Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story (TV 2002)

This documentary on the history of short subjects was first shown on the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) cable network. It surveys the genre from the beginning of the movies in the 1890's, when... See full summary »

Director:

John Griffin

Writers:

Leonard Maltin, Leonard Maltin (book),

Stars:

Chevy Chase, Kenneth Anger, Richard L. Bare

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Chevy Chase	...	Narrator (voice)

Storyline

This documentary on the history of short subjects was first shown on the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) cable network. It surveys the genre from the beginning of the movies in the 1890's, when all movies were shorts, through the 1950's, when short subjects virtually disappeared from theaters. Several series of shorts are highlighted, including the The Three Stooges, Joe McDoakes, Robert Benchley, the Pete Smith Specialties, John Nesbitt's Passing Parade, and the Dogville comedies. Animated short films are given short shrift.

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Plot Keywords:

narration | film history | filmmaking | based on book

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 February 2002 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Peter Jones Productions, Turner Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Color:

Black and White Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included as a bonus feature in Warner Home Video's 2006 2-disc DVD release "TCM Archives - Laurel and Hardy Collection".

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Connections

Features La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (1935)

User Reviews

I very much enjoyed Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story

Just watched this fascinating documentary on the "TCM Archives: Laurel & Hardy Collection" DVD. It tells of the short film from the silent era to the '50s when television phased them out. We get glimpses of Mack Sennett and the way he made his silent comedies leading to Hal Roach and his founding of Our Gang and later Laurel & Hardy. We see many of the musical acts of vaudeville make their way to the Vitaphone studios of Brooklyn. We see some classic scenes of The Three Stooges. And then there's the various series of short subjects from M-G-M like Dogville, Pete Smith Specialties, Robert Benchley, the Travelogues, and Crime Does Not Pay. Finally, there's the Joe McDoakes shorts from Warner Bros. that starred George O'Hanlon as Joe. He would later become George Jetson's voice on "The Jetsons". Chevy Chase narrated with much of the info provided by Leonard Maltin, expert movie historian. In summary, Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story is well worth a look for anyone interested in this sort of thing.