User Reviews

Most people today never have heard of him, but over 100 years ago the name John Bunny would automatically be recognizable since he was the most famous film performer in movies at the time. From 1910-1915, Bunny, a former successful actor of the stage, felt being employed in the movie industry would guarantee steadier work than being in the theater.

His hunch proved correct. Bunny sought an acting job with The Vitagraph Studios, but the studio manager told him the company couldn't afford his salary. The highly paid stage actor said he was willing to get paid less than in the theater, which didn't provide a steady income. Vitagraph hired him, a studio where Bunny eventually made over 150 movies.

He specialized in domestic comedies rather than slapstick, which was highly popular at that time. Bunny was often teamed up with comedian Flora Finch. The couple became so famous acting together the press would label their comedies "Bunnyfinches." Despite their personas on the screen exuding warmth, Bunny and Finch's relationship off the set was one where "they cordially hated each other."

Bunny's career in film was brief. He died from Bright's disease on April 26, 1915, at the age of 51. He has a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame on 1715 Vine Street.

One of his best films with Finch is September 1911's "Her Crowning Glory." Bunny plays a widower with a rambunctious child. He hires Finch as a governess to take care of his daughter. The five-year-older, played by Helene Costello, steals the show with her adorable, yet wild personality. Helene was the real daughter of the women playing the nurse in this film, Mae Costello. Helene had quite a career in silent movies, so much so that Lou Costello, the comedian whose real name was Louis Francis Cristillo, changed his last name to Costello because he liked the last name of Helene. She was one of many silent movie actresses who didn't make the transition to sound film.

This film will most likely NOT change you into a fan of early films or the once-famous actor, John Bunny, who stars in this film. However, when the film was made, it was a pretty good picture and his fans loved it. Nowadays, you might be bored by the overly simple plot, but for 1911 it was actually pretty good in this regard also--with some slapstick humor and an "evil stepmother" theme that was pretty popular in its day.

Mr. Bunny (he's not a rabbit--that's his real name) is a rich widower who has an obnoxious little daughter who he dotes over continually. However, he is advised my his aunt that the child needs more discipline in the form of a strict governess. He agrees and is sexually fixated on the nasty governess' hair--so much so that he not only ignores how mean she is but asks her to marry him! This plot line isn't very believable and when seen today, this is a bit hard to take. However, the marriage is averted when a housekeeper takes action--convincing the brat to cut off the nasty governess' hair while she is sleeping. Since Mr. Bunny only loved the lady for her hair, the wedding is off and the man and child live happily ever after! A strange plot, I know, but a lot of fun to watch--especially when the hair is whacked off and the old battle-axe is left with nothing to recommend her.

This very sharp-edged short comedy is generally entertaining, at least as long as you don't take it too seriously. It's not very kind to any of the characters, with practically all of them being portrayed as either willful, calculating, oblivious, or worse. Their attempts to out-maneuver each other are clever at times, and would be even funnier if they were not quite so unkind.

John Bunny stars as a widower whose very spirited young daughter sets off a rivalry between her nurse and her governess. Bunny actually is the straight man for much of the movie, with the female characters driving most of the action. Bunny does get some good moments with the daughter, but otherwise he does not get many chances to use his range of comic talents.

Flora Finch, Bunny's frequent co-star, plays the strict governess, and she efficiently establishes her character right away. Helene Costello makes the child lively and suitably impish. Mae Costello, probably the least-remembered performer from the well-known acting family, might actually give the best performance of anyone in the movie. As the child's nurse, she is just as devious as (or more so than) any of other characters, but her manner makes you want her to be the one who succeeds.

So few of Bunny's movies have been preserved that the chance to see any of them is welcome. This one, though, does not really give him a chance to show all that he could do. It does work all right as light entertainment.

I'm so glad the TREASURES FROM THE ARCHIVES put out this, one of fifty films on DVD so we can all finally see rare early film with musical accompaniment that adds to the entertainment and that does not just make noise to cover the `silence' of so called silent films. In the early part of the 20th century the were not called `silent' but `moving pictures' because that's what the do and are. Early film moved it's audience with humor and/or pathos. Get these DVD's and rediscover motion pictures!

John Bunny, American cinema's first - but now forgotten - funny man, plays a wealthy widower who employs the services of a starchy governess (played by Bunny's regular screen partner, Flora Finch) much to the disapproval of his daughter (Helene Costello) and maid (Mae Costello, Helene's Real-life mother). Bunny is a naturally comical figure whose portly physique contrasted well with Finch's stick-thin frame, and they work well together, even though most of the comedy comes from 5-year-old Helene Costello, who would go on to be a major star of the silent screen. Although they reportedly didn't get along, Bunny and Finch made around 250 shorts together before his death in 1915. Sadly, only a handful survive today.

Before people start saying "pretty good for 1911" I wish they would pause to think a little. The average output of films in any year is fairly dire (look sometime at the record for 2016, remembering to include "television" in your survey) and the cinema can only be judged reasonably on the best that is made. 1911 was the year Asta Nielsen appeared in The Black Dream and The Ballet Dancer, the year Milano produced L'Inferno and the Odyssey, the year that Perret made L'automne du coeur, the year Griffith made The Last Drop of Water, A Child of the Ghetto and Enoch Arden, the year in which Thomas Ince made The Lieutenant's Last Fight, the year in which Vitagraph produced The Tale of Two Cities and Selig produced The Maid at the Helm. On a lighter note, it was the year in which unjustly forgotten comedienne Sarah Duhamel starred in Le Torchon brûlé (once seen, never forgotten, the last word in marital disputes)and in which animator Walter R. Booth made The Automatic Motorist. So there was nothing much wrong with 1911. In fact, with medium-length and feature-length films starting to take off in a big way, it was a rather exciting year for cinema.

Would that 2016 was as interesting! After the "Bunnyfinches", they are unexciting but happily we now have a fair few of them to watch (largely thanks to the Dutch archivists) and, they bear witness to the naturalistic style that Vitagraph developed in these years and which was much admired in Europe (especially in France Italy and Russia, where naturalism was most influential. The composition (as always in the "Bunnyfinches") is excellent, the fluid use of the screen-space and the depth of shot is admirable and the acting impeccable. The Bunnyfinches were not the most exciting thing that was happening in 1911, but they were comfortable, smile-making situation comedy (here a shade cruel) at its best. The equivalent, you might say, of quality television today. I have no difficulty at all in understanding why the films were so popular and Bunny so highly regarded. One can only regret that in the years after Bunny's death, such comedy (Mr and Mrs Drew apart)was so effectively drowned out by the cacophony of gormless slapstick.