I've searched diligently for this film, and I now sadly conclude that it seems to have vanished ... and it may never have been released in the first place. I'm not even convinced that "The Rats" was its proper title.
Why would a movie with such an unappealing title be so important? Because it apparently offered a brief glimpse of six entertainers from the late Victorian and early Edwardian stage: three of whom (Leno, Robey and Campbell) were major stars, and (except for Robey) all of whose careers peaked at the very beginning of the film industry and before the arrival of talkies.
Dan Leno and Herbert Campbell were two of the three comedy stars at the Drury Lane Theatre, the third being Leno's uncle (though only a year his senior) Johnny Danvers, who appears never to have made any films. Danvers spent half of each year as the tambourine end-man in an act called the Mohawk Minstrels, so his participation in the Drury Lane pantos was always subordinate to those of Leno and Campbell.
Will Evans was the central member of a family of English performers. A comedian, musician and acrobat, he appeared in a few early silent films, but his screen career is less significant than that of his nephew Fred Evans, a prolific film comedian before the First World War.
George Robey started his music-hall career as a blatant imitator of Leno, and -- even after he developed his own character as a hapless little fellow -- his stage make-up continued to feature painted eyebrows that were copied from Leno's. Unlike the other performers here, Robey's career lasted well into the talkies era, and he was ultimately knighted for his charity work.
"The Rats" marks the only known film appearance of two other comedians: Harry Randall and Joe Elvin. The latter -- in whiteface make-up and carrot-coloured wig -- specialised in comic songs and monologues in the role of a Cockney costermonger, a character that did not translate well to silent films.
Joe Elvin (29 Nov. 1862-3 March 1935) made his greatest contribution to theatre history in 1889, when he founded the Grand Order of Water Rats, a benevolent society aiding British music-hall entertainers who had fallen on hard times. (The group inspired some American vaudeville performers to form a counterpart, the White Rats, which ultimately became an organised labour union.) The Water Rats chose a new leader every year, with both Elvin and Leno among those who served as King Rat.
When not doing charity work, the Water Rats held fraternal meetings in a room about the White Horse pub in Brixton, a London district then much more fashionable than it is today.
"The Rats" was apparently a brief newsreel-like film (not a comedy) of these six performers as themselves: merely acknowledging the camera, not performing in character. Due to the unwieldy nature of early cinema cameras, the Water Rats' upstairs meeting-room was an impractical site for filming them, so this movie was probably shot elsewhere. If this film was ever intended for exhibition, surely "The Water Rats" or "The Grand Order of Water Rats" would have been a more appropriate title than the merely generic one given here.
Though "The Rats" probably contains no information about these performers that is not already known, it would be a fascinating glimpse into the theatre world of that era. Here's hoping this lost film gets found!
Why would a movie with such an unappealing title be so important? Because it apparently offered a brief glimpse of six entertainers from the late Victorian and early Edwardian stage: three of whom (Leno, Robey and Campbell) were major stars, and (except for Robey) all of whose careers peaked at the very beginning of the film industry and before the arrival of talkies.
Dan Leno and Herbert Campbell were two of the three comedy stars at the Drury Lane Theatre, the third being Leno's uncle (though only a year his senior) Johnny Danvers, who appears never to have made any films. Danvers spent half of each year as the tambourine end-man in an act called the Mohawk Minstrels, so his participation in the Drury Lane pantos was always subordinate to those of Leno and Campbell.
Will Evans was the central member of a family of English performers. A comedian, musician and acrobat, he appeared in a few early silent films, but his screen career is less significant than that of his nephew Fred Evans, a prolific film comedian before the First World War.
George Robey started his music-hall career as a blatant imitator of Leno, and -- even after he developed his own character as a hapless little fellow -- his stage make-up continued to feature painted eyebrows that were copied from Leno's. Unlike the other performers here, Robey's career lasted well into the talkies era, and he was ultimately knighted for his charity work.
"The Rats" marks the only known film appearance of two other comedians: Harry Randall and Joe Elvin. The latter -- in whiteface make-up and carrot-coloured wig -- specialised in comic songs and monologues in the role of a Cockney costermonger, a character that did not translate well to silent films.
Joe Elvin (29 Nov. 1862-3 March 1935) made his greatest contribution to theatre history in 1889, when he founded the Grand Order of Water Rats, a benevolent society aiding British music-hall entertainers who had fallen on hard times. (The group inspired some American vaudeville performers to form a counterpart, the White Rats, which ultimately became an organised labour union.) The Water Rats chose a new leader every year, with both Elvin and Leno among those who served as King Rat.
When not doing charity work, the Water Rats held fraternal meetings in a room about the White Horse pub in Brixton, a London district then much more fashionable than it is today.
"The Rats" was apparently a brief newsreel-like film (not a comedy) of these six performers as themselves: merely acknowledging the camera, not performing in character. Due to the unwieldy nature of early cinema cameras, the Water Rats' upstairs meeting-room was an impractical site for filming them, so this movie was probably shot elsewhere. If this film was ever intended for exhibition, surely "The Water Rats" or "The Grand Order of Water Rats" would have been a more appropriate title than the merely generic one given here.
Though "The Rats" probably contains no information about these performers that is not already known, it would be a fascinating glimpse into the theatre world of that era. Here's hoping this lost film gets found!
