MovieChat Forums > The Kid Brother (1927) Discussion > The Monkey in this Film

The Monkey in this Film

posted 17 years ago by johnson1740
12 replies | jump to latest

Is the monkey in this film the same one that appeared with Buster Keaton in The Cameraman?

Does anyone see a relationship between this film and The Navigator?

[–] NatachaRambova 17 years ago

I think they said it was or it was a cousin to that monkey in the commentary for this film in the HL comedy collection DVD set. If you don't have this AWESOME boxset, I suggest you get it! It's worth every penny and more!

"He who gazes upon the sun, need not debate it's brilliance! ... Uh, Ling Po." -Harold Lloyd

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Mr_McLaurel 16 years ago

I was reminded of The Navigator in of course the chase scene on the ship Incidentally, The Navigator contains one of my favorite Keaton gags: Buster attempting to shuffle a soaking wet deck of cards.

What's the spanish for drunken bum?

[–] HunterSVonnegut 14 years ago

That monkey stole every scene it was in.

[–] Uttrediay 14 years ago

Shame that the monkey isn't credited. One of the best actors in the cast, I think.

[–] mjneu59 13 years ago

This is a very belated response to the OP, but yes: it was indeed the same
monkey Keaton used in The Cameraman.

Her name was Josephine, and she can also be seen on the high wire in Chaplin's 'The Circus'...

...am I right in saying little Josephine thus earned herself the distinction of being the only 'actor' to co-star alongside all three of the great silent comedians..?

"Sacred cows make the best hamburger." Mark Twain

[–] giraffeblimp 12 years ago

Really? I thought the name of the monkey actor was Chicago.

Here's a source:
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/flm/summary/v035/35.2palmer.html

Bloop.

[–] mjneu59 9 years ago

A belated reply, three years later...but it took me that long to wipe the egg off my face. You're absolutely right: Chicago was the monkey's actual name, according to Lloyd's grandaughter and legacy caretaker Suzanne Lloyd, in the DVD commentary for this film.

It was Rudi Blesh in his biography of Buster Keaton who called the little co-star Josephine. Keaton/Lloyd biographer Tom Dardis later referred to her as 'Jocko'... so apparently the ape had a lot of stage names.

"Sacred cows make the best hamburger." Mark Twain

[–] Navaros 9 years ago

That monkey is freakin' amazing!

One thing I am not quite sure about though: is the monkey always a real live monkey every time he is on the screen? Or did they use a puppet monkey in some of the shots?

The monkey always seems too amazing to be real to me, so that makes me wonder if some cinema fakery is going on there.

Can anyone elaborate about if anything related to the monkey's appearance in this film is fake?

[–] cmashieldscapting 9 years ago

Nothing about the monkey in this film looked fake to me. Obviously in The Cameraman, when Keaton falls on the monkey, it's not the real one but an artificial double.

[–] jwill602 11 years ago

I think silent comedians often borrowed gags or ideas from each other (i.e.: Keaton would make a film called "College" just a couple years after Lloyd's The Freshman).
Also, the gag in which Lloyd uses a body as a raft is straight out of The Navigator, in which Keaton's body is used as a raft.