Cohen's Adverstising Scheme
USA, 1904, 1 minute, B&W, silent
Directed by Edwin S. Porterwith Cohen's Fire Sale
USA, 1907, 10 minutes, B&W, silent
Directed by Edwin S. Porter$50 Institutional Use DVD
Public Performance 16mm Rental Also Available
Cohen's Advertising Scheme is perhaps the earliest cinematic example of the Jewish stereotype known as the "scheming merchant," a familiar caricature from theater and literature. This typical one-shot gag film was produced for the Edison Company by Edwin S. Porter, who had previously filmed the famous silent movie version of The Great Train Robbery.In this film, Cohen, a grotesquely made-up Jewish shop owner, hits upon a new advertising scheme: tricking a passerby to buy a coat on which he hangs a large sign advertising his store on the back.
By 1907, extended stories had become popular over the single gag. In Cohen's Fire Sale, Cohen is again portrayed as the "scheming merchant." This time a new shipment of hats is accidentally picked up by the trash man. Cohen, made-up in grotesque vaudevillian Jewish style, pursues the trash wagon throughout New York picking up the hats as they drop off.When he finds the hats are not selling, Cohen reads his insurance policy, arranges for an "accidental" fire, and afterwards holds a fire sale. At the end of the film, Cohen sits happily holding the insurance policy as he places a large ring on his wife's finger.
Cohen Saves the Flag
USA, 1913, 10 minutes, B&W, silent
Directed by Mack Sennett$50 Institutional Use VHS
Public Performance 16mm Rental Also Available
Mack Sennett's Keystone Company was famous for the style of screen farce which ushered in the work of such famous slapstick comedians as Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle. Ford Sterling, Keystone's most popular comedian before Chaplin, plays Cohen, a sergeant in the Union Army who is the bitter rival of another officer for the attentions of Rebecca (Mable Normand).Like most burlesque Jewish characters of this period, Sterling's caricature borders on antisemitism. Yet Cohen is also the hero of the film and unwittingly turns the tide of battle. This film also boasts some of the most remarkable battle scenes of the silent era and a fascinating, unusual portrait of a female Jewish character.
Cohen on the Telephone
USA, 1929, 9 minutes, B&W, English
Directed by Robert Ross$50 Institutional Use DVD
Public Performance 16mm Rental Also Available
With the advent of sound, the vaudeville-immigrant genre added comic speech to its repertoire of physical comedy and funny situations. Here, the Jewish immigrant is characterized not simply by how he moves and looks, but by how he speaks. From his office, Cohen telephones his landlord to ask him to fix a window that was blown out by a storm. Unfamiliar with the telephone and still uncomfortable with the English language, Cohen embroils himself in a comic monologue of misunderstanding.
The National Center For Jewish Film
Brandeis University, Lown 102, MS053, Waltham MA 02454
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