| The Adventures of Shorty | |
| Director: | Francis Ford, Scott Sidney |
| Producer: | Broncho Film Company |
| Starring: | Shorty Hamilton |
| Distributor: | Mutual Film |
| Runtime: | 2 reels |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | Silent English intertitles |
The Adventures of Shorty is the name of a 1914 American short silent Western film featuring Shorty Hamilton, and the general name for the series of similar short films it started.
More than 30 two-reel "Shorty" titles were released between 1914 and 1917.[1] [2] All featured Hamilton as the "Shorty" character, a cowboy with a trained horse - his "remarkably intelligent horse, Beauty."[3]
The films were initially produced by Thomas H. Ince, many were written by the veteran screenwriter C. Gardner Sullivan.[4] The 1915 "Shorty's Ranch" was the last entry from the original producers, and after a year the series was revived by Monogram Pictures in January 1917. Directors in the series included Francis Ford and Jay Hunt. Aside from the trained horse, Hamilton's co-stars in the "Shorty" pictures included Enid Markey, Betty Burbridge, and Charles Ray.
The films placed "Shorty" into a series of improbable comic adventures: inheriting a harem, posing as a judge, joining the Secret Service, going to college, and confronting a wide range of characters including loan sharks, ghosts, and moonshiners.
In March 1917, a newspaper reviewer of the latest "Shorty" film wrote the following about Hamilton:
Shorty Hamilton is a fascinating little chap who makes you want to clasp him by the hand and call him friend. He is a gifted actor who can make you laugh or lift you to the extreme pinnacle of nervous anticipation in the same breath. He never over-does anything and his extreme naturalness is refreshing. 'Shorty in the Tiger's Den,' is with us today and you will shake with laughter as Shorty tries to ride a motorcycle, which proves more uncontrollable to Shorty than a bucking pony.[5]