I'm kinda fascinated by the output of the division of Columbia Pictures that made short two-reel comedies from 1933 to 1959. They starred a wide array of comedians, some of whom were on their way up and some who were on their way down. In the latter category were folks like Buster Keaton, Harry Langdon and Charley Chase — comics who'd made films for bigger studios on bigger budgets for bigger paychecks. Their marketability had changed, in some cases because movies had learned to talk. The dominant act there was, of course, the Three Stooges who made shorts for Columbia from 1934 until the division closed down
Columbia's shorts department could make short comedies cheaper than anyone else and often, a film would be a "remake" of an earlier Columbia short. I put "remake" in quotes because they didn't reshoot the entire film — just enough footage to integrate into the old one so they could pass it off as new. Yesterday's video link here was the 1946 short Mr. Noisy, starring Shemp Howard. It was a "remake" of the 1939 short, The Heckler, starring Charley Chase. Here it is with, as you can see, an awful lot of the same footage. It was pretty much the same film with a different lead comic…