Speed (the silent version)
Did you perhaps attend when "Speed" opened at the movie theater in Oil City? Huh? What are you talking about? The "picture show" was long gone by the time the action film starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves came along in 1994. No, not that one. This Speed, starring Charles Hutchison and Lucy Fox, was a 1922 silent film serial appearing in theaters around the country, including the Victory in OC.
Serial films were a regular part movie theater entertainment in earlier times, up until around the 1950s, along with cartoons, newsreels, and of course feature films. Sometimes referred to a "cliffhangers" since the final scene of an episode may literally have a character hanging from a cliff, they were often melodramatic productions, as parodied by the cartoon Dudley Do-Right. For example, imagine a villainous Snidely Whiplash placing dear Nell in a life-threatening situation, tied on the railroad tracks. Just as the train is approaching and her demise imminent, the episode ends with a pitch to viewers to come back next week to see what happens. Of course in the first moments of the next episode, the hero (think Dudley here) gets out of his own predicament in time to make it to the scene and save his damsel-in-distress.
The Speed series plot is summarized as follows:
"Speed Stansbury (Hutchison) is heir to a large fortune. A master criminal hires someone to frame Speed for murder and bank robbery. As Speed pursues the man who can prove his innocence to South America, he himself is followed by Lucy (Durant, played by Fox), the woman he loves."
Source: Speed (serial) - Wikipedia
Per the article listed down below describes action by daring main character Speed that includes a fight underwater against a man-eating shark as well as a leap from an airplane wing to a moving train.
Here's an example advertisement for feature.
Source: Evansville (IN) Courier And Press 26-Jun-1923, Page 13
The film is touted to be "showing at more than 30 of the leading picture houses of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama." Among those "leading picture houses" listed is the Victory theater in Oil City.
Source: New Orleans Times Picayune 29-Oct-1922, Page 50 50 (Sec 4, Page 3)
No additional information has been found about the Victory, such as its location or what became of it. It was however possibly destroyed in either of two town-wide fires that occurred in 1922 and 1926.
See also Oil City's Last Picture Show.
Dramatic Performance A 1913 article mentions stage manager C. V. Smith rejoining the Robinett Players, a touring dramatic troupe, in Oil City.
Source: Jonesboro (AR) Daily Tribune 16-Dec-1913, Page 4
While it's not known what they specifically performed during their OC appearance, an earlier article mentioned among their general repertoire was planned a production "The Shepherd Of The Hills."
Source: Jonesboro (AR) Daily Tribune 28-Nov-1913, Page 1
Did you perhaps attend when "Speed" opened at the movie theater in Oil City? Huh? What are you talking about? The "picture show" was long gone by the time the action film starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves came along in 1994. No, not that one. This Speed, starring Charles Hutchison and Lucy Fox, was a 1922 silent film serial appearing in theaters around the country, including the Victory in OC.
Serial films were a regular part movie theater entertainment in earlier times, up until around the 1950s, along with cartoons, newsreels, and of course feature films. Sometimes referred to a "cliffhangers" since the final scene of an episode may literally have a character hanging from a cliff, they were often melodramatic productions, as parodied by the cartoon Dudley Do-Right. For example, imagine a villainous Snidely Whiplash placing dear Nell in a life-threatening situation, tied on the railroad tracks. Just as the train is approaching and her demise imminent, the episode ends with a pitch to viewers to come back next week to see what happens. Of course in the first moments of the next episode, the hero (think Dudley here) gets out of his own predicament in time to make it to the scene and save his damsel-in-distress.
The Speed series plot is summarized as follows:
"Speed Stansbury (Hutchison) is heir to a large fortune. A master criminal hires someone to frame Speed for murder and bank robbery. As Speed pursues the man who can prove his innocence to South America, he himself is followed by Lucy (Durant, played by Fox), the woman he loves."
Source: Speed (serial) - Wikipedia
 |
| Charles Hutchison and Lucy Fox |
Per the article listed down below describes action by daring main character Speed that includes a fight underwater against a man-eating shark as well as a leap from an airplane wing to a moving train.
Here's an example advertisement for feature.
Source: Evansville (IN) Courier And Press 26-Jun-1923, Page 13
The film is touted to be "showing at more than 30 of the leading picture houses of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama." Among those "leading picture houses" listed is the Victory theater in Oil City.
Source: New Orleans Times Picayune 29-Oct-1922, Page 50 50 (Sec 4, Page 3)
No additional information has been found about the Victory, such as its location or what became of it. It was however possibly destroyed in either of two town-wide fires that occurred in 1922 and 1926.
See also Oil City's Last Picture Show.
Source: Jonesboro (AR) Daily Tribune 16-Dec-1913, Page 4
While it's not known what they specifically performed during their OC appearance, an earlier article mentioned among their general repertoire was planned a production "The Shepherd Of The Hills."
Source: Jonesboro (AR) Daily Tribune 28-Nov-1913, Page 1
Vaudeville Comes To Oil City Before streaming video, Netflixs, DVDs, video cassettes, HBO, cable television, network television, cinema-scope, talking pictures and radio, there was vaudeville. It was a variety show that often consisted of musical numbers, dance routines, comedy sketches, magic acts, and even dramatic performances (eg. an excerpt from a Shakespearean play).Well-known celebrities who got their start in this venue include Fred Astaire, Milton Berle, George Burns & Gracie Allen, Bob Hope, and many others.
Literally hundreds of troupes toured the country, performing in theaters or in large tents, hence the term "tent show." Per the listing appearing in the 07-Apr-1917 issue of Billboard magazine, one well-known company, Crawford's Comedians, appeared in Oil City.
While no advertisement specific to the Oil City engagement has been found, this one for the troupe's appearance in south Louisiana a few weeks earlier gives a flavor of the event.
Source: The St Martinville (LA) Weekly Messenger 06-Jan-1917
An ad from a few years earlier......
,,,,,and a few years later.
Individual acts certainly changed over the years but the core throughout was an orchestra containing members of the Crawford family as well as a relative, Dave Stump.
From a history titled The Colorful History Of Crawford's Comedians:
Their program evolved into the largest traveling tent show in the country, home to vaudevillian style acts and sketch comedy, musical interludes, dramas and contests. At the height of their popularity they even enjoyed their own train car.
By the 1930s, vaudeville was largely done. Crawford's Comedians folded as a touring company after over 30 years on the road. Long-time member Dave Stump attributed the demise to the rise of "talkies" (movies with sound).
Come One, Come All! What A Spectacle! What A Show! In addition to vaudeville, other traveling shows of the pre-electronic era included circuses and wild west shows. The best of both worlds once came to town as per the website circushistory.org, the Rhoda Royal Circus and Old Buffalo Wild West Show performed in Oil City on 29-Nov-1921. This picture is of a stock advertisement that was placed in area newspapers where the circus was to be performing.
Events began with a parade through town, and entertainment that day was likely similar to the slate below, taken from a 1922 Program:
- Tournament.
- Rose Collier and Emma Hitt, statue horses.
- Clown number.
- Garland Entry, 16 riders.
- Mrs. Royal and Al Darragh, trained elephants.
- Lorden Sisters, iron law.
- Capt. Harry Hall, trained lions.
- Revolving tables, clowns.
- Fred Collier and Mrs, Royal, 8 trick horses.
- Tom Hitt, Australian whipcracking.
- Three Harolds, comedy acrobats.
- Mrs. Royal and the Fred Colliers, trained dogs, pony, and bear.
- Clown number.
- De Leion Troupe, contortionists.
- Roy Smother and Tom Hitt, high jumping horses.
- Clown number.
- Menage act, 9 horses
- Lorden Sisters, swinging ladders.
- Feister and Ross and Nickleson and Wright, comedy revolving ladders.
- Mule acts.
- Indian Bareback Act
- Hippodrome Races
The sideshow included a mind reader, bag puncher, tattooed man, snakes, sword swallower, Punch and Judy, fire eater, magic, and roller-skating bears, plus a minstrel show of 6 people and the Turkish Theater with 8 cooch dancers.
This would have certainly been a big event in the days before television, and even radio was not widespread. One can imagine the reception the performers received in the rough-and-tumble town that was Oil City at the time; particularly the 8 (hoochie) cooch(ie) dancers. (JR's eyebrows moving up and down, slyly) (smile)
For curious and daring souls, here is a brief film of the famous cooch dancer Fatima, who also danced under the name Little Egypt, at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.
Return to Oil City Timeline.
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