Happy Hooligan

SUMMARY
Opens on a stage set of a house exterior, complete with a door, window, and ivy on the walls. In front of the house, an organ-grinder plays as Happy Hooligan listens and claps along merrily. The Hooligan character is dressed as a tramp in a ragged and torn suit, and sports a bald pate with an incredibly tiny hat perched atop it. A middle-aged woman appears in the house window and yells down to the musician to stop. Encouraged by Hooligan, however, the organ-grinder continues as the woman grows increasingly upset and Hooligan pokes fun at her. As she leaves the window, the tramp suddenly warns off the organ-grinder, pushing the street musician offstage. From the other side of the stage enters an angry policeman, who grabs Hooligan by the throat, shaking and yelling at him. The woman reappears in the window with a pail of water, which she mistakenly throws on the policeman. When she sees the officer sputtering on the ground, she faints against the window frame. As Hooligan laughs heartily, the policeman gets up and storms inside the house.

From Biograph bulletin no. 55: An organ-grinder is playing beneath the window of a cranky old woman. She objects strenuously. The organ-grinder, egged on by Hooligan, keeps on playing until a policeman appears. The organ man runs away, but Hooligan stops to explain. In the meantime, the old lady comes to the window with a pail of water and ducks the policeman. Hooligan, of course, gets all the blame and is carried off to jail. Excellent comedy. 47 feet. Class B.

CREATED/PUBLISHED
United States: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1903.

NOTES
Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 20June1903; H33025.

Camera, G.W. "Billy" Bitzer.

Filmed June 15, 1903, in the Biograph New York City studio.

SUBJECTS
Happy Hooligan (Fictitious character)--Drama.
Tramps--United States--Drama.
Organ grinders--United States--Drama.
Police--United States--Drama.
Housewives--United States--Drama.
Silent films.
Slapstick comedies.
Vaudeville.
Shorts.

RELATED NAMES
Bitzer, G. W., 1872-1944, camera.
American Mutoscope and Biograph Company.
Paper Print 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
• comedy
• vaudeville