Robert Youngson

Updated on Oct 09, 2024

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Name Robert Youngson Role Film producer		Spouse Jeanne Keyes (m. ?–1974)
Died April 8, 1974, New York City, New York, United States Awards Academy Award for Best Short Subject, One-reel Movies The Golden Age of Co, When Comedy Was King, 4 Clowns, 30 Years of Fun, This Mechanical Age Similar People Billy Bevan, Ben Turpin, Harry Langdon, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy

Nostalgia as Historiography: Robert Youngson and the Compilation Film, 1957-1970

Robert Youngson (November 27, 1917 – April 8, 1974) was a film producer, director, and screenwriter.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, he was responsible for reacquainting movie audiences with the work of the great silent comedians. His feature-film compilations The Golden Age of Comedy (1958) and When Comedy Was King (1960) were popular successes. Youngson produced six more vintage-comedy anthologies, the last being released in 1970.

Youngson also wrote and produced a long series of historical short subjects for Warner Brothers, two of which won him Academy Awards. Most of these films took an affectionate look back at the fads and lifestyles of the 1920s. Youngson's narration was nostalgic in tone, unlike the facetious commentaries that usually accompanied silent-film revivals like Gaslight Follies (1945) and Warners' compilations of Mack Sennett comedies. Youngson also produced a feature-length documentary for Warners, Fifty Years Before Your Eyes (1950).

4 Clowns (1970)

Academy Awards and nominations

He was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film (one reel).

Full list of Short Films

All produced by Warner Brothers and narrators included Dan Donaldson, Jackson Beck, Clem McCarthy, Dwight Weist, Ward Wilson and Jay Jackson. Walton C. Ament produced the earliest shorts. Those not part of a series were marketed as “varieties” and “novelties”.

Football Magic (two reel “Classic of the Screen”) - September 4, 1948

Roaring Wheels (Sports News Review) - October 2, 1948

Ski Devils (Sports News Review) - December 4, 1948

Swim Parade (Sports News Review) - February 5, 1949

Batter Up (Sports News Review) - April 9, 1949

They're Off (Sports News Review) - June 18, 1949

Spills and Chills (Sports News Review) - August 13, 1949 (DVD release: It's a Great Feeling: TCM Doris Day Collection)

Pigskin Passes (two reel “Classic of the Screen”) - September 23, 1949

A-Speed on the Deep - December 24, 1949

Shoot the Basket (two reel “Classic of the Screen”) - April 29, 1950

A Cavalcade of Girls - August 12, 1950

Blaze Busters - December 30, 1950

Horsehide Heroes - March 10, 1951

World of Kids - June 23, 1951

Disaster Fighters - August 11, 1951

Lighter than Air - October 20, 1951

Animals Have All the Fun - April 19, 1952

Daredevil Days - August 9, 1952

Too Much Speed - January 3, 1953

No Adults Allowed - April 11, 1953

Head Over Heels - June 20, 1953

Looking At Life (two reel “Classic of the Screen”) - July 18, 1953

Say It with Spills- October 24, 1953

Magic Movie Moments - December 26, 1953

They Were Champions (two reel “Classic of the Screen”) - January 23, 1954

I Remember When - March 19, 1954

This Wonderful World (two reel “Classic of the Screen”) - March 27, 1954

Thrills from the Past - May 8, 1954

When Sports Were King - June 19, 1954

This Was Yesterday (two reel “Classic of the Screen”) - July 31, 1954

This Mechanical Age - August 28, 1954

Camera Hunting (two reel “Classic of the Screen”) - November 20, 1954

A Bit of the Best - December 25, 1954

Those Exciting Days - March 12, 1955

When the Talkies Were Young (two reel “Classic of the Screen”) - March 26, 1955 (DVD release The Jazz Singer & Lucky Me (film))

Fire, Wind and Flood - April 30, 1955

Some of the Greatest - June 18, 1955

The Glory Around Us (two reel “Classic of the Screen”) - July 2, 1955

Gadgets Galore - July 30, 1955 (DVD release: Pete Kelly's Blues (film))

An Adventure to Remember - October 1, 1955

It Happened to You (two reel “Classic of the Screen”) - December 31, 1955

Faster and Faster - January 21, 1956

The Picture Parade (two reel “Classic of the Screen”) - March 31, 1956

I Never Forget a Face - April 28, 1956

Through the Camera's Eyes (two reel “Classic of the Screen”) - August 11, 1956

Animals and Kids - August 18, 1956

Feature-film compilations

Youngson also produced the following feature-length compilations:

Fifty Years Before Your Eyes (1950)

The Golden Age of Comedy (1957)

When Comedy Was King (1960)

Days of Thrills and Laughter (1961)

30 Years of Fun (1963)

M-G-M's Big Parade of Comedy (1964)

Laurel and Hardy's Laughing 20's (1965)

The Further Perils of Laurel and Hardy (1967)

4 Clowns (1970)

Private life and death

He died at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City at age 56, survived by his wife Jeanne Keyes.

References

Robert Youngson Wikipedia

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