Larry Semon

Directing

Larry Semon

Born February 9, 1889 · West Point, Mississippi, USA

Died October 8, 1928 · aged 39

American silent film comedian whose hugely successful career disappeared virtually overnight, Larry Semon was the son of a traveling vaudeville magician, Zera the Great. He grew up in show business and was trained in stage comedy and acrobatics. A talent for drawing and cartooning led to art school and then work as a cartoonist for various New York City newspapers. The humor evident in his publish…

Known For

The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz · 1925
The Wizard of Oz
★ 5.51925
MovieComedyFamily
A farm girl learns she is a princess and is swept away by a tornado to the land of Oz.
UnderworldUnderworld · 1927
Underworld
★ 7.11927
MovieDramaCrime
Boisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.
GolfGolf · 1922
Golf
★ 6.41922
MovieComedyAction
Comedy on the golf links.
The SportsmanThe Sportsman · 1921
The Sportsman
★ 6.71921
MovieComedy
Larry acts as a fearless hunter who claims he is completely unfazed by small creatures like rabbits, canaries, and field mice. He remains entirely unafraid when dealing with the dozens of wives belonging to a Sultan. True panic sets in—and his bravado vanishes—when a half-dozen lions are suddenly let loose inside a conservatory, leading to signature slapstick acrobatics and frantic chase sequences.
The Perfect ClownThe Perfect Clown · 1925
The Perfect Clown
★ 7.51925
MovieComedy
A clerk is given $10,000 to deposit at the bank, but the bank is closed for the night so he tries to get to the bank president's house with the money.
Lightning LoveLightning Love · 1923
Lightning Love
★ 6.41923
MovieComedy
The storm, which takes up most of the second reel, is a trial run for the storm sequence in The Wizard Of Oz which Semon would make in 1925. Fox released a comedy that was an exact copy of Lightning Love just before the Semon film was due to come out. Albert E. Smith noticed the similarities and on September 5, 1923 attempted to have the Fox film pulled from the exhibitors.
The SuitorThe Suitor · 1920
The Suitor
★ 4.91920
MovieComedyAction
Larry having to go through a lot of trouble to get his girl. All from bomb baking cooks to high flying crashes.
Oh, What a Man!Oh, What a Man! · 1927
Oh, What a Man!
★ 7.01927
MovieComedy
A detective sets out to nab Notorious Nora, the tough female leader of a gang whose headquarters is in a dangerous speakeasy. He decides to infiltrate her gang in order to get the goods on her, but things don't turn out exactly the way he expected them to.

Filmography

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The Man from EgyptThe Man from Egypt · 1916
The Man from Egypt
★ 5.01916
MovieComedy
Beware the ire of the sacred God Ammett, or any other of those Egyptian Gods for that matter. As a bellhop in a hotel, Hughey managed to get possession of a wonderful ruby, the eye of Ammet, and with its aid obtained an introduction to a millionaire and his beautiful daughter. But Hughey failed to remember that for every ruby or other gem stolen from an Egyptian shrine, there is a bearded sheik who has taken a vow never to eat, drink or sleep until the talisman has been returned to the irate God from whom it was stolen, and vengeance has been wrought on the guilty one. Just when Hughey is enjoying himself immensely at a fine little dinner with the fair damsel, his nemesis, the sheik, discovers him and a lively chase takes place. The sheik gets the ruby in his possession but Hughey regains it in jig time and the prospects are that the poor sheik will have some wait before he can look a square meal in the face again.

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