Levi & Cohen, the Irish Comedians
About Levi & Cohen, the Irish Comedians
A boy in an usher's uniform sets a card that reads "Levi and Cohen, Irish Comedians." The curtain rises on a painted pharmacy. Two comics come out, one bearded in a top hat and tails, the other in a bowler and plaid trousers. The bearded man keeps knocking the bowler off. They start to fight. Two men sitting in front of the camera stand up and throw eggs. The comics and the set are spattered.
Cast & crew
More about Levi & Cohen, the Irish Comedians
G. W. Bitzer photographed it and is credited as director. American Mutoscope and Biograph produced and distributed it. Filmed on 30 June 1903 in the company's New York studio. Copyright 8 July 1903, H33281. Release listed as July 1903. Length 61 feet, also given as 59. Biograph bulletin 55 calls it a poor knockabout turn that ends with the audience throwing eggs, and files it as Class B. IMDb lists 1 minute.
Themes
Making
Bitzer staged the hall inside the Biograph studio, with a painted drop and a planted audience.
Look
Billy Bitzer placed the camera among the seats and let the eggs land in the same shot as the comics.
Preservation
A print survives. The Library of Congress catalog describes it, and a copy is on the Internet Archive.
Notes
- The camera sits in the house, with spectators between it and the stage, so the egg throwing is part of the shot.
- Library of Congress subject headings on the film include vaudeville, Jewish comedians, and Irish.
- The bulletin's own line is that the turn is "very realistic and very funny.
Scenes
- The usher posts the card and the two comics strut on.
- The bearded comic knocks the bowler off until the other man jumps him.
- Eggs hit both men and the pharmacy drop.
Also available
- Internet Archive (LeviAndCohenTheIrishComedians)
