The Cohens and Kellys

1926 film by Harry A. Pollard

The Cohens and Kellys

Poster

Directed by| Harry A. Pollard
Written by| Alfred A. Cohn
Aaron Hoffman (play Two Blocks Away)
Harry A. Pollard
Produced by| E.M. Asher
Edward Small
Starring| Charles Murray
George Sidney
Kate Price
Jason Robards Sr.
Cinematography| Charles Stumar
Distributed by| Universal Pictures

Release date

* February 28, 1926 (1926-02-28)

Running time

| 80 mins.
Country| United States
Language| Silent (English intertitles)
The Cohens and Kellys ad in The Film Daily, 1926

The Cohens and Kellys is a 1926 American silent comedy film directed by Harry A. Pollard and starring Charles Murray, George Sidney, Kate Price, and Jason Robards Sr. The film is the first of the Cohens and Kellys film serials. The film is perhaps best known today as the subject of Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corp.,[1] a copyright infringement case, in which Judge Learned Hand articulated the doctrine that copyright protection does not cover the characteristics of stock characters in a story.[2]

## Plot[edit]

As articulated in the Nichols case,[3]

> The Cohens and The [sic] Kellys presents two families, Jewish and Irish, living side by side in the poorer quarters of New York in a state of perpetual enmity. The wives in both cases are still living, and share in the mutual animosity, as do two small sons, and even the respective dogs. The Jews have a daughter, the Irish a son; the Jewish father is in the clothing business; the Irishman is a policeman. The children are in love with each other, and secretly marry, apparently after the play opens. The Jew, being in great financial straits, learns from a lawyer that he has fallen heir to a large fortune from a great-aunt, and moves into a great house, fitted luxuriously. Here he and his family live in vulgar ostentation, and here the Irish boy seeks out his Jewish bride, and is chased away by the angry father. The Jew then abuses the Irishman over the telephone, and both become hysterically excited. The extremity of his feelings makes the Jew sick, so that he must go to Florida for a rest, just before which the daughter discloses her marriage to her mother. On his return, the Jew finds that his daughter has borne a child; at first he suspects the lawyer, but eventually learns the truth and is overcome with anger at such a low alliance. Meanwhile, the Irish family who have been forbidden to see the grandchild, go to the Jew's house, and after a violent scene between the two fathers in which the Jew disowns his daughter, who decides to go back with her husband, the Irishman takes her back with her baby to his own poor lodgings. The lawyer, who had hoped to marry the Jew's daughter, seeing his plan foiled, tells the Jew that his fortune really belongs to the Irishman, who was also related to the dead woman, but offers to conceal his knowledge, if the Jew will share the loot. This the Jew repudiates, and, leaving the astonished lawyer, walks through the rain to his enemy's house to surrender the property. He arrives in great dejection, tells the truth, and abjectly turns to leave. A reconciliation ensues, the Irishman agreeing to share with him equally. The Jew shows some interest in his grandchild, though this is at most a minor motive in the reconciliation, and the curtain falls while the two are in their cups, the Jew insisting that in the firm name for the business, which they are to carry on jointly, his name shall stand first.

Charles Murray and Olive Hasbrouck

The characters were similar to those in the Nichols play, Abie's Irish Rose which was made into a film in 1928 and in 1946.

## Cast[edit]

* Charles Murray as Patrick Kelly
* George Sidney as Jacob Cohen
* Vera Gordon as Mrs. Cohen
* Kate Price as Mrs. Kelly
* Jason Robards Sr. as Tim Kelly
* Olive Hasbrouck as Nannie Cohen
* Nat Carr as Milton J. Katz
* Robert Gordon as Sammy Cohen
* Mickey Bennett as Terence Kelly
* Claude Payton as Minor Role (uncredited)
* Mack Swain as Minor Role (uncredited)

## Preservation status[edit]

In addition to a worn Universal Show-at-Home copy, the film exists in two film archives, Cinematheque Royale de Belgique in Brussels and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.[4] An excellent print with French and Dutch intertitles, with English ones apparently overlaid, was screened on April 20, 2016, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan. As French and Dutch are the official languages of bi-lingual Belgium, this undoubtedly was the print just referenced in an archive.[5]

## Related films[edit]

The Cohens and Kellys was the first in a series of films featuring characters from the Cohen and Kelly families. It was followed by The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris (1928), The Cohens and Kellys in Atlantic City (1929),[6] The Cohens and the Kellys in Scotland (1930),[7] The Cohens and the Kellys in Africa (1930),[8] The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood (1932),[9] and The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble (1933).

It was an early production of Edward Small.[10]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corp., 45 F.2d 119 (2d Cir. 1930).
2. ^ Progressive Silent Film List: The Cohens and the Kellys at the silentera.com
3. ^ Nichols, 45 F.2d at 120-121
4. ^ The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: The Cohens and the Kellys
5. ^ IMDb entry
6. ^ The Cohens and Kellys in Atlantic City at the American Film Institute Catalog
7. ^ The Cohens and the Kellys in Scotland at the American Film Institute Catalog
8. ^ The Cohens and Kellys in Africa at the American Film Institute Catalog
9. ^ The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood at the American Film Institute Catalog
10. ^ Miller, Barbara (December 5, 1926). "SMALL 'PICKS THE WINNERS': Discoverer of Many Favorites Plans "Quickies" With Unknown Casts to Unearth New Talent". Los Angeles Times. p. C18.

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Cohens and Kellys (film).

* The Cohens and Kellys at the American Film Institute Catalog
* The Cohens and Kellys at IMDb
* Synopsis at AllMovie
* The Cohens and Kellys at the TCM Movie Database
* Lobby poster

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Harry A. Pollard

* Break, Break, Break (1914)
* Infatuation (1915)
* The Danger Game (1918)
* The Invisible Ray (1920)
* Trimmed (1922)
* Confidence (1922)
* The Loaded Door (1922)
* Trifling with Honor (1923)
* K – The Unknown (1924)
* Sporting Youth (1924)
* The Reckless Age (1924)
* Oh Doctor! (1925)
* I'll Show You the Town (1925)
* California Straight Ahead (1925)
* The Cohens and Kellys (1926)
* Poker Faces (1926)
* Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927)
* Show Boat (1929)
* Tonight at Twelve (1929)
* Undertow (1930)
* Shipmates (1931)
* The Prodigal (1931)
* When a Feller Needs a Friend (1932)
* Fast Life (1932)

* v
* t
* e

Films produced by Edward Small

1910-20s|

* Who's Your Neighbor? (1917)
* The Sporting Lover (1926)
* The Cohens and Kellys (1926)
* The Gorilla (1927)
* McFadden's Flats (1927)
* Ladies' Night in a Turkish Bath (1928)
* The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris (1928)
* My Man (1928)
* Companionate Marriage (1928)
* Song of Love (1929)

1930s|

* Clancy in Wall Street (1930)
* Igloo (1932)
* I Cover the Waterfront (1933)
* Palooka (1933)
* The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
* Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934)
* Let 'Em Have It (1935)
* Red Salute (1935)
* The Melody Lingers On (1935)
* The Last of the Mohicans (1936)
* The Bride Walks Out (1936)
* We Who Are About to Die (1937)
* Sea Devils (1937)
* New Faces of 1937 (1937)
* Super-Sleuth (1937)
* The Toast of New York (1937)
* The Duke of West Point (1938)
* King of the Turf (1939)
* The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)

1940s|

* My Son, My Son! (1940)
* The Son of Monte Cristo (1940)
* South of Pago Pago (1940)
* Kit Carson (1940)
* International Lady (1941)
* The Corsican Brothers (1941)
* A Gentleman After Dark (1942)
* Twin Beds (1942)
* Miss Annie Rooney (1942)
* Friendly Enemies (1942)
* Up in Mabel's Room (1944)
* Abroad with Two Yanks (1944)
* Brewster's Millions (1945)
* Getting Gertie's Garter (1945)
* Temptation (1946)
* The Return of Monte Cristo (1946)
* T-Men (1947)
* The Black Arrow (1948)
* The Fuller Brush Man (1948)
* Raw Deal (1948)
* Walk a Crooked Mile (1948)
* Black Magic (1949)

1950s|

* Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (1950)
* The Iroquois Trail (1950)
* Valentino (1951)
* Lorna Doone (1951)
* The Texas Rangers (1951)
* Indian Uprising (1952)
* Scandal Sheet (1952)
* The Brigand (1952)
* Cripple Creek (1952)
* Kansas City Confidential (1952)
* The Bandits of Corsica (1953)
* Captain John Smith and Pocahontas (1953)
* Dragon's Gold (1953)
* Gun Belt (1953)
* The Neanderthal Man (1953)
* 99 River Street (1953)
* Raiders of the Seven Seas (1953)
* Sabre Jet (1953)
* The Steel Lady (1953)
* Wicked Woman (1953)
* Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl (1954)
* Khyber Patrol (1954)
* The Lone Gun (1954)
* Overland Pacific (1954)
* Return to Treasure Island (1954)
* Southwest Passage (1954)
* Down Three Dark Streets (1954)
* New York Confidential (1955)
* The Naked Street (1955)
* Top Gun (1955)
* Comanche (1955)
* Gun Brothers (1956)
* UFO (1956)
* Chicago Confidential (1957)
* 5 Steps to Danger (1957)
* Gun Duel in Durango (1957)
* The Iron Sheriff (1957)
* Monkey on My Back (1957)
* Curse of the Faceless Man (1958)
* Hong Kong Confidential (1958)
* It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)
* Toughest Gun in Tombstone (1958)
* Witness for the Prosecution (1958)
* The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959)
* Guns, Girls and Gangsters (1959)
* Inside the Mafia (1959)
* Invisible Invaders (1959)
* Pier 5, Havana (1959)
* Riot in Juvenile Prison (1959)
* Solomon and Sheba (1959)
* Timbuktu (1959) (had name removed from credits)
* Vice Raid (1959)

1960s|

* Cage of Evil (1960)
* A Dog's Best Friend (1960)
* Gunfighters of Abilene (1960)
* The Music Box Kid (1960)
* Noose for a Gunman (1960)
* Oklahoma Territory (1960)
* Three Came to Kill (1960)
* The Walking Target (1960)
* Boy Who Caught a Crook (1961)
* The Cat Burglar (1961)
* Doctor Blood's Coffin (1961)
* Frontier Uprising (1961)
* Five Guns to Tombstone (1961)
* The Flight That Disappeared (1961)
* The Gambler Wore a Gun (1961)
* Gun Fight (1961)
* Mary Had a Little... (1961)
* Operation Bottleneck (1961)
* Police Dog Story (1961)
* Secret of Deep Harbor (1961)
* The Snake Woman (1961)
* Three on a Spree (1961)
* When the Clock Strikes (1961)
* You Have to Run Fast (1961)
* The Greengage Summer (1961)
* Beauty and the Beast (1962)
* The Clown and the Kid (1962)
* Deadly Duo (1962)
* Gun Street (1962)
* Incident in an Alley (1962)
* Jack the Giant Killer (1962)
* Saintly Sinners (1962)
* Tower of London (1962)
* Diary of a Madman (1963)
* Twice Told Tales (1963)
* I'll Take Sweden (1965)
* Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966)
* Frankie and Johnny (1966)
* The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz (1968)
* The File of the Golden Goose (1969)
* The Christine Jorgensen Story (1970)

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