1924 silent film comedy where James Finlayson plays the part of a United States Postal Inspector.
With Stan Laurel, Ena Gregory and George Rowe. Hal Roach comedy two-reeler. Directed by George Jeske. Distributed by Pathé. Released 17 Feb 1924.
Sources: Motion Picture News Booking Guide, Vol. VI, April 1924, p. 83; ‘Postage Due’ – Pathe, Exhibitor’s Trade Review, 16 Feb 1924, p. 32; ‘Postage Due’ (Pathe – Two Reels), Motion Picture News, 16 Feb 1924, p. 756.
With Stan Laurel and Katherine Grant. Hal Roach comedy one-reeler. Directed by George Jeske. Distributed by Pathé. Released 16 Sep 1923.
A conductor tells Stan Laurel to follow a girl to be sure of transferring to the right car. Stan follows the wrong lady, who leads him into a lot of trouble. He is taken for a shoplifter but manages to evade the police. When he imagines he has at last caught the right car, he finds himself on the police wagon. This single-reeler is satisfactory entertainment.
Source: Exhibitor’s Trade Review, 15 Sep 1923, p. 716.
With Stan Laurel and Ena Gregory. Hal Roach comedy two-reeler. Directed by Ralph Ceder. Distributed by Pathé. Released 11 May 1924.
Sources: Motion Picture News Vol. XXX No. 17 Booking Guide Section, 25 Oct 1924, p. 69; The Film Daily, 4 May 1924, p. 12; Moving Picture World, 10 May 1924, p. 226.
1923 silent film comedy with James Finlayson as the foreman in a coal mine.
With Stan Laurel and Katherine Grant. All three main characters essentially reprise their roles from THE NOON WHISTLE. Hal Roach one-reeler. Directed by George Jeske. Distributed by Pathé. Released 17 Jun 1923.
1923 silent film comedy with James Finlayson as T. O’Hallahan, the foreman in a sawmill.
With Stan Laurel and Katherine Grant. Hal Roach comedy one-reeler. Directed by George Jeske. Distributed by Pathé. Released 29 Apr 1923.
Notable as the first Hal Roach film to feature Stan Laurel as a star.
1923 silent film comedy where James Finlayson plays the part of the hard-hearted landlord. Watch James fall through the ice at the end of the YouTube clip below.
Starring Snub Pollard with Marie Mosquini. A Hal Roach comedy two-reeler, the film parodied the 1922 documentary NANOOK OF THE NORTH. Directed by Charley Chase. Distributed by Pathé. Released 4 Feb 1923.
Sources: Motion Picture News, 3 Feb 1923; The Film Daily, 23 Jan 1923; The Charley Chase Filmography, The World of Charley Chase.
1923 silent film comedy with James Finlayson as ‘Lieut. Hans Downe’.
Starring Stan Laurel as ‘Prof. Stanislaus Laurello’ and also briefly featuring Katherine Grant as ‘Mrs. Laurello’. Directed by Ralph Ceder. Produced by Hal Roach. Released 30 Sep 1923.
The film was a burlesque of the jungle adventure documentaries by Martin and Osa Johnson (e.g. 1921’s TRAILING AFRICAN WILD ANIMALS) and H.A. Snow (e.g. 1922’s HUNTING BIG GAME IN AFRICA WITH GUN AND CAMERA). It was the first in a series of such spoofs partnering James with Stan, the second being FROZEN HEARTS and the third being THE SOILERS.
1924 silent film comedy with James Finlayson as ‘McGregor’s son’.
Starring Stan Laurel. Directed by George Jeske. Produced by Hal Roach. Distributed by Pathé. Released 3 Aug 1924.
You’d have thought they’d cast someone older to play his father – or got him to wear a wig!
1926 silent film comedy with James Finlayson as the butler ‘Simpson Sniffle’.
Starring Mabel Normand. Directed by Richard Wallace in collaboration with Stan Laurel (under F. Richard Jones supervision). Produced by Hal Roach.
1923 silent film comedy with James Finlayson as Sylvester Finkelbuster, Chief of Police, aka ‘The Man Who WAS Sold’.
Starring Snub Pollard. Directed by Charles Parrott (aka Charley Chase). Produced by Hal Roach. Distributed by Pathé. Released 27 May 1923.
Source: Motion Picture News, 26 May 1923.
Larbert Loon 