Monty Banks
Directing
Biography
Monty Banks was a short, stocky but somehow debonair Italian-born comic actor, later also writer and director. In the US from 1914, he first appeared on stage in musical comedy and cabaret. By 1917 he was working as a dancer in New York's Dominguez Cafe. After this he turned to films, acting and doing stunt work at Keystone, Universal and for Al Christie. Changing his name from Mario Bianchi to Monty Banks may have been prompted by Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle as a passing reference to his playing '"montebanks". By 1919 Banks had moved to Vitagraph to play a villain in The Grocery Clerk (1919), foil to star comic Larry Semon. Banks first came to the fore in his own right as star of the "Welcome Comedies" made by Warner Brothers. He spent the early 1920s at Fox and Grand Asher, graduating to writing and directing two-reel comedies with himself as the star. Most noteworthy entries in regard to inventive sight gags and Mack Sennett--style madcap plots are Pay or Move (1924) and The Golf Bug (1924). The success of this series prompted Banks to create an independent production company, the Monty Banks Pictures Corporation, in conjunction with writer/director Howard Estabrook. He made several feature-length films for Pathe, including Play Safe (1927)) (generally considered his best work), which featured a climactic runaway train sequence. This style of fast-action slapstick made it inevitable that Banks suffered more than his fair share of injuries, especially since he continued to do many of his own stunts. From the late 1920s Banks worked in England and made several appearances in sound films. However, his accent proved to be something of an obstacle. He therefore decided, after 1930, to concentrate on directing and producing. He helmed four features starring the popular entertainer Gracie Fields, who became his second wife in 1940. In 1935 he directed a well-received George Formby comedy, No Limit (1935), about the TT motorcycle races on the Isle of Man, which were shot on location there. With the outbreak of World War II Banks--being an Italian citizen--would have faced internment in England as an enemy alien. He therefore deemed it necessary to flee to Canada, and from there to the neutral United States. He eventually obtained American citizenship, for which he had applied years earlier, but had forgotten to submit the necessary paperwork. Back in Hollywood he ended up at 20th Century-Fox, directing Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in Great Guns (1941), arguably one of their lesser efforts. Banks died of a heart attack during a trip through Italy in January 1950, aged just 52. Sadly, the majority of his one- and two-reelers are now considered lost films. As a result, his status as a leading comic of the silent screen may have somewhat diminished--except, perhaps, in his home town of Cesena, where a foundation was established in his honor (the "Aula Didattica Monty Banks"), offering students "practical courses on experimental aspects of video production".
Known For
Bullfighter Juan Gallardo falls for socialite Dona Sol, turning from the faithful Carmen who nevertheless stands by her man as he continues to face real danger in the bullring.
Blood and Sand
English-language version. "Atlantic" is a drama film based on the sinking of the RMS "Titanic" and set aboard a fictional ship, called the "Atlantic". The main plotline revolves around a man who has a shipboard affair with a fellow passenger, which is eventually discovered by his wife. The ship also has aboard an elderly couple, the Rools, who are on their anniversary cruise. Midway across the Atlantic Ocean, the "Atlantic" strikes an iceberg and is damaged to the point where it is sinking into the Atlantic.
Atlantic
The Boy, involved in a maritime disaster as a child, suffers from hydrophobia. He invents a life preserver that automatically inflates when it hits the water, using it to save the life of Rose Ryan, the daughter of a steamship magnate.
Keep Smiling
An appreciative, uncritical look at silent film comedies and thrillers from early in the century through the 1920s.
Days of Thrills and Laughter
Calvin Jones is a cowboy who wants to invest in a Broadway play. Joe Lehman's secretary Ruth learns that her boss is attempting to swindle Jones and pulls a successful coup d'etat producing a play that she stars in.
The Tenderfoot
Major Joppolo and his men are assigned to restore order to the war-torn Italian town of Adano. He has to manage getting supplies into town without interfering with troop movements, all the while dealing with colorful citizens of the town. One of his quests is to replace the bell which orders the town's life.
A Bell for Adano
Laurel and Hardy join the army. They are hardly soldiers, but they believe their employer, (Dick Nelson) will need them now he's drafted.
Great Guns
A young poultry farmer is flattered and persuaded into financing a film production. He attempts to interfere in the direction, is swindled and left in the lurch but eventually manages to turn the tables on his former associates.
Hello, Sweetheart
Laurel is a Scottish reporter suspected of being a spy by police detective James Finlayson. Although trailed by the latter, Stan, who is reporting on the movie world, manages to be hired by Mack Sennett. He makes his debut in Nevada, in the middle of gold diggers. After managing to clear his name he becomes, with Oliver Hardy, a big comedy star.
The Slappiest Days of Our Lives
Brilliantino the Bullfighter (originally titled Flood and Sand) is one of the first spoofs of Blood and Sand, Paramount’s smoldering matador melodrama that set box offices ablaze. Like Mud and Sand, starring Stan Laurel, the Banks parody was rushed into theaters in November 1922, while memory of the Valentino vehicle was fresh. The concept of Monty Banks impersonating the passionate matador must have been innately hilarious to audiences who had seen the original picture.
Brilliantine the Bull Fighter
Despite being on his uppers, George is still prepared to pawn his beloved banjo in order to help his girlfriend save her niece from the orphanage. Help seems to be at hand when George is left a fortune by his old auntie, but unfortunately his inheritance is hidden inside a chair which has already been auctioned off! Can George and his chums track down his rightful due before his grasping solicitor (Alastair Sim, in an early film appearance) snatches the lot? It's hard to say, but he still finds time to perform both the title song and the classic 'When I'm Cleaning Windows'.
Keep Your Seats, Please
Cunard turns into The Queen of the Apaches, an outlaw who steals from the rich to gives to the poor, always leaving a purple mask behind as a trademark.
The Purple Mask
"Fatty", a poor good hearted farm boy is deeply in love with Winifred, a farmer's daughter. A rich neighbor offers the farmer a large plot of land if Winifred marries his slow witted son Al. "Fatty" has less then one day to save heartbroken Winifred from the rushed ceremony.
Love
When a meek secretary goes to work for her new boss, she becomes a sophisticated lady.
The Church Mouse
Roscoe and Buster operate a combination garage and fire station. In the first half they destroy a car left for them to clean. In the second half they go off on a false alarm and return to find their own building on fire.
The Garage
A perpetual dreamer talks his wife into moving with him from their home in Australia to South Africa, where he hopes to discover gold and finally become wealthy.
We're Going to Be Rich
A bank clerk takes the blame for a theft which he believes was committed by his ex-convict father.
Father and Son
The owner of a professional help agency poses as a poet at a wealthy patron's ball and prevents a necklace from being stolen by thieves.
Leave It to Me
A lancashire singer buys a pub in Clydebank and hits money troubles when the shipbyards are closed. She takes a petition to London to try to get them reopened.
Shipyard Sally
George Shuttleworth is convinced that he has the talent to win the Isle of Man TT races, despite what his neighbours back home in Wigan may think. During the trials, the brakes go on George's bike, 'The Shuttleworth Snap', which he made himself. As a result, he breaks the TT lap record, becoming an instant motor-cycling star. As the big race approaches, George soon realises that other jealous riders will stop at nothing to make sure he does not take part in the race. An early George Formby film and probably his best.