Bibliography of Ellis Parker Butler

1910

1. MOTION PICTURE: Pigs is Pigs (1910)   Edison. Performer: Charles M. Seay.  [HARPER]

1914

2. MOTION PICTURE: Pigs is Pigs (July 17, 1914)   Vitagraph. Director: George D. Baker. Performers: John Bunny (b. 1863, d. 1915), Etienne Girardot, Cortland Van Deusen, William Shea, Albert Roccardi, Anders Randolf, George Stevens. Release date: July 17, 1914. Single reel. See IMDB.  [HARPER, IMDB]

1915

3. MOTION PICTURE: Doggone It (1915)   Royal. Based on "Getting Rid of Fluff."  [HARPER]
4. MOTION PICTURE: Hats is Hats (1915)   Vitagraph. Director: Wally Van [Nostrand]. Performers: Hughie Mack, Edwina Robbins, Donald MacBride.  [HARPER]
5. MOTION PICTURE: Lena (1915)   Edison. Director: Charles M. Seay. Screenwriter: Ellis Parker Butler. Performers: Miriam Nesbitt, Dan Mason, Viola Dana. See IMDB.  [HARPER, IMDB]
6. MOTION PICTURE: The Shadow and the Shade (1915)   Selig. Director: Edward J. LeSaint. Screenwriter: Ellis Parker Butler. Performers: Stella Razeto, Lamar Johnstone.  [HARPER]

1916

7. MOTION PICTURE: Ducks is Ducks (1916)   Metro/Rolma 1916. Performers: Max Figman, Lolita Robertson.  [HARPER]
8. MOTION PICTURE: In the Dark (1916)   Serial. Director: Pierce Kingsley. Performers: Edwin Stevens, May Trado. Script available on microfilm #LU9272 from the Library of Congresss.  [HARPER]
9. MOTION PICTURE: The Chicken (1916)   Serial. Based on "Philo Gubb and the Chicken." Director: Pierce Kingsley. Performers: Edwin Stevens, May Trado.  [HARPER]
10. MOTION PICTURE: The Hard-Boiled Egg (1916)   Serial. Based on "Philo Gubb." Director: Pierce Kingsley. Performers: Edwin Stevens, May Trado. Script available on microfilm #LU9270 from the Library of Congress.  [HARPER]
11. MOTION PICTURE: The Model Cook (1916)   Metro/Drew. Director: Sidney Drew. Screenwriter: Ellis Parker Butler. Performers: Sidney Drew, Lucille McVey (Mrs. Sidney Drew). See IMDB.  [HARPER, IMDB]

1917

12. MOTION PICTURE: They Say Pigs Is Pigs (1917)   A cartoon. Unknown content. Listed here because of similarities of title. Gaumont Company. Distributed by Mutual Film Corporation. Directed by Harry S. Palmer. Produced by Harry S. Palmer. Written by Harry S. Palmer. Originally Released on July 14, 1917. Originally Released Theatrically. Black & White. See BCDB. Released after another Gaumont cartoon (1916) called "Pigs"  [WEB]

1919?

13. MOTION PICTURE: An Author at Work (1919?)   Authors' League of America, ca 1919. Based on Goat-Feathers. Screenwriter and performer: Ellis Parker Butler. No copies seem to have survived.  [HARPER]

1920

14. MOTION PICTURE: The Jack-Knife Man (August 16, 1920)   First National. Director: King Vidor. Performers: Fred A. Turner, Bobby Kelso, Harry Todd, Willie Marks, Lillian Leighton, James Corrigan. See IMDB. "One of King Vidor's early directorial efforts and one that will have you hooked from the very beginning. A lonely old riverboat man is left a child by a dying mother. The old man carves many toys from wood for the boy and they grow to love one another. The village snoop feels the child would be better off in an orphanage rather than living on the river and the sheriff is sent to try to take the child away." Available on VHS tape from Grapevine Video; PO Box 46161; Phoenix AZ 85063. Produced by King Vidor Productions. Distributed by First National Exhibitors Circuit, Inc. Released on August 16, 1920. The exterior scenes were shot around the river district of Stockton, CA., and in the mining town of Murphy, CA., as well as in Muscatine, IA, where Butler's novel is set. See The Jack Knife Man on moviegallery.com.  [IMDB, WEB]

1921

15. MOTION PICTURE: The Disappearance of Ma'y Jane (1921)   Clever Comedies. Director: Webster Cullison. Performers: Victor Potel, Hughie Mack, Henry Mann, Max Ansher.  [HARPER]
16. MOTION PICTURE: The Hound of the Tankervilles (1921)   Clever Comedies. Director: Webster Cullison. Performers: Victor Potel, Otis Harlan, Dorothea Wolbert, Ernest Shields, Harry Todd.  [HARPER]
17. MOTION PICTURE: The Stolen Umbrella (1921)   Clever Comedies. Director: Webster Cullison. Performers: Victor Potel, Billie Rhodes, Willard Louis, Lucie K. Villa, Peggy O'Neill.  [HARPER]

1935

18. MOTION PICTURE: The Great American Pie Company (1935)   MGM. Director: Nick Grinde. Performers: Chic Sale, Spencer Charters.  [HARPER]

1937

19. MOTION PICTURE: Pigs is Pigs (January 30, 1937)   Animated. Vitaphone (Merry Melodies). Director: Isadore 'Friz' Freleng (as I. Freleng). Release date 1/30/37. Animation: Bob McKimson, Paul Smith. Music: Carl W. Stalling. Voice talent: Billy Bletcher. MPAA 2939. Available on video "The Golden Age Of Looney Tunes, Vol. 3." See IMDB and BCDB. This is the same title as the Butler piece, but it's not an adaptation and it's not at all the same story. (It's listed here only because of the common title.) Synoposis: "A gluttonous little pig dreams he's force-fed by an evil scientist."  [IMDB]

1954

20. MOTION PICTURE: Pigs is Pigs (May 21, 1954)   Animated in Technicolor. RKO (Walt Disney). Director: Jack Kinney. Academy Award Nomination. See IMDB and BCDB. Unlike the 1937 cartoon (which is an altogether different story with the same title), this is truly a derivative work. While it's the same story, the filmmakers show no desire to follow the original text. This story is told in rhyme. Flannery (no first name) is still the station agent but his customer is now McMorehouse. This short (directed by Jack Kinney, story by Leo Salkin and animation by John Sibley) was nominated for an Academy Award (Short Subjects - Cartoons). This cartoon was shown during the week starting Thursday May 27, 1954 in the Radio City Music Hall theatre.  [IMDB]

1979

21. MOTION PICTURE: Guinea Pigs is Pigs (1979)   A short film. The "Pigs is Pigs" story told in a 16-minute color film distributed to schools. Completely true to the original story, this film stars Patrick Cranshaw as Mike Flannery and Harry Basch as John C. Morehouse. Directed by Tom Carr and Bill Fiege. Barr Films.  [HARPER]

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