Animal Act with Baboon, Dog, and Monkey from Spanuth's Original Vod-A-Vil Movies

SUMMARY
Opens on a closeup of a baboon "playing" a violin, then cuts to a medium shot of the same. The baboon wears a white short-sleeved shirt with a loose bow tie and tweed pants. Cuts to a closeup of the baboon in a circular mask or iris effect, without the violin but with a collar around his neck and a striped kitten that he places on his shoulder. Another iris effect opens to a long shot of a stage with a painted backdrop of a river. Standing at stage left is a woman in a spangled, sleeveless dress to the knee and high laced boots, holding the leash of a dark donkey. The baboon stands center stage, near a man in a white animal trainer suit with dark piping and a white cap. On a chair stage right sits a black and white spotted dog. A series of cuts show the baboon performing various tricks, including roller-skating in a circle around the man, doing a walking handstand, circling the stage atop a large ball, and riding the ball down a ramp with the kitten in his arms. The dog then creates figure-eights through the woman's legs as she walks, and jumps a rope held by the woman and baboon. Cuts to the baboon riding a bicycle in a circle around the man. Cuts to the baboon leading the donkey onstage, and then to the donkey apparently play-biting and kicking two men. The gag of the men trying to mount the donkey--only to be bitten, kicked, or thrown off--is repeated, with one intertitle: "A 100% kick." Ends after the baboon jumps on one man.

CREATED/PUBLISHED
United States: [Commonwealth Pictures Corp., 1919 or 1920?]

NOTES
Copyright: reg. unknown.

No copyright registration or production and distribution information could be found for such an act, but the film appears to be an uncopyrighted Spanuth's original vod-a-vil movie given the similarities in camera technique to identified Spanuths.

Unlike other suspected Spanuths, this film has no opening titles; supplied title taken from M/B/RS shelflist card.

SUBJECTS
Circus animals--United States.
Baboons--United States.
Donkeys--Behavior--United States.
Dogs--United States.
Silent films.
Vaudeville.
Animal films and programs.
Shorts.

RELATED NAMES
Spanuth, Hans A., production.
Commonwealth Pictures Corporation.
AFI/Zouary (Maurice) Collection (Library of Congress)

DIGITAL ID
(m) varsmp http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/varstg:@field(NUMBER+@band(varsmp...))

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• library
• congress
• silent
• Circus
• animals
• Baboons
• Donkeys
• Dogs
• Vaudeville