WHAT ABOUT THE CLASSIC COMEDY FILMS?

Okay, okay, let’s get serious. Let’s talk about film comedies. Did you know that the first comedies filmed in Hollywood starred a dog? The Bugsy dog! Was so funny, even though the general public didn’t appreciate his witty sense of humor. The fact that movies were silent at the time was against him. Because Bugsy never was very good at slapstick. Stand-up comedy was his point of strength. When William Fox discovered him, he performed on Broadway’s variety shows. (At that time film industry was centered at the East Coast.) Bugsy was a very versatile dog. He not only improvised humorist monologues but also sang Irish ballads. And even did a lovely ventriloquist act voicing a shy young woman sitting in a chair. Who would have guessed that this shy woman would become in a few years Fox’s studios biggest star Theda Bara! In fact it was her sidekick Bugsy who recommended her to Fox.