Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett
"The more Keystone Comedies I make, the more convinced I become that comedy is an art, and a high one at that."
Mack Sennett
Birth name:
Michael Sinnott
Born:
17th January 1880, Danville, Richmond County, Quebec, Canada
Died:
5th November 1960, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA
Years active:
1908 - 1935
Ask any film buff to visualise a moment from silent slapstick comedy that doesn’t feature Chaplin, Keaton or Lloyd and chances are they’ll think of a scene created by Mack Sennett. The hapless Keystone Kops, perhaps, hanging onto each other’s coattails after tumbling from their vehicle. Or maybe the roly-poly comic Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle, shyly wooing winsome Mabel Normand between trading blows with Al St. John. They might even picture his famous Bathing Beauties frolicking on some long-ago beach. The Canadian-born producer appeared in over fifty of his own comedies, but few people would recognise the man who played such an immense part in shaping early screen comedy.
Early life and entry into show business
Michael Sinnott was born on 17th January 1880 in Danville, a logging town in the county of Richmond in Quebec, Canada. His father earned enough from farming to open a hotel in the town of Richmond, and it was there that his son, the oldest of four siblings, grew up. Although the hotel business was not lucrative, Sennett’s parents ensured that he and his brothers received a good education. When he was sixteen, they enrolled him at the Institut Française Evangelique at Point-aux-Trembles, one of the most advanced schools in Quebec. However, their tenure there was brief. John Sinnott, disillusioned with the hotel business, decided, against his wife’s wishes, that the family’s future lay across the border in America.
The family moved to the steelmaking town of East Berlin, Connecticut, in 1897. There, Sennett and his brothers found work at the American Iron Works Company while the family provided bed and board to ten lodgers, one of whom taught Sennett to sing. Again, their stay was brief. Before long, they had moved to Northampton, Massachusetts, where Sennett worked at a pulp mill.
By then, what he really wanted to do was sing. Legend has it he nursed an ambition to sing at the New York Metropolitan Opera, an ambition his mother shared for him, although his father was dismissive. Sennett recalled that around 1901, the actress Marie Dressler performed in Northampton in a show called Lady Slavey. His mother obtained a letter of introduction for her son from the future US President Calvin Coolidge, who was then practicing law in the town. The actress wrote a second letter of introduction, this one addressed to theatrical impresario David Belasco. In New York, Belasco gently suggested to the lanky twenty-one-year-old that he begin his journey to the Metropolitan Opera in vaudeville. It was around this time that Michael Sinnott changed his name to Mack Sennett.
Details of Sennett’s early years in New York are vague at best. He enjoyed telling people his first role on stage was as the hind legs of a horse, followed by a stint as a singer with a Baptist choir. But Sennett was a renowned storyteller who preferred to create myths rather than provide verifiable facts. He achieved his only published credit as an actor on the Broadway stage in 1907 in the show The Boys of Company B. A year later, no doubt discouraged by his lack of progress on the stage, he tried his luck in the flickers. Back then, stage actors still looked down on movies. Only the truly desperate stooped so low.
Biograph and an apprenticeship in film
Sennett arrived at Biograph at approximately the same time as D. W. Griffith, another titan of the silent era. He later acknowledged that everything he knew about motion pictures, he learned from Griffith, who swiftly became Biograph’s chief director, despite joining as an actor: ‘He was my day school, my adult education program, my university.’
Sennett appeared in many one-reelers for Biograph, appearing opposite stars like Mary Pickford, Florence Lawrence, and Mabel Normand. However, he found something ludicrous about silent drama and felt that the movies were a perfect medium for slapstick comedy. He was a great fan of the slapstick comedies churned out by Pathe in the early 1900s, saying, ‘It was the Frenchmen who invented slapstick and I imitated them.’
In 1909, Sennett, directed by Griffith, appeared in his first comedy, The Curtain Pole. He followed it up, playing the same character, M. Dupont, in Those Awful Hats, a comedy inspired by the genuine problem of ladies’ hats blocking other audience members’ view of a cinema screen.
By 1911, demand for movies was becoming so great that Griffith had to delegate directing duties. As comedy was among his least favourite genres, he handed that task to Sennett. His first film as a director for the studio was Comrades (1911), starring himself and fellow Canadian Del Henderson. In the summer of 1911, he was joined by Fred Mace, an old friend who would become an early mainstay of the Keystone Company. In March 1912, the two men appeared opposite Mabel Normand in A Spanish Dilemma. As well as becoming frequent collaborators, Sennett and Normand would engage in a tempestuous affair that would end with the actress’s alleged suicide attempt in 1916.
The success of Sennett’s comedies caught the attention of Adam Kessel and Charles Baumann, chief executives of the New York Motion Picture Company. In 1912, they invited him to start a new production unit, the Keystone Company. This new company would eventually become part of Triangle, a prestigious triumvirate completed by units headed by Thomas H. Ince and D. W. Griffith when the NYMPC became part of the Aitken brothers’ Mutual Corporation. In August 1912, Sennett travelled to Los Angeles with Normand to produce pictures for the new company. The Keystone Film Company was based in Edendale and began shooting straight away. The first films produced, released on a split-reel, were The Water Nymph (1912) and Cohen Collects a Debt (1912). They were the first of a constant stream of comedies to pour forth from the studio throughout the silent era.
By the end of 1913, Keystone had released over 140 one-or two-reel comedies. All shared the frantic chases, physical gags, and anarchic violence that would earn Sennett a reputation as the movies’ King of Comedy. All featured a stock company of comic characters: the small-town rube, the sneering, moustachioed villain, hapless authority figures, and bathing belles.
Ben Turpin and Marie Prevost in A Small Town Idol (1921)
Discovery and development of stars
As well as his prolific output, Sennett introduced several beloved silent comedians to the screen. Those who worked under him in the early stages of their screen careers include Charlie Chaplin, Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, Gloria Swanson, Harry Langdon and Bing Crosby.
Chaplin joined Keystone in late 1913, and it was while there that he developed his Little Tramp persona. Sennett supervised or directed over thirty of Chaplin’s films during his one-year stay at the studio. However, the Englishman, who later in his career took years to produce his pictures, disliked Sennett’s hectic, production-line style of filmmaking. As soon as his contract was up, he moved to Essanay. His career had flourished under Sennett, however, as did those of all his leading stars.
Although Sennett worked primarily in short form, in 1914 he produced the world’s first feature-length slapstick comedy. Tillie’s Punctured Romance (1914) teamed Chaplin and Normand with the hugely popular stage comedienne Marie Dressler. The film was an enormous success, proving that slapstick could sustain a longer narrative structure.
In 1917, with its parent company in crisis, Sennett left Keystone. He formed his own independent company, Mack Sennett Comedies, releasing one picture through Paramount every two weeks. He took with him a stable of stars: Ford Sterling, Chester Conklin, Bobby Dunn, Mack Swain, Charles Murray. By then, Mabel Normand had left after finding Sennett in a compromising situation with actress Mae Busch shortly after the unofficial announcement of their engagement. A new signing for Sennett was the cockeyed comedian Ben Turpin, who had risen to prominence opposite Chaplin at Essanay.
Sennett continued producing films into the 1920s, although at a vastly reduced rate. Normand returned briefly with the feature-length Molly O’ (1921). It was a hit, but press speculation that she murdered her close friend, director William Desmond Taylor, fatally derailed her career. Ben Turpin became one of his most reliable stars, starring in a series of films with Billy Bevan. Harry Langdon was another popular find of Sennett’s. By the mid-1920s, however, he faced stiff competition from Hal Roach, another mogul of silent movie comedy, who produced, among other hits, the wildly successful ‘Our Gang’ series. In 1925, Roach lured Sennett’s premier director F. Richard Jones to his studio.
The Extra Girl (1924), another attempt to relaunch Normand’s career, performed well at the box office despite mixed reviews. However, another scandal, in which Normand’s chauffeur shot her friend, Courtland S. Dines, resulted in many states pulling the film.
Talking pictures and career decline
1928 saw Sennett refitting his studio for sound, an industry development that provided myriad challenges for directors and producers of all genres. However, the stock market crash of 1929 hit him hard. Although it wiped out much of his fortune, he remained solvent. He was vulnerable, however. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, he increased production in the early 1930s. Quality suffered, however. Slashed budgets meant he had to work with lesser talents. To add to his woes, Mabel Normand, with whom his life had been inextricably linked for two decades, died of tuberculosis in a sanatorium in February 1930. One rare high point was that his documentary film Wrestling Swordfish (1931) won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Novelty in 1932.
However, the dawn of the ‘30s marked the start of Sennett’s decline as a movie producer. Public tastes had changed. They had turned away from his brand of frantic slapstick humour. He enjoyed a brief renaissance after resigning with Paramount, producing short comedies starring new talents Bing Crosby and W. C. Fields, but was declared bankrupt in late 1933. One of his last films, The Timid Young Man (1935), marked his only collaboration with Buster Keaton, another silent great whose career was then also in terminal decline.
The receivers sold Sennett’s studio to the Poverty Row outfit, Mascot Pictures. He returned to Richmond County, living with his 88-year-old mother until her death in September 1936. The following year, he received an honorary Oscar ‘for his lasting contribution to the comedy technique of the screen, the basic principles of which are as important today as when they were first put into practice’.
Rumours occasionally surfaced that the onetime ‘King of Comedy’ was to stage a comeback, but, apart from a few cameo and TV appearances, nothing materialised. A newspaper article in 1959 reported that Sennett lived ‘in a small apartment overlooking a gasoline station… in near poverty.’ The following year, too frail to care for himself, he moved to the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills. There he regaled fellow residents with stories of the old days.
Sennett died of a coronary thrombosis following unsuccessful surgery at 2.45am on 5th November 1960. Mourners at his funeral included Louise Fazenda, Hank Mann, Chester Conklin and Frank Capra.
Sources: Keystone, the Life and Clowns of Mack Sennett, Simon Louvish; Mack Sennett's Keystone: The Man, the Myth and the Comedies, Kalton C. Lahue; Mack Sennett's Fun Factory: A History and Filmography of His Studio, Brent E. Walker.
Mack Sennett Filmography
Old Isaacs, the Pawnbroker (a) (1908), The King's Messenger (a) (1908), The Sculptor's Nightmare (a) (1908), Thompson's Night Out (a) (1908), The Invisible Fluid (a) (1908), The Man in the Box (a) (1908), Over the Hills to the Poorhouse (a) (1908), The Kentuckian (a) (1908), The Stage Rustler (a) (1908), The Black Viper (a) (1908), Deceived Slumming Party (a) (1908), The Fatal Hour (a) (1908), Betrayed by a Handprint (a) (1908), Monday Morning in a Coney Island Police Court (a) (1908), The Girl and the Outlaw (a) (1908), Behind the Scenes (a) (1908), The Red Girl (a) (1908), The Heart of O Yama (a) (1908), Where the Breakers Roar (a) (1908), A Smoked Husband (a) (1908), The Devil (a) (1908), Father Gets in the Game (a) (1908), The Barbarian – Ingomar (a) (1908), The Vaquero's Vow (a) (1908), Romance of a Jewess (a) (1908), The Call of the Wild (a) (1908), Concealing a Burglar (a) (1908), After Many Years (a) (1908), The Pirate's Gold (a) (1908), The Taming of the Shrew (a) (1908), The Guerrilla (a) (1908), The Song of the Shirt (a) (1908), Money Mad (a) (1908), The Clubman and the Tramp (a) (1908), The Valet's Wife (a) (1908), The Feud and the Turkey (a) (1908), The Reckoning (a) (1908), The Test of Friendship (a) (1908), An Awful Moment (a) (1908), The Christmas Burglars (a) (1908), Mr. Jones at the Ball (a) (1908), The Helping Hand (a) (1908).
One Touch of Nature (a) (1909), The Maniac Cook (a) (1909), The Honor of Thieves (a) (1909), Love Finds a Way (a) (1909), A Rural Elopement (a) (1909), The Sacrifice (a) (1909), The Criminal Hypnotist (a) (1909), Mr. Jones Has a Card Party (a) (1909), The Fascinating Mrs. Francis (a) (1909), The Welcome Burglar (a) (1909), Those Awful Hats (a) (1909), The Cord of Life (a) (1909), The Girls and Daddy (a) (1909), The Brahma Diamond (a) (1909), A Wreath in Time (a) (1909), Tragic Love (a) (1909), The Curtain Pole (a) (1909), The Joneses Have Amateur Theatricals (a) (1909), The Politician's Love Story (a) (1909), The Golden Louis (a) (1909), At the Altar (a) (1909), His Wife's Mother (a) (1909), The Prussian Spy (a) (1909), A Fool's Revenge (a) (1909), The Roue's Heart (a) (1909), The Wooden Leg (a) (1909), The Salvation Army Lass (a) (1909), The Lure of the Gown (a) (1909), The Voice of the Violin (a) (1909), The Deception (a) (1909), And a Little Child Shall Lead Them (a) (1909), A Burglar's Mistake (a) (1909), The Medicine Bottle (a) (1909), Jones and His New Neighbors (a) (1909), A Drunkard's Reformation (a) (1909), The Road to the Heart (a) (1909), Trying to Get Arrested (a) (1909), A Rude Hostess (a) (1909), The Winning Coat (a) (1909), A Sound Sleeper (a) (1909), Confidence (a) (1909), Lady Helen's Escapade (a) (1909), A Troublesome Satchel (a) (1909), Lucky Jim (a) (1909), Tis an Ill Wind That Blows No Good (a) (1909), The Suicide Club (a) (1909), A Note in the Shoe (a) (1909), One Busy Hour (a) (1909), Jones and the Lady Book Agent (a) (1909), The French Duel (a) (1909), A Baby's Shoe (a) (1909), The Jilt (a) (1909), Resurrection (a) (1909), Eloping with Auntie (a) (1909), Two Memories (a) (1909), The Cricket on the Hearth (a) (1909), What Drink Did (a) (1909), The Violin Maker of Cremona (a) (1909), The Lonely Villa (co-w,a) (1909), A New Trick (a) (1909), The Son's Return (a) (1909), Her First Biscuits (a) (1909), The Faded Lilies (a) (1909), Was Justice Served? (a) (1909), The Peachbasket Hat (a) (1909), The Mexican Sweethearts (a) (1909), The Way of Man (a) (1909), The Necklace (a) (1909), The Message (a) (1909), The Cardinal's Conspiracy (a) (1909), Jealousy and the Man (a) (1909), A Convict's Sacrifice (a) (1909), The Slave (a) (1909), A Strange Meeting (a) (1909), The Mended Lute (a) (1909), They Would Elope (a) (1909), Jones' Burglar (a) (1909), The Better Way (a) (1909), With Her Card (a) (1909), His Wife's Visitor (a) (1909), The Indian Runner's Romance (a) (1909), The Seventh Day (a) (1909), The Mills of the Gods (a) (1909), The Heart of an Outlaw (a) (1909), The Sealed Room (a) (1909), The Little Darling (a) (1909), 1776, or The Hessian Renegades (a) (1909), Getting Even (a) (1909), The Broken Locket (a) (1909), In Old Kentucky (a) (1909), A Fair Exchange (a) (1909), Leather Stocking (a) (1909), The Awakening (a) (1909), Pippa Passes; or, the Song of Conscience (a) (1909), A Change of Heart (a) (1909), His Lost Love (a) (1909), The Expiation (a) (1909), In the Watches of the Night (a) (1909), Lines of White on a Sullen Sea (a) (1909), The Gibson Goddess (a) (1909), What's Your Hurry? (a) (1909), Nursing a Viper (a) (1909), The Light That Came (a) (1909), Two Women and a Man (a) (1909), A Midnight Adventure (a) (1909), The Open Gate (a) (1909), The Mountaineer's Honor (a) (1909), The Trick That Failed (a) (1909), Through the Breakers (a) (1909), The Redman's View (a) (1909), A Corner in Wheat (a) (1909), In a Hempen Bag (a) (1909), A Trap for Santa Claus (a) (1909), In Little Italy (a) (1909), To Save Her Soul (a) (1909), The Day After (a) (1909), Choosing a Husband (a) (1909).
The Dancing Girl of Butte (a) (1910), All on Account of the Milk (a) (1910), The Call (a) (1910), The Last Deal (a) (1910), The Cloister's Touch (a) (1910), The Woman from Mellon's (a) (1910), One Night, and Then -- (a) (1910), The Englishman and the Girl (a) (1910), Taming a Husband (a) (1910), The Newlyweds (a) (1910), The Thread of Destiny (a) (1910), In Old California (a) (1910), The Converts (a) (1910), The Love of Lady Irma (a) (1910), Faithful (a) (1910), The Twisted Trail (a) (1910), Gold Is Not All (a) (1910), As It Is in Life (a) (1910), A Rich Revenge (a) (1910), The Way of the World (a) (1910), Up a Tree (a) (1910), The Gold Seekers (1910), The Two Brothers (a) (1910), An Affair of Hearts (a) (1910), Ramona (a) (1910), A Knot in the Plot (a) (1910), In the Season of Buds (a) (1910), A Victim of Jealousy (a) (1910), The Face at the Window (a) (1910), Never Again (a) (1910), The Marked Time-Table (a) (1910), A Child's Impulse (a) (1910), The Purgation (a) (1910), A Midnight Cupid (a) (1910), A Child's Faith (a) (1910), A Flash of Light (a) (1910), As the Bells Rang Out! (a) (1910), Serious Sixteen (a) (1910), The Call to Arms (a) (1910), An Arcadian Maid (a) (1910), Her Father's Pride (a) (1910), The Usurer (a) (1910), When We Were in Our Teens (a) (1910), Wilful Peggy (a) (1910), The Affair of an Egg (a) (1910), A Summer Tragedy (a) (1910), A Gold Necklace (a) (1910), A Lucky Toothache (a) (1910), The Broken Doll (a) (1910), The Passing of a Grouch (a) (1910), Love in Quarantine (a) (1910), Not So Bad as It Seemed (a) (1910), Effecting a Cure (a) (1910), Happy Jack, a Hero (a) (1910), His Wife's Sweethearts (a) (1910), His Trust (a) (1910).