MACK "THE KING OF COMEDY" SENNETT - CONTRACT SIGNED 10/06/1947 - HFSID 274942

"THE FATHER OF SLAPSTICK COMEDY" CONTRACTS WITH THE WILLIAM MORRIS AGENCY TO NEGOTIATE FOR THE "SALE, LEASE, LICENSE OR OTHER DISPOSITION OF" FATHER GOOSE, A WORK BASED ON HIS LIFE
 


MACK SENNETT
The director engages the help of the William Morris Agency in selling Father Goose
Partly Printed Document signed: "Mack Sennett" 2p (front and verso), 8½x13. Beverly Hills, California, 1947 October 6. Signed on verso of a William Morris Agency form, Inc. regarding Sennett engaging the agency for a term of one year and ownership of Father Goose, a work that was based on Sennett's life. In part: "I hereby employ you for a term of one year commencing on September 30, 1947 to render your services as my sole and exclusive agent in negotiating or assisting in negotiating for the sale, lease, license or other disposition of...The specific property...described as follows: 'FATHER GOOSE' by Gene Fowler". Also signed by a representative of the William Morris Agency, Inc. and initialed: "M.S." and "AR" on slip of paper attached to the document. In full: "I represent and warrant that I am the owner of all rights in and to said story (which is based upon my life) excepting the publication rights in and to the same, pursuant to an agreement dated April [blank], 1934, between Gene Fowler and the undersigned." Fowler was the author of Father Goose (1934). This document does not refer to the 1964 film of the same name. Canadian-born Mack Sennett (1880-1960), born Michael Sinnott, the "Father of Slapstick Comedy", was the creator of the Keystone Kops. He 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. Lightly creased with folds, not at signatures or initials. Minor show through of print on verso. Staple and file holes at upper blank margin. Paper clip rust stains at blank margins, pinhead-sized red stain touches two words of type (all legible). Ink initials (unknown hand) at lower left-hand corner. Otherwise, fine condition.