506:
Hal Roach gave up on the streamliner format in 1948. Roach recalled that "they should have cost $ 150,000 apiece, but they ran from $ 300,000 to $ 400,000, and they weren't worth that much money. We lost about a million dollars. The second batch of streamliners, instead of being a success, was a flop
102:
Roach insisted that there would be a ready market for the shorter streamliners. After disposing of the Laurel and Hardy commitment, which lapsed after only the two films, Roach concentrated on making featurettes. Exhibitors welcomed the new format, and the streamliners fit nicely into double-feature
114:
Roach's last two Laurel and Hardy features were produced economically, but the budget of a streamliner was set even lower, at $ 110,000. Roach could produce four streamliners for the cost of two feature films, yet profits would yield an estimated 50 to 75% more than would a single feature.
62:
format was popular in theaters. By 1939 Roach noticed that
Hollywood's major "A" features were becoming longer and more ambitious, creating a problem for theater owners who couldn't fit a second feature into their daily programs. When Roach began producing films for
103:
programs. Roach recalled in 1970 that "this was just before the second World War. We made 17 45-minute comedies. They were accepted as features, and we made a million dollars on that first group". Roach also made one musical streamliner in
180:(42 minutes, 1939; unreleased until 1943). This Laurel and Hardy comedy was the first streamliner produced. United Artists rejected the completed featurette in favor of an extended version running 63 minutes. Both were directed by
78:
United
Artists resisted the radical new format at first, because it had already negotiated 5,000 contracts with exhibitors for feature films, not featurettes. Roach had planned to make four four-reel streamliners with
89:, filmed in 1939. United Artists felt that this picture would be more marketable as a full-length feature film, especially since Laurel and Hardy were an important attraction internationally.
118:
Roach's short subjects of the 1920s and 1930s had been grouped into series, and the new Roach streamliners followed suit. The first and most popular series co-starred
685:
67:, he devised the idea of shorter-length featurettes that he called "streamliners" (after the public's infatuation with the modern and fast
824:
816:
797:
774:
747:
616:
592:
71:). The exhibitors, accustomed to the usual six- or seven-reel "B" feature, could now book a four- or five-reel Hal Roach streamliner
399:
192:
was the first official streamliner (50 minutes, released on
September 12, 1941), and the first of seven military comedies starring
443:
410:
Hal Roach rebuilt and updated his studio facilities in 1946, and resolved to make his new films entirely in color, using the
447:(55 minutes, March 15, 1948), following the William Tracy and Joe Sawyer team into civilian life, directed by Fred Guiol.
849:
331:
854:
844:
491:
324:
208:
402:. The Hal Roach studio was later used for military training films, and the facility was known as "Fort Roach".
284:
277:
489:. Similarly, but with more continuity, in 1948 Roach and director Kurt Neumann compiled the feature-length
766:
295:
485:
451:
319:
859:
812:
143:
379:
248:(45 minutes, November 14, 1941), the second and final Pitts-Summerville teaming, directed by Guiol.
567:
review: "'Tanks a
Million', a Hal Roach Comedy About Army Life as It Isn't, at Loew's Criterion",
323:(44 minutes, October 22, 1942), a wartime burlesque with Bobby Watson and Joe Devlin, directed by
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604:
568:
419:
312:
252:
224:
151:
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of a "B" feature, shaving 20 valuable minutes off an already lengthy double-feature program.
68:
414:
process. He resumed production with slightly longer films, still running under an hour each:
531:
512:
431:
363:
339:
233:
217:
184:. Hal Roach shelved the shorter version until 1943, when UA finally released it to theaters.
155:
131:
80:
631:, "UA Orders Hal Roach to Tack On Footage to Laurel-Hardy 4-Reelers", Nov. 15, 1939, p. 2.
564:
272:
188:
181:
159:
398:
interrupted Roach's
Hollywood film production, and he was commissioned as a major in the
759:
The Great Movie Shorts: Those
Wonderful One- and Two-Reelers of the Thirties and Forties
585:
The Great Movie Shorts: Those
Wonderful One- and Two-Reelers of the Thirties and Forties
38:, not exceeding 50 minutes in length. Twenty of the 29 features that Roach produced for
580:
289:
135:
64:
59:
39:
518:
The Tracy and Sawyer team would reappear in two films produced by Hal Roach, Jr. in a
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789:
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55:
31:
268:(48 minutes, January 2, 1942), a Tracy and Sawyer military comedy directed by Guiol.
395:
355:
229:
147:
35:
58:, but in 1935, he sensed that short subjects were declining in popularity as the
511:
has been misidentified as a theatrical streamliner; it was actually a half-hour
436:
388:
288:(43 minutes, March 13, 1942) with Jimmy Rogers and Noah Beery, Jr., directed by
257:
237:
163:
104:
95:
23:
423:(53 minutes, released August 23, 1947), directed by Bernard Carr, reviving the
276:(50 minutes, January 31, 1942) with William Bendix and Joe Sawyer, directed by
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371:
244:
213:
201:
197:
139:
127:
123:
20:
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739:
411:
343:(45 minutes, January 29, 1943) with Rogers and Beery, directed by Roach, Jr.
335:(45 minutes, December 31, 1942) with Bendix and Sawyer, directed by Neumann.
142:
as cab drivers. The fourth series burlesqued the Axis powers, with comedian
43:
27:
649:
Hal Roach to authors
Bernard Rosenberg and Harry Silverstein, published in
134:. The third was an update of Roach's 1932-33 "Taxi Boys" series, now with
424:
359:(46 minutes, April 16, 1943) with Bendix and Sawyer, directed by Neumann.
264:
42:
were in the streamliner format. They usually consisted of five 10-minute
367:(48 minutes, May 21, 1943) with Rogers and Beery, directed by Roach, Jr.
299:(43 minutes, April 16, 1942) with Tracy and Sawyer, directed by Neumann.
375:(50 minutes, June 29, 1943) with Tracy and Sawyer, directed by Neumann.
351:(45 minutes, March 5, 1943) with Tracy and Sawyer, directed by Neumann.
347:
435:(59 minutes, August 29, 1947), a farce about a talking dog, starring
256:(45 minutes, November 28, 1941), a Technicolor musical comedy set in
548:
546:
507:
and the result was that we went into television". Roach's film
307:(46 minutes, May 22, 1942), a musical comedy nominated for two
730:
King, Geoff; Molloy, Claire; Tzioumakis, Yannis, eds. (2012).
126:
in military comedies. The second revived the 1930s teaming of
463:
United
Artists packaged these as ready-made double features.
228:(53 minutes, October 31, 1941), a musical comedy starring
158:. The fifth and last was a series of comedy westerns with
732:
American
Independent Cinema: indie, indiewood and beyond
552:
530:(1952), both directed by Fred Guiol and released by
716:Hal Roach to Rosenberg and Silverstein, p. 23.
83:to introduce the featurettes, beginning with
8:
786:Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties Forward
609:Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties Forward
383:(43 minutes, August 6, 1943), a sequel to
455:(55 minutes, April 9, 1948), a sequel to
54:Roach's studio initially produced comedy
212:(43 minutes, October 17, 1941) starring
542:
7:
662:
387:with Watson and Devlin, directed by
99:, were released in six reels each.
817:Southern Illinois University Press
809:A History of the Hal Roach Studios
553:King, Molloy & Tzioumakis 2012
162:and Jimmy Rogers (son of humorist
14:
1:
465:The Hal Roach Comedy Carnival
439:and directed by Harve Foster.
807:Ward, Richard Lewis (2006).
792:: iUniverse. pp. 2, 4.
784:MacGillivray, Scott (2009).
686:"MOVIE GREAT HAL ROACH DIES"
684:Barnes, Bart (1992-11-03).
497:The McGuerins from Brooklyn
332:The McGuerins from Brooklyn
876:
653:(Macmillan, 1970), p. 22.
492:Two Knights from Brooklyn
459:directed by Bernard Carr.
757:Maltin, Leonard (1972).
17:Hal Roach's Streamliners
285:Dudes Are Pretty People
30:that are longer than a
767:Crown Publishing Group
495:from the streamliners
260:and directed by Prinz.
486:Who Killed Doc Robbin
452:Who Killed Doc Robbin
385:The Devil with Hitler
320:The Devil with Hitler
819:. pp. 120–121.
813:Carbondale, Illinois
406:Postwar streamliners
220:, directed by Guiol.
674:MacGillivray, p. 4.
665:, pp. 120–121.
611:, iUniverse, 2009,
515:conceived in 1948.
380:That Nazty Nuisance
93:and the next film,
34:and shorter than a
850:Comedy film series
736:Abingdon-on-Thames
605:Scott MacGillivray
571:, October 9, 1941.
569:The New York Times
481:Here Comes Trouble
444:Here Comes Trouble
427:kid-comedy format.
313:George Archainbaud
225:All-American Co-Ed
69:streamliner trains
855:Hal Roach Studios
845:Short film series
528:Mr. Walkie Talkie
400:Army Signal Corps
304:Flying with Music
177:A Chump at Oxford
91:A Chump at Oxford
86:A Chump at Oxford
867:
830:
803:
780:
753:
734:(1st ed.).
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532:Lippert Pictures
513:television pilot
473:The Fabulous Joe
432:The Fabulous Joe
364:Prairie Chickens
234:Frances Langford
218:Slim Summerville
156:Benito Mussolini
132:Slim Summerville
81:Laurel and Hardy
19:are a series of
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690:Washington Post
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651:The Real Tinsel
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587:, Crown, 1972,
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565:Bosley Crowther
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509:Sadie and Sally
408:
273:Brooklyn Orchid
189:Tanks a Million
182:Alfred Goulding
172:
160:Noah Beery, Jr.
52:
12:
11:
5:
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826:978-0809327270
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804:
799:978-1440172373
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776:978-0517504550
775:
754:
749:978-0415684293
748:
742:. p. 53.
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676:
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642:
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621:
617:978-1440172373
597:
593:978-0517504550
581:Leonard Maltin
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448:
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352:
344:
336:
328:
325:Gordon Douglas
316:
311:, directed by
309:Academy Awards
300:
292:
290:Hal Roach, Jr.
281:
269:
261:
249:
241:
236:, directed by
221:
205:
200:. Directed by
185:
171:
168:
146:impersonating
136:William Bendix
65:United Artists
60:double-feature
56:short subjects
51:
48:
40:United Artists
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
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769:. p. 5.
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763:New York City
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555:, p. 53.
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209:Niagara Falls
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194:William Tracy
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120:William Tracy
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33:
32:short subject
29:
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701:. Retrieved
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527:
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501:Taxi, Mister
500:
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468:
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456:
450:
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418:
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396:World War II
394:
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362:
356:Taxi, Mister
354:
346:
338:
330:
318:
302:
294:
283:
278:Kurt Neumann
271:
263:
251:
243:
230:Johnny Downs
223:
207:
187:
175:
170:Streamliners
148:Adolf Hitler
144:Bobby Watson
117:
113:
108:
101:
94:
90:
84:
77:
72:
53:
36:feature film
24:comedy films
16:
15:
860:Featurettes
526:(1951) and
524:As You Were
437:Walter Abel
389:Glenn Tryon
258:Mexico City
238:LeRoy Prinz
164:Will Rogers
105:Technicolor
96:Saps at Sea
26:created by
839:Categories
703:2017-12-06
538:References
520:Korean War
372:Yanks Ahoy
296:About Face
245:Miss Polly
214:ZaSu Pitts
202:Fred Guiol
198:Joe Sawyer
154:imitating
152:Joe Devlin
140:Joe Sawyer
128:ZaSu Pitts
124:Joe Sawyer
21:featurette
740:Routledge
698:0190-8286
663:Ward 2006
522:setting:
479:combined
467:combined
412:Cinecolor
340:Calaboose
28:Hal Roach
790:New York
477:Lafftime
425:Our Gang
265:Hay Foot
723:Sources
629:Variety
619:, p. 2.
595:, p. 5.
348:Fall In
73:instead
50:History
823:
796:
773:
746:
696:
615:
591:
469:Curley
457:Curley
420:Curley
253:Fiesta
109:Fiesta
640:Ibid.
44:reels
821:ISBN
794:ISBN
771:ISBN
744:ISBN
694:ISSN
613:ISBN
589:ISBN
499:and
483:and
471:and
232:and
216:and
196:and
150:and
138:and
130:and
122:and
503:.
166:).
841::
815::
811:.
788:.
765::
761:.
738::
692:.
688:.
607:,
583:,
545:^
534:.
475:.
111:.
107:,
46:.
829:.
802:.
779:.
752:.
706:.
391:.
327:.
315:.
280:.
240:.
204:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.