Jules White
Encyclopedia
Jules White born Julius Weiss (17 September 190030 April 1985) was a film director
and producer
best known for his short-subject comedies starring the Three Stooges
.
. By the 1920s his brother Jack White
had become a successful comedy producer at Educational Pictures
, and Jules worked for him as a film editor. Jules became a director
in 1926, specializing in comedies.
In 1930 White and his boyhood friend Zion Myers moved to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
studio. They conceived and co-directed M-G-M's gimmicky "Dogville" comedies, which featured trained dogs in satires of recent Hollywood films (like The Dogway Melody and So Quiet on the Canine Front). White and Myers co-directed the Buster Keaton
feature Sidewalks of New York, and launched a series of "Goofy Movies," one-reel parodies of silent-era melodramas.
In 1933 White was appointed head of Columbia Pictures
' short-subject division, which became the most prolific comedy factory in Hollywood. In a time when theaters were playing more double-feature programs, fewer short comedies were being made; by the mid-1930s three major comedy producers, Hal Roach
, Educational Pictures
, and Universal Pictures
, scaled back their operations. In contrast, by 1938 Columbia's two-reel-comedy department was so busy that White split it into two units. White produced for the first unit; Hugh McCollum
for the second. The Columbia comedy stars alternated between the White and McCollum units.
With McCollum now shouldering some of the administrative burden, White was free to pursue his first love: directing. He began directing the Columbia shorts in 1938 and would become the department's most prolific director. His sound films were made using an approach that was rooted in silent comedy. Visual action was paced very fast, and actors were coached to gesture broadly and react violently. This emphasis on cartoonish slapstick worked well in the right context, but could become blunt and shocking when stretched too far. White was generally under pressure to finish his productions within a few days, so very often White the producer did not tone down White the director, and the outlandishly violent gags stayed in. Still, moviegoers loved these slam-bang short comedies, and Columbia produced more than 500 of them over a quarter of a century.
White's style is most evident in his string of two-reelers starring veteran comics Wally Vernon and Eddie Quillan
. Vernon and Quillan were old pros whose dancing skills made them especially agile comedians. Jules White capitalized on this by staging the kind of rough-and-tumble slapstick unseen since silent-movie days, with the stars and supporting players doing pratfalls, crossing their eyes, getting hit with messy projectiles, having barehanded fistfights, and being knocked "cuckoo" in film after film. These comedies were pet projects for White: he kept making Vernon and Quillan shorts long after most of his other series had been discontinued.
comedies, Spooks!
and Pardon My Backfire
(1953), both starring the Three Stooges, and Down the Hatch, starring dialect comic Harry Mimmo.
In 1956, when other studios had abandoned short-subject production, Jules White had the field to himself and experimented with new ideas. Many of his Stooge comedies now consisted of all-new material, featuring science-fiction or musical themes, and often including topical references to rock and roll
and then-current feature films. White even launched a new series, "Girlie Whirls," as musical-comedy vehicles for plump comedienne Muriel Landers
; only one film was made before White reassigned Landers to one of the Stooge comedies.
subsidiary in the early 1960s, working on the sitcom Oh, Those Bells but soon retired, saying, "Who needs such a rat race?"
Almost 40 percent of Jules White's output stars the Three Stooges
; the other films feature such screen favorites as Buster Keaton
, Andy Clyde
, Harry Langdon
, Hugh Herbert
, Vera Vague, and El Brendel
. To date, only the Stooges and Keaton material has been released to home video.
White died of Alzheimer's Disease
on April 30, 1985. He is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, CA
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
best known for his short-subject comedies starring the Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
.
Early years
White began working in motion pictures in the 1910s, as a child actor, for Pathé StudiosPathé
Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...
. By the 1920s his brother Jack White
Jack White (film producer)
Jack White was an American film producer, director and writer. His career with film began in the late 1910s and continued until the early 1960s. White produced over 300 films; directed more than 60 of these, and wrote more than 50...
had become a successful comedy producer at Educational Pictures
Educational Pictures
Educational Pictures was a film distribution company founded in 1919 by Earle Hammons . Educational primarily distributed short subjects, and today is probably best known for its series of 1930s comedies starring Buster Keaton, as well as for a series of one-reel comedies featuring Shirley...
, and Jules worked for him as a film editor. Jules became a director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
in 1926, specializing in comedies.
In 1930 White and his boyhood friend Zion Myers moved to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
studio. They conceived and co-directed M-G-M's gimmicky "Dogville" comedies, which featured trained dogs in satires of recent Hollywood films (like The Dogway Melody and So Quiet on the Canine Front). White and Myers co-directed the Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
feature Sidewalks of New York, and launched a series of "Goofy Movies," one-reel parodies of silent-era melodramas.
Columbia Pictures
White appears in a small role as a Confederate soldier in the controversial film Birth of a Nation.In 1933 White was appointed head of Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
' short-subject division, which became the most prolific comedy factory in Hollywood. In a time when theaters were playing more double-feature programs, fewer short comedies were being made; by the mid-1930s three major comedy producers, Hal Roach
Hal Roach
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director, and from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...
, Educational Pictures
Educational Pictures
Educational Pictures was a film distribution company founded in 1919 by Earle Hammons . Educational primarily distributed short subjects, and today is probably best known for its series of 1930s comedies starring Buster Keaton, as well as for a series of one-reel comedies featuring Shirley...
, and Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
, scaled back their operations. In contrast, by 1938 Columbia's two-reel-comedy department was so busy that White split it into two units. White produced for the first unit; Hugh McCollum
Hugh McCollum
Hugh McCollum was an American film producer best known for his credits on Three Stooges short subject comedies.-Career:...
for the second. The Columbia comedy stars alternated between the White and McCollum units.
With McCollum now shouldering some of the administrative burden, White was free to pursue his first love: directing. He began directing the Columbia shorts in 1938 and would become the department's most prolific director. His sound films were made using an approach that was rooted in silent comedy. Visual action was paced very fast, and actors were coached to gesture broadly and react violently. This emphasis on cartoonish slapstick worked well in the right context, but could become blunt and shocking when stretched too far. White was generally under pressure to finish his productions within a few days, so very often White the producer did not tone down White the director, and the outlandishly violent gags stayed in. Still, moviegoers loved these slam-bang short comedies, and Columbia produced more than 500 of them over a quarter of a century.
Directorial style
Physical comedy was the norm for White's short features. Some of his personal favorite gags were used again and again over the years: a comedian being arrested always protests, "I demand a cheap lawyer!" Or the star comedian accidentally collides with the villain and apologizes, "Sorry, mister, there was a man chasing me... you're the man!" White's most familiar gag is probably the one where an actor is stuck in the posterior by a sharp object, and then yells, "Help, help! I'm losing my mind!"White's style is most evident in his string of two-reelers starring veteran comics Wally Vernon and Eddie Quillan
Eddie Quillan
Edward "Eddie" Quillan was an American film actor whose career began as a child on the vaudeville stages and silent film and continued through the age of television in the 1980s.-Vaudeville and silent films:...
. Vernon and Quillan were old pros whose dancing skills made them especially agile comedians. Jules White capitalized on this by staging the kind of rough-and-tumble slapstick unseen since silent-movie days, with the stars and supporting players doing pratfalls, crossing their eyes, getting hit with messy projectiles, having barehanded fistfights, and being knocked "cuckoo" in film after film. These comedies were pet projects for White: he kept making Vernon and Quillan shorts long after most of his other series had been discontinued.
Later films
By the 1950s White was working so quickly and economically that he could film a new short comedy in a single day. His standard procedure was to borrow footage from older films, and shoot a few new scenes, often using the same actors, sets, and costumes. A "new" 15-minute comedy could contain clips from as many as three vintage comedies. Though most of White's comedies of the 1950s are almost identical to his comedies of the 1940s, White still made a few films from scratch, include his three 3-D3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
comedies, Spooks!
Spooks!
Spooks! is the 148th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. It is notable as the first Three Stooges short filmed in 3-D. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
and Pardon My Backfire
Pardon My Backfire
Pardon My Backfire is the 149th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1953), both starring the Three Stooges, and Down the Hatch, starring dialect comic Harry Mimmo.
In 1956, when other studios had abandoned short-subject production, Jules White had the field to himself and experimented with new ideas. Many of his Stooge comedies now consisted of all-new material, featuring science-fiction or musical themes, and often including topical references to rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
and then-current feature films. White even launched a new series, "Girlie Whirls," as musical-comedy vehicles for plump comedienne Muriel Landers
Muriel Landers
Muriel Landers was an American actress, singer and dancer. She made over 30 film and television appearances between 1950 and 1971.-Career:...
; only one film was made before White reassigned Landers to one of the Stooge comedies.
Retirement
Columbia closed its comedy-shorts department at the end of 1957. White dabbled in television at Columbia's Screen GemsScreen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
subsidiary in the early 1960s, working on the sitcom Oh, Those Bells but soon retired, saying, "Who needs such a rat race?"
Almost 40 percent of Jules White's output stars the Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
; the other films feature such screen favorites as Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
, Andy Clyde
Andy Clyde
Andy Clyde was a Scottish movie and TV actor whose career spanned more than four decades. He broke into silent films in 1925 as a Mack Sennett comic...
, Harry Langdon
Harry Langdon
Harry Philmore Langdon was an American comedian who appeared in vaudeville, silent films , and talkies. He was briefly partnered with Oliver Hardy.-Life and career:...
, Hugh Herbert
Hugh Herbert
Hugh Herbert was a motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville, and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches.-Career:...
, Vera Vague, and El Brendel
El Brendel
El Brendel was a vaudeville comedian turned movie star, best remembered for his dialect schtick as a Swedish immigrant. His biggest role was as "Single-0" in the sci-fi musical Just Imagine , produced by Fox Film Corporation...
. To date, only the Stooges and Keaton material has been released to home video.
White died of Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
on April 30, 1985. He is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, CA