Thursday, November 25, 2010

Pass the Sauce

Hey! Did you know that one of Mack Sennett's earliest Broadway roles was in a play called "Wang"? Everybody likes some sauce on Thanksgiving, but I am not trying to ruin your holiday with "sauciness"! I am just telling you the plain facts as expressed in this Mack Sennett autobiography I am reading for the Doomed Book Club. It was near the turn of the twentieth century, and I believe the aforementioned play must have been an attempt at the same kind of would-be exoticism put forth by "A Chinese Honeymoon," another of Sennett's early stage credits. He was also in a play called "Piff! Paff!! Pouf!!!" - note the escalating exclamation points. Finally, Mr. Ward will be glad to know there has already been a Fred Ott reference in the book (in Chapter Two!), and mention of an early motion picture entitled HORSE EATING HAY.