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Dane & Arthur: A Forgotten Comedy Team

The comedy team of Karl Dane and George K. Arthur delighted audiences of the late silent movie era and the Pre-Code sound years, but today their films are rarely celebrated and the team is mostly recalled for the tragic death of Karl Dane. On this episode of “The Online Movie Show,” film scholar Geno Cuddy offers insight into this wonderfully funny duo.

The episode can be heard here.

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The Bootleg Files: Summer Daze

BOOTLEG FILES 783: “Summer Daze” (1932 short comedy starring Karl Dane and George K. Arthur).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A film that fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Unlikely.

In 1926, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cast two of its character actors, Karl Dane and George K. Arthur, in comic relief supporting roles in the film “Bardelys the Magnificent.” The actors were not teamed for this production, but someone in the studio came up with the idea of pairing the tall and gangly Dane with the diminutive Arthur in an Army comedy called “Rookies,” which was released to great popularity in 1927.
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The Last Days of the Silent Films, Part 2

In the second of a two-part episode, Lon Davis, author of the critically acclaimed “Silent Lives,” returns to “The Online Movie Show” to discuss the transition from silent films to the talkies, focusing on stars who made the leap into the new medium (including Garbo, Neil Hamilton and Laurel and Hardy) along with now-forgotten performers who did not (including Madame Olga Petrova, Karl Dane and Mary McLaren).

The episode can be heard here.

“The Online Movie Show” is produced at the Platinum Wolfe Studios.