MACK "THE KING OF COMEDY" SENNETT - AUTOGRAPHED INSCRIBED PHOTOGRAPH - HFSID 32791

MACK SENNETT
The director and producer inscribes this photo to a fan
Inscribed Photograph signed: "To 'Clark'/ Mack Sennett." in blue ink, b/w, 10x8. A scene from The Lonely Villa, filmed at Manhattan's Biograph Studios, directed by D.W. Griffith, from a scenario by Mack Sennett. Pictured: Mary Pickford, Marion Leonard, and Adele De Garde. Sennett began acting for Griffith in 1908, writing scripts in 1909, and directing in 1910. This photograph was copied from The Museum of Modern Art Film Library. MACK SENNETT (1880-1960), popularly known as the "Father of Slapstick Comedy", was the creator of the Keystone Kops. Sennett directed or produced over 1000 comedy shorts between 1909 and 1933. Sennett's films usually featured bathing beauties, custard pies, and the Keystone Kops. The Kops (sometimes spelled Cops) invented the hilarious archetype of the bumbling police force that proved their incompetence in nearly every episode. The actors who portrayed the officers changed with every short, although some comedians such as Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Al St. John worked with Sennett many times. Many famous comedians of the time period appeared as Keystone Kops, including Ford Sterling, Del Lord (director of many Three Stooges films), and Charlie Chaplin. His 1914 film Tillie's Punctured Romance was the first American feature-length comedy. It featured Chaplin as well as Mabel Normand.Adequate contrast. Otherwise, fine condition.