Monty Banks
Date of birth: 1897-07-14
Place of birth: Cesena, Forlì-Cesena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Known for: Directing
Also known as: Montague 'Monty' Banks, Montague Banks, Mario Bianchi, Frenchie Bianchi, Монти Бенкс
Biography
Monty Banks was a short, stocky but somehow debonair Italian-born comic actor, later also writer and director. In the US from 1914, he first appeared on stage in musical comedy and cabaret. By 1917 he was working as a dancer in New York's Dominguez Cafe. After this he turned to films, acting and doing stunt work at Keystone, Universal and for Al Christie. Changing his name from Mario Bianchi to Monty Banks may have been prompted by Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle as a passing reference to his playing '"montebanks". By 1919 Banks had moved to Vitagraph to play a villain in The Grocery Clerk (1919), foil to star comic Larry Semon. Banks first came to the fore in his own right as star of the "Welcome Comedies" made by Warner Brothers. He spent the early 1920s at Fox and Grand Asher, graduating to writing and directing two-reel comedies with himself as the star. Most noteworthy entries in regard to inventive sight gags and Mack Sennett--style madcap plots are Pay or Move (1924) and The Golf Bug (1924). The success of this series prompted Banks to create an independent production company, the Monty Banks Pictures Corporation, in conjunction with writer/director Howard Estabrook. He made several feature-length films for Pathe, including Play Safe (1927)) (generally considered his best work), which featured a climactic runaway train sequence. This style of fast-action slapstick made it inevitable that Banks suffered more than his fair share of injuries, especially since he continued to do many of his own stunts. From the late 1920s Banks worked in England and made several appearances in sound films. However, his accent proved to be something of an obstacle. He therefore decided, after 1930, to concentrate on directing and producing. He helmed four features starring the popular entertainer Gracie Fields, who became his second wife in 1940. In 1935 he directed a well-received George Formby comedy, No Limit (1935), about the TT motorcycle races on the Isle of Man, which were shot on location there. With the outbreak of World War II Banks--being an Italian citizen--would have faced internment in England as an enemy alien. He therefore deemed it necessary to flee to Canada, and from there to the neutral United States. He eventually obtained American citizenship, for which he had applied years earlier, but had forgotten to submit the necessary paperwork. Back in Hollywood he ended up at 20th Century-Fox, directing Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in Great Guns (1941), arguably one of their lesser efforts. Banks died of a heart attack during a trip through Italy in January 1950, aged just 52. Sadly, the majority of his one- and two-reelers are now considered lost films. As a result, his status as a leading comic of the silent screen may have somewhat diminished--except, perhaps, in his home town of Cesena, where a foundation was established in his honor (the "Aula Didattica Monty Banks"), offering students "practical courses on experimental aspects of video production".
Movie Credits
Falling in Love
1934-09-04
British comedy. It was released in the United States the following year under the alternative title
Play Safe
1927-01-30
A gang of bad guys menace a feller's gal. She hides in a freight car and a misstep sends the otherwi
Blood and Sand
1941-05-30
Bullfighter Juan Gallardo falls for socialite Dona Sol, turning from the faithful Carmen who neverth
Tonight's the Night - Pass It On
1931-12-26
Slapstick comedy in which luckless slate club treasurer Bill Smithers is sent to prison for three ye
The Grocery Clerk
1919-12-01
Big Ben has the largest store in the town of New Ralgia. His chief clerk is in love with the post mi
The Slappiest Days of Our Lives
1951-03-23
Laurel is a Scottish reporter suspected of being a spy by police detective James Finlayson. Although
The Garage
1920-01-11
Roscoe and Buster operate a combination garage and fire station. In the first half they destroy a ca
Derby Day
1922-06-23
Very hungry Monty chases a garbage truck all around town to retrieve a box lunch thrown away by a pi
Pay or Move
1924-03-17
Monty is trying to collect rent from a couple of tough deadbeats who have made a sport of beating re
The Covered Schooner
1923-09-29
Monty Banks becomes a sailor in the hunt for his girl.
Wedding Bells
1924-03-16
Monty Banks plays a groom who is about to get married. In fact, he has the marriage license just abo
The Church Mouse
1934-12-10
When a meek secretary goes to work for her new boss, she becomes a sophisticated lady.
Africa F.O.B.
1925-09-15
Monty Banks becomes a car salesman and is shifted to Africa to sell one to King Obogeegee.
Olympic Honeymoon
1940-06-21
Comedy set in Switzerland. An estranged honeymooner, mistaken for an ice- hockey champion, helps Eng
A Scrap of Paper
1918-10-13
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle confronts the Kaiser in his headquarters, and tells him that he will be be d
Elstree Story
1952-01-01
Starting in 1927 when the first film, The White Sheik, was made there, Elstree Story features excerp
The Purple Mask
1916-12-25
Cunard turns into The Queen of the Apaches, an outlaw who steals from the rich to gives to the poor,
Don't Park Here
1919-08-01
Not one but two of Charlie Chaplin impersonators, Harry Mann and Monty Banks, a film directed by Cha
Chasing Choo Choos
1927-06-21
Virginia Craig will become super-wealthy and gain sole control of her factory, unless insubordinate
Flying Luck
1927-12-04
A naive young man joins the Army in order to become a pilot.
Love
1919-03-01
"Fatty", a poor good hearted farm boy is deeply in love with Winifred, a farmer's daughter. A rich n
Oils Well!
1923-02-13
Set in the oil-soaked country of “Chilitina”—shot on location in San Diego’s Balboa Park—Oils Well!
Brilliantine the Bull Fighter
1922-11-21
Brilliantino the Bullfighter (originally titled Flood and Sand) is one of the first spoofs of Blood
Hot Sands
1924-02-29
Monty Banks finds love and mischief at the amusement park, in this two-reel comedy
For the Love of Mike
1932-12-01
A useless secretary and his private detective friend try to help an heiress from being swindled by h
Shipyard Sally
1939-09-30
A lancashire singer buys a pub in Clydebank and hits money troubles when the shipbyards are closed.
Cold Hearts and Hot Flames
1916-09-20
Nearly Married
1920-12-11
Monty Banks comedy produced by Warners.
Queen of Hearts
1936-10-04
A woman prevents a popular stage performer getting arrested for drunk driving, though has to pretend
Six A.M.
1923-01-01
After drinking all night, Monty and his friend try to get home, but it turns out to be not easy. The
Always Late
1923-01-01
Monty is chronically late. He comes to work late and loses his job, and then manages to miss his own
Days of Thrills and Laughter
1961-03-21
An appreciative, uncritical look at silent film comedies and thrillers from early in the century thr
You Made Me Love You
1933-10-01
A rich American businessman in London makes believe he's lost all his money so that his daughter wil
A Blind Pig
1918-06-12
A French perfume salesman is mistaken for a bootlegger. Partially missing two-reeler with 11 minutes
Atta Boy
1926-10-10
Monty Milde, would-be newspaper reporter, stumbles into a high-profile kidnapping mystery.
One Night Only
1919-08-01
Misadventures of a traveling company of actors performing for one night in a small town. When the tr
A Bedroom Scandal
1921-01-15
A Monty Banks comedy short.
Where Is My Wife?
1921-01-15
Lovable buffoon Monty Banks tries to relax, but ultimately spends his day worrying about who is keep
Heads We Go
1933-07-28
A model inherits a great deal of money and pretends to be a movie star.
The Girl in Possession
1934-07-16
An American woman is fooled into thinking that she is the heiress to an estate in England.
Her First False Hare
1919-05-01
Four men are out rabbit hunting and encounter a beautiful young lady, who promises to marry the firs
Coppers and Scents
1919-04-01
Monty Banks plays Sherlock McNutt in this Charley Chase short. Partially lost; five minutes survive
A Flivver Wedding
1920-09-01
The misadventures of a young man who sets out in his flivver to stop the girl he loves from being fo
Love's Handicap
1923-05-18
Horse racing hijinks in the Old South with Monty Banks.
Fresh Air
1921-10-01
A hunting comedy full of cartoonish gags.
Cleaned and Dry
1921-11-01
Monty is the driver of a delivery wagon for a cleaning and dyeing establishment, romps with a Ford a
Squirrel Food
A fortuneteller informs Monte that he will marry the first girl he meets. After several false starts
Paging Love
1923-07-26
Monty appears as a chap whose prospective father-in-law, to find out the stuff of which he is made,
A Wild Goose Chase
1924-06-02
Monty chases a goose. Hilarity ensues. (This film is partially lost.)
Home Cooking
1924-07-15
A new bridegroom discovers his wife's astounding ability to create culinary disasters.
The Compulsory Husband
1929-11-13
A recently engaged girl invites her parents to meet her fiance. They learn that he also loves anothe
Week-End Wives
1929-05-14
A lawyer spends the weekend with a married actress at the same hotel as his wife and her lover. This
Atlantic
1929-11-15
English-language version. "Atlantic" is a drama film based on the sinking of the RMS "Titanic" and s
Adam's Apple
1928-09-03
An American on his honeymoon in Paris, organises the kidnapping of his interfering mother-in-law.
So You Won't Talk
1935-03-01
The owner of a small Italian restaurant in central London is left a million pound inheritance, the o
A Perfect Gentleman
1928-01-15
Monty Banks gets involved in tracking down a stolen fortune, his adventures culminating in a whirlwi
Man of the Moment
1935-09-01
Love blossoms after a young man rescues a pretty girl who attempted to drown herself.
The Golf Bug
1924-07-08
Golf with Monty Banks and pals.
Horse Shoes
1927-04-17
A Monty Banks comedy that includes the 'Undressing in the Upper Berth' routine
The Belles of Liberty
1918-07-10
Monty Banks plays a paramour who starts all sort of silly highjinks with Eva Novak and Carolyne Wrig
Taxi Please
1923-11-30
A wild taxi driver can't get ahead with his fares but he is still willing to help his sweetheart at
Keep Smiling
1925-09-06
The Boy, involved in a maritime disaster as a child, suffers from hydrophobia. He invents a life pre
A Bell for Adano
1945-06-21
Major Joppolo and his men are assigned to restore order to the war-torn Italian town of Adano. He ha
Too Much Johnson
1919-12-01
Augustus Billings has a domineering mother-in-law, and to get away from both her and his wife, he ta
Camping Out
1919-01-05
Camping Out is a 1919 American short comedy film directed by and starring Fatty Arbuckle. Fatty is
The Sheriff
1918-11-24
Roscoe Arbuckle plays a Douglas Fairbanks fan who becomes a rotund version of his hero. As "The Sher
In and Out
1921-07-17
Monty and his wife are newlyweds dealing with things like making breakfast that’s edible and dealing
Did She Do Wrong?
1918-03-10
An industrious criminal plays his game so crookedly that he "double crosses" himself.
Leave It to Me
1933-04-01
The owner of a professional help agency poses as a poet at a wealthy patron's ball and prevents a ne
The Head Waiter
1919-12-01
The headwaiter does tricks with spaghetti that the greatest spaghetti handlers in the world never he