The Adventures of Shorty
The Adventures of Shorty is the name of a 1914 Western short film featuring Shorty Hamilton, and the general name for the series of similar short films it started.
| The Adventures of Shorty | |
|---|---|
 Shorty in the Tiger's Den (1917) | |
| Directed by | Francis Ford, Scott Sidney |
| Produced by | Broncho Film Company |
| Distributed by | Mutual Film |
Release date | March 18, 1914 |
Running time | 2 reels |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent |
More than 30 two-reel "Shorty" titles were released between 1914 and 1917.[1][2] All featured Hamilton as the "Shorty" character, a cowboy with a trained horse—his "remarkably intelligent horse, Beauty."[3]
The films were initially produced by Thomas H. Ince, many were written by the veteran screenwriter C. Gardner Sullivan.[4] The 1915 "Shorty's Ranch" was the last entry from the original producers, and after a year the series was revived by Monogram Pictures in January 1917. Directors in the series included Francis Ford and Jay Hunt. Aside from the trained horse, Hamilton's co-stars in the "Shorty" pictures included Enid Markey, Betty Burbridge, and Charles Ray.
The films placed "Shorty" into a series of improbable comic adventures: inheriting a harem, posing as a judge, joining the Secret Service, going to college, and confronting a wide range of characters including loan sharks, ghosts, and moonshiners.
In March 1917, a newspaper reviewer of the latest "Shorty" film wrote the following about Hamilton:
Shorty Hamilton is a fascinating little chap who makes you want to clasp him by the hand and call him friend. He is a gifted actor who can make you laugh or lift you to the extreme pinnacle of nervous anticipation in the same breath. He never over-does anything and his extreme naturalness is refreshing. 'Shorty in the Tiger's Den,' is with us today and you will shake with laughter as Shorty tries to ride a motorcycle, which proves more uncontrollable to Shorty than a bucking pony.[5]
Episode list
- The Adventures of Shorty (1914)
- Shorty's Sacrifice (1914)
- Shorty Escapes Marriage (1914)
- Shorty's Strategy (1914)
- Shorty's Trip to Mexico (1914)
- Shorty Gets Into Trouble (1914)
- Shorty Turns Judge (1914)
- Shorty and the Aridville Terror (1914)
- Shorty and the Fortune Teller (1914)
- Shorty and Sherlock Holmes (1914)
- Shorty Falls Into a Title (1914)
- Shorty's Adventures in the City (1915)
- Shorty's Secret (1915)
- Shorty Among the Cannibals (1915)
- Shorty's Troubled Sleep (1915)
- Shorty Turns Actor (1915)
- Shorty Inherits a Harem (1915)
- Shorty's Ranch (1915)
- Shorty and the Yellow Ring (1917)
- Shorty in the Tiger's Den (1917)
- Shorty Goes to College (1917)
- Shorty Joins the Secret Service (1917)
- Shorty Turns Wild Man (1917)
- Shorty Promotes His Love Affair (1917)
- Shorty Hooks a Loan Shark (1917)
- Shorty Traps a Lottery King (1917)
- Shorty Bags the Bullion Thieves (1917)
- Shorty Trails the Moonshiners (1917)
- Shorty Lands a Master Crook (1917)
- Shorty Solves a Wireless Mystery (1917)
- Shorty Reduces the High Cost of Living (1917)
- Shorty Lays a Jungle Ghost (1917)
- Shorty Unearths a Tartar (1917)
References
- "Shorty Hamilton Series: Mutual is to Release Two-Reel Comedy Dramas". Los Angeles Times. 1917-01-21.
- "Recipe for Speed: Monogram Company Director Finds Doubling up on Same Story Is Effective in the Shorty Hamilton Pictures". Los Angeles Times. 1917-02-04.
- ""Shorty" Hamilton: New Series of Pictures at Colonial Today". Fort Wayne News. 1917-03-22.
- "Latest Shorty Story: Feature Picture at Bijou Theatre For the Remainder of the Week". Newport Daily News. 1914-11-20. ("The feature picture at the Bijou Theatre for the remainder of the week is the Broncho two-reel film, 'Shorty and Sherlock Holmes,' the latest release of the well known Shorty stories by C. Gardner Sullivan and Thomas H. Ince.")
- "Shorty Hamilton: He's at the Colonial in "Shorty in the Tiger's Den"". Fort Wayne News. 1917-03-29.