starring insects!) but I had not heard of Shiryaev, who is earlier. Thanks very much for this tip.
Definitely the “Citizen Kane” of silent film bagpipe comedies.
Bravo, great score as well.
Wow! This is so wonderful. Glad I discovered Charley Bowers today.
Thanks very much for sharing this. Made my day 🙂
The Sunrise painting really caught me off guard. There's some good stuff in this film.
Here I was feeling sorry for myself because the recent storm canceled my Christmas plans. Now I'm laughing and in utter amazement at this little treasure. Your score enhanced every scene to perfection. Thank you, thank you, thank you. My day will be spent sharing this with friends and family.....right after I subscribe.
Absolutely incredible how accurate this is
Fantastic score! Well suited to the action.
This film is so incredibly adorable and amazing. The special effects are so advanced too--what a masterpiece! The insect is so cute too, and moves far more naturally than most stop-motion animation. They really mastered special effects to an amazing degree. This film should go viral and become legendary--it deserves that!! ~~ And Maurice--your score is so fun and fitting for the film--it really fits so perfectly! And some later-made scores for silent films feel so modern and do not fit the film at all and are just irritating. Your score sounds like it could have been an original score and have been from the era the film was made in, so it just fits so naturally and seamlessly, not sticking out distractingly like more modern sounding music foisted upon older film, which just sounds tacky regardless of how good the music would be just on its own. So you nailed the score for this film, and I am interested in seeing other silent films you have scored, and I hope you are still scoring more silent films and then sharing these forgotten treasures with everyone, and I hope the audience for this film soon reaches into the millions, and for any other good old films too!! ~~ Thank you so much for sharing this amazing, timeless film masterpiece, and for sharing your own great work too, and for a great time enjoying them both together!! I hope all is well with you and that you are having a great week!!
Thank you for your kind and encouraging words. I have written a few dozen film scores, many of which can be seen here on my UA-cam channel. Most of my scores were either commissioned by places that screen silent films - the American Film Institute, Library of Congress, National Gallery of Art, and such - or were written for release on DVD sets. My Snark Ensemble - after 14 years of writing, performing, and recording silent comedies - disbanded 5 years ago. Still, I have been working to re-score some of my favorite film scores for orchestra to present in concert screenings.
If you'd like a few viewing suggestions, try Buster Keaton's The Goat (1921) and Frank Capra's Matinee Idol (1928) - both with scores by me and found here on this channel.
Thanks for watching and taking the time to write your thoughts.
Maurice
@@Saylor1957 I got halfway through before realizing the score couldn't have dated from the 20s like the film itself. My only "complaint" would be the absence of a cacophony for the back-seat bagpipe bleating.
There's nothing so amazing as a silent film with an appropriate score -- especially if you experience it live. I got to see many such masterpieces at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, and even got to pick the band for one show (Pops Bayless' Shorty Long with The Navigator and Coke Ennyday's Case of the Leaping Fish) and I think even the most jaded modern theatergoer would find themselves floored by the experience...
@@Saylor1957 Fascinating film. Has Python type humour (that Scotland Yard scene is so comedic 70's English stereotype of the Scotts), stop gap animation PRE Ray Harryhausens that is better than Harryhausens. The Phantom looks like the Thompson twins from Tin Tin... well worked soundtrack too.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments. Please do try some of the other films on my page. There It Is was my first film scores. My Snark Ensemble created and performed new scores to silent comedies fir 15 years. So there are a great many of them posted. I'm just starting to post the Snark scores of the two other composers-performers that made up the core of the ensemble.
Awesome effects and animation!
This score is wonderful! the silent film scores can grate, but this fit it exactly and was a pleasure to listen to. What a cute film!
Great is a good word and properly applied you did it.
Loved the gag with the phone at the end-- that only worked because that was what a lot of phones were like at the time...
Best of the Charley Bowers shorts I've seen. Very clever.
What a great introduction to Charley Bowers! I never heard of him or his work, but I'm gonna dive in. Thanks for the bouncy and inspired score!
brava! magnifique!
What a gem! The stop motion animation is incredible! 1928? How?
I have watched it frame by frame and still wonder how he did much of it.
Thanks for sharing this silent gem. Learned so much about these amazing character actors and early special effects.
정말 의식의 흐름대로 만들어 졌지만 교훈이 있는 느낌이네요😂❤
How have I never heard of this series??? Amazing!
Wait. That's the end??
This brings me to tears. So beautiful!
Funny, weird and very clever! Thanks for the share.
Loved the stop motion and the wonderful comedic story. Some great Monty Python like humor.
Marvelous! Thanks for a much-needed happy diversion- Namaste from Canada
Lovely score. Great film.
Thank you, Zig, for watching and taking the time to comment.
Spectacular score!
Love how 'Scotland Yard' is just a yard in Scotland :)
Very bizarre, but thoroughly enjoyable-- and the musical score makes a perfect accompaniment. Great work on that!
Thank you very much!
That was spectacular. Thanks for uploading!
I'm glad you enjoyed it, Anthony. That was my first silent film score - written almost 20 years ago. Thank you for taking the time to write a comment.
Very funny and effects cleverly done
That wee matchbox beastie looks very familiar to a Star Wars fan (and yes, Han did shoot first! Pew pew!)
Greedo. 😉
Exactly. That's the FIRST thing I noticed, to be honest. You know, I think Greedo said it best when he uttered the immortal phrase "Maclunkey.". It's my mantra; the thing I tell myself every morning while staring all bleary-eyed at my reflection in the bathroom mirror -- immediately before I heave another despirited sigh and dejectedly slither back under my blankets in a state of utter defeat.
This was like Monty Python, way before Monty Python.
This has all the terror and drama of a Steven King horror movie. Well done, lads!
super great movie,beats alot of todays films
Loved this!
Strange and fun
Thank you.
great movie :D left me happy
That little fly is so cute.
What a superbly great film! The score is perfection--I am familiar with Charley Bowers work, but never saw this one before
What an amazing find. Even as a classic film and comedy buff I didn't know of Charley Bowers before. And your score is wonderful. Thank you for this.
Glad you enjoyed it
Surreal Bonkers Masterpiece. The coo coo cat 🤣🤣🤣
I asked my Scottish mother
Who's maiden name was Mac Donald
How can you tell when a bagpipe is out of tune?
She asked, how?
I said, you can't.
She didn't think it was funny.
But this, this was hilarious.
Thanks for sharing
Auld Lang syne
12/26/22
Deserves more views than the 42k I see at time of this comment. It's an amazing piece and well ahead of its time. I wonder if Terry Gilliam and the Monty Python team knew of this.
I had never seen or heard of this film before. I really enjoyed it and the score was decent! Sometimes I watch silent movies on here with the sound off because some of the scores sound way too modern and it takes away from my experience but this score complimented the movie nicely. Thanks for sharing it with the UA-cam community!
The Aardman Studios of the roaring 20s!
Yeah - this is SO good
Never heard of this one! Total madness!
I want a Mac Gregor! He is cute and funny!
I have long wanted a Mac Gregor as well. Adorable and amazing animation. I love the section where he pulls the string across the door (and I enjoy my music from that moment as well *grin*).
@@Saylor1957 Everything he does is cute and funny. I like his bed in the matchbox but he needed a little house! I wonder what insect he was supposed to be?
Me too! He was adorable!
@@timefortea1931 I guess he was an insect but I thought he was just a weird little mini-man, haha! Loved him!
@@melizmatea McGregor is a bit like a bug but he also has fur like a mouse - plus he is anthropomorphic. Browers was so imaginative. I'm glad you enjoyed my music score. One day when I have time, I plan to score it for orchestra for live performance. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
Good find !
That taxi fare might seem excessive but it’s a long way to NYC from LA
Badge with a telephone dial, lmao! He must know Suzie like I know Suzie. On Sunday she praises the Lord but on Monday she's as busy as a telephone switchboard.
Pythons must've watched this. Seeing elements of Terry Gilliam, and character 'Ewin McTeagle'.
Really enjoyed the score! Great stuff! I'm a music composition major,and the thought occured to score silent films just for fun. Really admirable work! Great film to get inspired by..wow!
When the cat said coo-coo. Yeah!
Chaplin and the crew were great and geniuses but this also great , very modern in some ways, stop- motion and surrealistic characters, way before its time - wonder if there is a lot more stuff like this hidden away in vaults somewhere? Scotland yard as a yard, hilarious, must watch it again to see what I missed!
Between you and me I'm a little tired of hearing about Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton who were arguably wonderful but there were a lot of other wonderful comedians too at the same time making films as I'm sure you know but I don't think too many of the folks know who do these retrospectives on silent comedians. Let's not forget Charlie Chase and Ben Turpin and quite a few others and because of old age I can't remember their names take care.
@@roderickfernandez5382
great art is timeless and universal, When a lot of the modern era has been forgotten, these funny. eccentric characters will keep percolating to the top. Someone will discover them once again. Cheers.
I think for some my age. I enjoyed this a lot.
Great special effects 👍
This was good. For its time. How did I not see it as a kid. Or tell now.
This was hilarious.The bagpipes 😄😄
Классный фильм , смотрится намного лучше современного русского кино .
Better than most modern American cinema too!
Well, at least we know cabbies haven't changed in a hundred years. By the way, hello... McFly!!
that was cool , thanks
Absolutely Hill effin leruious
This truly was a forward-thinking film I believe that's a real black man no black face.
Amazing effect @10:17 Right out of Terminator 2...but in 1928. i wonder how they created that so perfectly?
Animated the wagon and sliced off sections of the wagon as it went into the wall.
Extremally cool and smoothly done.
@@Wailwulf It looks amazing. Thank you for the insight!
Mac is so cute
fantastic score.
Was this made by Loony Tunes? JK, I see so many elements that are use in later cartoons.
I liked the colored butler. His eyes would get really big when he was scared.
What was the thing in the matchbook?
The bugs’ little kilt🥸
how many other auteurs of the silent era have been forgotten?
Reminds me of Monty Pythons Confuse a Cat sketch.
A GREAT TREASURE
7:13 those special effects though
"Crack Detective" 😂
I ❤️ mac
Great little film, thanks. Though it's larger than a real one, I think his wee assistant is probably a midgie.