Teddy at the Throttle

In Billy Wilder's Sunset Blvd. (1950), ex- silent movie star Norma Desmond talks about learning her craft with Mack Sennett, and even recreates her act as a Sennett bathing beauty. That's exactly where the real Gloria Swanson began in films, back in 1914 and 1915. The Keystone-Triangle silent Teddy at the Throttle (1917) is directed by Clarence Badger, who moved on to work for Samuel Goldwyn, Paramount and MGM. Swanson shares top credit with Bobbie Vernon, who plays Bobbie Knight, 'A Fickle-Hearted Youth'; she's his neighbor and sweetheart Gloria Dawn. Bobbie is also partial to Gloria's dog Teddy, a Great Dane billed as 'Keystone Teddy.' Wallace Beery hams it up as Henry Black, who as Bobbie's business manager is skimming off of Bobbie's estate, and trying to get the boy to marry his bosomy sister (May Emory), so as to take all of it. The comedy is sourced in character, not action. Badger's sophisticated direction isn't all wide, static scenes; the camera also moves in for medium shots and occasional well-matched close-ups. The farcical first act sees the same clutch of flowers being passed between the two women, while Bobbie and the sister perform a funny dance with the aid of invisible wires to help him float in mid-air. The comic seductions then shift as the sneaky Henry tries to marry Gloria himself (don't ask why). Other gags include a gale-force storm that wipes out a fancy dance party, and Henry's attempt to dispose of Gloria by chaining her to a railroad line. But she summons the resourceful Teddy with her dog whistle. Fast cutting makes the absurd action a delight; action scenes played before a moving canvas backdrop cut well with rather risky-looking stunts using a real train. At one point the courageous Ms. Swanson allows a locomotive to roll right over her.

By Glenn Erickson