Richard Smith (silent film director)
Encyclopedia
Richard Smith also known as Dick Smith, was a screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

, and film 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:...

. A comedian
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 active in the vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 era, Smith met his wife Alice Howell
Alice Howell
Alice Howell , was a silent film comedy actress from New York City.Early reviews of her movies describe her as the scream of the screen....

 in 1910 and the two performed together as "Howell and Howell". After working under direction of Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett was a Canadian-born American director and was known as the innovator of slapstick comedy in film. During his lifetime he was known at times as the "King of Comedy"...

 at the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company
American Mutoscope and Biograph Company
The American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, was a motion picture company founded in 1895 and active until 1928. It was the first company in the United States devoted entirely to film production and exhibition, and for two decades was one of the most prolific, releasing over three thousand short...

 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, Smith moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. Smith and his wife starred in reels together produced by L-KO Kompany
L-KO Kompany
The L-KO Kompany, or L-KO Komedies, was an American motion picture company founded by Henry Lehrman that produced silent one-, two- and very occasionally three-reel comedy shorts between 1914 and 1919...

.

While Howell was contracted at Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

, Smith directed her in films described in the book Clown Princes and Court Jesters as, "some of Universal's most memorable comedies of the twenties". With fellow colleague Vin Moore
Vin Moore
Vin Moore was an American film director, actor and writer. He directed 83 films between 1915 and 1938.He was born in Mayville, New York, and died in Hollywood, California.-External links:...

, Smith directed actor Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:...

 in the 1920 film Distilled Love
Distilled Love
Distilled Love is a 1920 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Alice Howell - The Milkmaid* Richard Smith - The Color Blind Artist * Oliver Hardy - Mr. Peeble Ford * Billy Bevan* Fay Holderness...

. Smith directed the Marx Brothers
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...

 in 1921 in their first film, titled Humor Risk
Humor Risk
Humor Risk was the first Marx Brothers film. The short film was never released and is now considered a lost film. The print may have been accidentally thrown away when left in the screening box overnight...

, which has since been lost. In 1925, Smith's directing work included films starring Bert Roach
Bert Roach
Bert Roach was an American film actor. He appeared in 327 films between 1914 and 1951.He was born in Washington, D.C., and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* Fatty's Magic Pants...

, Neely Edwards
Neely Edwards
Neely Edwards was an American film actor of the silent era. He appeared in 174 films between 1915 and 1959...

, and Charles Puffy. His contributions at Universal included a series of comedy films called "The Collegians".

Career

Richard Smith was active in the field of comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

, and participated in the vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 scene. He met his wife Alice Howell
Alice Howell
Alice Howell , was a silent film comedy actress from New York City.Early reviews of her movies describe her as the scream of the screen....

 when she was a member of a production by DeWolf Hopper
DeWolf Hopper
William DeWolf Hopper was an American actor, singer, comedian, and theatrical producer. Although a star of the musical stage, he was best-known for performing the popular baseball poem Casey at the Bat. -Biography:...

, in 1910. The two utilized the title of a previously known vaudeville group, and performed together as "Howell and Howell". The Howell and Howell duo performed together for three years. Their performances included burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...

 and vaudeville. Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett was a Canadian-born American director and was known as the innovator of slapstick comedy in film. During his lifetime he was known at times as the "King of Comedy"...

 directed Smith at the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company
American Mutoscope and Biograph Company
The American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, was a motion picture company founded in 1895 and active until 1928. It was the first company in the United States devoted entirely to film production and exhibition, and for two decades was one of the most prolific, releasing over three thousand short...

 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. Sennett offered Smith a chance to go with him when he started the company Keystone Studios
Keystone Studios
Keystone Studios was an early movie studio founded in Edendale, California in 1912 as the Keystone Pictures Studio by Mack Sennett with backing from Adam Kessel and Charles O. Bauman, owners of the New York Motion Picture Company...

, but he declined the opportunity. Due to a medical condition, Smith decided to switch his residence from New York to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, where his wife began to gain roles in the film industry under Sennett in 1914. The two starred together in reels including Dad's Dollars and Dirty Doings, a comedy by L-KO Kompany
L-KO Kompany
The L-KO Kompany, or L-KO Komedies, was an American motion picture company founded by Henry Lehrman that produced silent one-, two- and very occasionally three-reel comedy shorts between 1914 and 1919...

. Under the production company Reelcraft Pictures, Smith wrote and directed several films which his wife starred in. In the book Clown Princes and Court Jesters, authors Kalton C. Lahue and Samuel Gill describe these films directed by Smith and starring Howell as "low-burlesque charades and as such were slanted toward the neighborhood and second-run houses, where they found receptive audiences."

After his wife became an actress in features at Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

 in 1921, Smith directed her in multiple comedies. Lahue and Gill characterize these films as, "some of Universal's most memorable comedies of the twenties", and note, "Starting with the usual framework provided by the situation comedy format, directors William Watson and Richard Smith inserted a sufficient amount of subdued slapstick to flavor these single reels with laugh after laugh." Comedian Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:...

 acted under the direction of Smith and associate Vin Moore
Vin Moore
Vin Moore was an American film director, actor and writer. He directed 83 films between 1915 and 1938.He was born in Mayville, New York, and died in Hollywood, California.-External links:...

, in the 1920 film Distilled Love
Distilled Love
Distilled Love is a 1920 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Alice Howell - The Milkmaid* Richard Smith - The Color Blind Artist * Oliver Hardy - Mr. Peeble Ford * Billy Bevan* Fay Holderness...

; Smith also had an acting role in the film as an artist. He served as director in 1921 of Humor Risk
Humor Risk
Humor Risk was the first Marx Brothers film. The short film was never released and is now considered a lost film. The print may have been accidentally thrown away when left in the screening box overnight...

, the first film starring the Marx Brothers
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...

. Smith directed actors including Bert Roach
Bert Roach
Bert Roach was an American film actor. He appeared in 327 films between 1914 and 1951.He was born in Washington, D.C., and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* Fatty's Magic Pants...

 and Neely Edwards
Neely Edwards
Neely Edwards was an American film actor of the silent era. He appeared in 174 films between 1915 and 1959...

 in the 1925 film A Nice Pickle, and Charles Puffy the same year in Muddled Up. After Howell retired from film in the 1926, Smith kept up with his contracted work at Universal and wrote a set of comedy films called "The Collegians". Smith died in 1937, at fifty years old.

Filmography

Year Film Role
1914 Gussle, the Golfer Actor: "Card Player"
1914 The Noise of Bombs Actor
1915 A Bathhouse Tragedy Actor
1915 A Stool Pigeon's Revenge Actor
1915 Disguised But Discovered Actor
1915 Easy Money Actor
1915 From Beanery to Billions Actor
1915 Poor But Dishonest Actor
1915 Scandal in the Family
Scandal in the Family
Peccati in famiglia or Sins in the Family/Scandal in the Family is a 1975 Italian erotic drama film directed by Bruno Gaburro. The film starred Michele Placido, Simonetta Stefanelli, Jenny Tamburi and acclaimed actor Renzo Montagnani....

Actor
1915 Too Many Bachelors Actor: "One of Peggy's Suitors"
1915 Under the Table Actor
1916 A Rural Romance Actor
1916 Dad's Dollars and Dirty Doings Actor
1916 Flirtation a la Carte Actor
1916 Her Naughty Eyes Actor
1916 How Stars Are Made Actor
1916 Saving Susie from the Sea Actor
1916 Shooting His 'Art Out Actor
1916 The Bankruptcy of Boggs and Schultz Actor
1916 The Double's Troubles Actor
1916 The Great Smash Actor
1917 Double Dukes Director
1917 Fatty's Feature Fillum Actor: "Desmond"
1917 Hearts and Flour Director
1917 Little Bo-Peep Director
1917 Street Cars and Carbuncles Director
1917 That Dawgone Dog Director
1917 The Sign of the Cucumber Director
1917 Vamping Reuben's Millions Director
1918 Ambrose and His Widow Actor
1918 Ash-Can Alley Director
1918 Scars and Bars Actor
1919 Bungs and Bunglers
Bungs and Bunglers
Bungs and Bunglers is a 1919 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Jimmy Aubrey - Jimmy* Oliver Hardy - Al K. Hall * Richard Smith...

Actor
1919 Cymbelles and Boneheads Actor
1919 Flips and Flops
Flips and Flops
Flips and Flops is a 1919 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Jimmy Aubrey - Jimmy* Oliver Hardy - Mr. Jipper * Richard Smith...

Actor
1919 Healthy and Happy
Healthy and Happy
Healthy and Happy is a 1919 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Jimmy Aubrey - Quincy* Oliver Hardy - Doctor * Richard Smith...

Actor
1919 Jazz and Jailbirds
Jazz and Jailbirds
Jazz and Jailbirds is a 1919 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Jimmy Aubrey - Jimmy* Oliver Hardy - I.M. Ruff * Richard Smith - Thief * Dorothy Vernon* Dorothea Wolbert* Jess Weldon - Fat Man...

Actor: "Thief"
1919 Let Fido Do It Actor
1919 Mates and Models
Mates and Models
Mates and Models is a 1919 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Jimmy Aubrey - The Husband* Oliver Hardy - A Nutty Artist * Richard Smith - A Rival Artist * Maude Emory - The Wife...

Actor: "A Rival Artist"
1919 A Rag Time Romance Actor
1919 Squabs and Squabbles
Squabs and Squabbles
Squabs and Squabbles is a 1919 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Jimmy Aubrey - Jimmy* Oliver Hardy - The Boss * Richard Smith...

Actor
1919 Switches and Sweeties
Switches and Sweeties
Switches and Sweeties is a 1919 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Jimmy Aubrey - Janitor* Oliver Hardy - * Richard Smith...

Actor
1919 Tootsies and Tamales
Tootsies and Tamales
Tootsies and Tamales is a 1919 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Jimmy Aubrey - The Rummy Romeo* Oliver Hardy - The Murderous Mexican * Maude Emory - Señorita* Bud Ross* Richard Smith...

Actor
1919 Yaps and Yokels
Yaps and Yokels
Yaps and Yokels is a 1919 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Jimmy Aubrey - James* Oliver Hardy - The Hired Hand * Richard Smith - The Father...

Actor: "The Father"
1920 Cinderella Cinders Actor: "The Butler"
1920 Dames and Dentists
Dames and Dentists
Dames and Dentists is a 1920 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Jimmy Aubrey - The Husband* Oliver Hardy - * Richard Smith...

Actor
1920 Distilled Love
Distilled Love
Distilled Love is a 1920 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Alice Howell - The Milkmaid* Richard Smith - The Color Blind Artist * Oliver Hardy - Mr. Peeble Ford * Billy Bevan* Fay Holderness...

Director, Actor: "The Color Blind Artist"
1920 Lunatics in Politics Director, Actor
1920 Squirrel Time Director
1921 Humor Risk
Humor Risk
Humor Risk was the first Marx Brothers film. The short film was never released and is now considered a lost film. The print may have been accidentally thrown away when left in the screening box overnight...

Director
1923 Chasing Wealth Writer
1923 Little Miss Hollywood Actor
1923 Taking Orders Actor
1924 Feather Pushers Writer
1924 Green Tees Director
1924 Horse Play Director
1924 Marry When Young Writer
1924 Mind Your Doctor Director, Writer
1924 Ship Ahoy! Writer
1924 The Jail Bird Writer
1924 The Mandarin Writer
1925 A Nice Pickle Director, Writer
1925 Black Gold Bricks Director
1925 City Bound Director
1925 Locked Out
Locked Out
"Locked Out" is a 1993 song by rock group Crowded House, from the group's fourth studio album Together Alone. It was released as a single in December 1993 and was part of the soundtrack to the American film Reality Bites. It was the most successful single from Together Alone, reaching #12 in the UK...

Writer
1925 Muddled Up Director, Writer
1925 Nearly Rich Writer
1925 Nicely Rewarded Writer
1925 Papa's Pet Director
1925 Pleasure Bent Writer
1925 Rolling Stones Writer
1925 Sleeping Sickness Director
1925 Speak Easy Director, Writer
1925 Tenting Out Director
1925 The Cat's Whiskers Director, Writer
1925 The Greenhorn Writer
1925 The Lost Cord Director, Writer
1925 The Lucky Accident Writer
1925 The Milky Way Director, Writer
1925 Under a Spell Director
1925 Unwelcome Director
1926 Fresh Paint
Fresh Paint
A Fresh Paint is a charity fundraiser that includes artists painting outdoors. They generally involve some mixture of silent and live auction immediately following the creation of the paintings and before they are fully dry...

Director, Writer
1926 Wide Open Faces Director, Writer
1926 Babes in the Sawdust Director, Writer
1926 Do or Bust Director, Writer
1926 Find the Woman Actor: "George Stevenson"
1926 Help Wanted Director, Writer
1926 Hook or Crook Director, Writer
1926 Horse Laugh Director, Writer
1926 It's All Over Now
It's All Over Now
"It's All Over Now" was written by Bobby Womack and Shirley Womack. It was first released by The Valentinos featuring Bobby Womack. The Valentinos version entered the Billboard Hot 100 on June 27, 1964, where it stayed on the chart for two weeks, peaking at No. 94...

Director, Writer
1926 Love's Labor Lost Director, Writer
1926 Mixed Doubles Director, Writer
1926 Nobody Loves Me Director, Writer
1926 The College Yell Director, Writer
1926 The Crowned Prince Director, Writer
1926 The Optimist Director, Writer
1926 The Phoney Express Director, Writer
1926 The Thirteenth Man Director, Writer
1926 What Price Pleasure? Director, Writer
1926 Where's My Baby? Director, Writer
1926 Who's Next? Director, Writer
1926 Wild Bill Director, Writer
1926 Wise or Otherwise Director
1926 Wives and Women Director
1927 A One Man Show
A One Man Show
A One Man Show is a music documentary featuring American singer Grace Jones, filmed in 1981–1982. The film was first released in 1982 to promote the album Living My Life and was re-issued on VHS and laserdisc by Island Records, PolyGram and Spectrum Music through the 1980s and early 1990s...

Director
1927 A Sleepy Time Pal Director, Writer
1927 Ali Gazam Director, Writer
1927 Baby Brother
Baby Brother
-Cast:* Joe Cobb - Joe* Allen "Farina" Hoskins - Farina* Jackie Condon - Jackie* Clifton Young - Bonedust* Jay R. Smith - Jay* Scooter Lowry - Skooter* Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins - Horatio* Robert Smith - Tunney* Richard Smith - Coolidge...

Actor
1927 High and Dizzy
High and Dizzy
High and Dizzy is a 1920 short comedy film starring Harold Lloyd. The plot revolves around a young woman who sleepwalks and the doctor who is attempting to treat her...

Director, Writer
1927 Oh! What a Kick! Director
1927 Red Suspenders Director
1927 Surprised Honey Writer
1927 Why Mules Leave Home Director
1929 Watch Your Friends Director
1936 Fibbing Fibbers Writer

See also

  • Cinematography
    Cinematography
    Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...

  • Directorial debut
  • Filmmaking
    Filmmaking
    Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...

  • List of directorial debuts
  • List of film and television directors

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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