The silent screen was full of animal stars. The lack of sound made it easy to instruct the bestial Barrymores and put them through their paces in front of the camera. Launched in 1923, Hal Roach’s Dippy-Doo-Dad Comedies was possibly the first series to create its own all-animal alternative universe. Monkeys, ducks, dogs, chickens, goats, and guinea pigs made up the rotating casts of the films, complete with amazingly detailed miniature sets and costumes. Love’s Reward combines an unrequited love story with a hotel jewellery heist, and throws in a hotel detective duck who considers himself a master of disguise. What gives these one-reelers their surreal edge is the deadpan seriousness of the clichéd stories, paired with the elaborate nature of production. An entire little Dippy-DooDad town was built with running streetcars and automobiles. Hal Roach’s novel idea lasted for 13 instalments. Having run their course, the Dippy-Doo-Dads were discontinued in 1924.

Steve Massa