Robert Youngson
Robert Youngson was a film producer, director, and screenwriter, specializing in reviving antique silent films.
Biography
Robert George Youngson, born in Brooklyn, New York, graduated from Harvard University with a master's degree in business administration. He entered the film business in 1941, writing newsreel scripts.In 1948 Warner Bros. hired him to produce a series of short subjects about sports. Most of these were straight roundups of current sporting events, but in some of them Youngson indulged his fascination with antique newsreels of the 1920s, and included vintage sports footage in the new productions.
This led to Youngson writing and producing a long series of historical short subjects for Warners, 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 and Warners' compilations of Mack Sennett comedies. Youngson also produced a feature-length documentary for Warners, Fifty Years Before Your Eyes.
Warners discontinued live-action short subjects in 1956 and released Youngson, forcing him to work as an independent producer. He assembled a full-length feature of silent-comedy highlights, The Golden Age of Comedy. This was a triumphant success, earning rave reviews from national columnists and receiving network exposure on TV talk shows.
He followed this with When Comedy Was King and six more vintage-comedy anthologies, the last being released in 1970.
Academy Awards and nominations
He was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.| Year | Film | Academy Award | Notes |
| 1949 | Spills and Chills | Nominated | Daredevil stunts of the teens and twenties. |
| 1950 | Blaze Busters | Nominated | Newsreels of epic fire scenes. |
| 1951 | The World of Kids | Winner | Children at play in the 1920s. |
| 1954 | This Mechanical Age | Winner | Oddly designed airplanes. |
| 1955 | Gadgets Galore | Nominated | History of the automobile. |
| 1956 | I Never Forget a Face | Nominated | Celebrities of the 1920s. |
Full list of short films
All produced by Warner Bros. 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 – September 4, 1948
- Roaring Wheels – October 2, 1948
- Ski Devils – December 4, 1948
- Swim Parade – February 5, 1949
- Batter Up – April 9, 1949
- They're Off – June 18, 1949
- Spills and Chills – August 13, 1949
- Pigskin Passes – September 23, 1949
- A-Speed on the Deep – December 24, 1949
- Shoot the Basket – 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 – July 18, 1953
- Say It with Spills – October 24, 1953
- Magic Movie Moments – December 26, 1953
- They Were Champions – January 23, 1954
- I Remember When – March 19, 1954
- This Wonderful World – March 27, 1954
- Thrills from the Past – May 8, 1954
- When Sports Were King – June 19, 1954
- This Was Yesterday – July 31, 1954
- This Mechanical Age – August 28, 1954
- Camera Hunting – November 20, 1954
- A Bit of the Best – December 25, 1954
- Those Exciting Days – March 12, 1955
- When the Talkies Were Young – March 26, 1955
- Fire, Wind and Flood – April 30, 1955
- Some of the Greatest – June 18, 1955
- The Glory Around Us – July 2, 1955
- Gadgets Galore – July 30, 1955
- An Adventure to Remember – October 1, 1955
- It Happened to You – December 31, 1955
- Faster and Faster – January 21, 1956
- The Picture Parade – March 31, 1956
- I Never Forget a Face – April 28, 1956
- Through the Camera's Eyes – 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
- The Golden Age of Comedy
- When Comedy Was King
- Days of Thrills and Laughter
- 30 Years of Fun
- M-G-M's Big Parade of Comedy
- Laurel and Hardy's Laughing 20's
- The Further Perils of Laurel and Hardy
- ''4 Clowns''