When you think of great comedy teams, certain names come to mind: Laurel & Hardy. Abbott & Costello. The Three Stooges. Nixon & Agnew. And of course, Biffle & Shooster.
Most of you are familiar with Biffle & Shooster but just in case there's someone reading this who isn't: Benny Biffle and Sam Shooster were a popular vaudeville comedy team and they starred in approximately twenty two-reel comedy shorts in the thirties, ending with the classic, It's a Frame-Up. That last one was once thought to be a "lost" treasure but the noted film producer-historian Michael Schlesinger located and, at great personal expense, restored the film and it is now available for viewing. In fact, Mike may have done too good a job of restoration…
The print is so good that folks unfamiliar with movie history think it was shot recently; that Biffle & Shooster weren't classic comedians of the thirties but that Mike wrote, produced and directed a film in that style. And it's true that Biffle looks somewhat like the current-day comic actor Nick Santa Maria and Shooster bears more than a passing resemblance to my pal, Will Ryan. But I also know Mike and know that he has way too much integrity to phony-up a film in the classic tradition and try to pass it off as an older masterpiece…and besides, he wouldn't get away with it.
They ran the film today at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood as part of Cinecon and if it was a fake, the movie buffs who attend that event would have seen right through it. It's also playing next week at the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills for Academy Award consideration. I've seen it and I can attest that it's at least as legitimate as Professional Wrestling and maybe even as authentic as William Shatner's hair. It's also quite funny. Here's a little teaser for It's a Frame-Up and if you get a chance to see it, you oughta, you wise guys…