THE RENT COLLECTOR
T. it.: Ridolini esattore. Scen.: Larry Semon, Norman Taurog. Int.: Larry Semon (Larry, l’esattore), Norma Nichols (direttore dell’ufficio), Oliver ‘Babe’ Hardy (il boss), Eva Thatcher (la padrona di casa), Pete Gordon (il barbiere), Frank Alexander (un malvivente). Prod.: Albert E. Smith, Larry Semon per Larry Semon Productions. DCP. Bn.
Film Notes
Soon after having been fired by Jimmy Aubrey and a few weeks after having been the villain in the Stan Laurel comedy The Lucky Dog (their first meeting), Oliver Hardy joined Larry Semon as his main support. The Rent Collector is Babe’s first work as a permanent member of Semon’s unit. Hardy always needed a co-star, and Semon was one in a long series. A top comedy star at the time working full time for Vitagraph, Semon had a unique style based on stunts and set-destruction comedy – not very sophisticated, but mighty popular with the audiences of the day. In 1921, he was at the peak of his career.
Long considered a lost film, The Rent Collector was showed for the first time in Bologna in 1989 in what was believed the only surviving print. This 2020 2K restoration produced by Lobster Films in association with the Library of Congress includes nitrate material from Paris, Valencia, Bologna, Washington and even a few 16mm shots from a French sound re-release.
Serge Bromberg