Films of Emil Sitka: MEET MR. MISCHIEF
by Saxon E. Sitka A week before the first anniversary of his very first Hollywood film role, Emil performed his seventeenth. Released as MEET MR. MISCHIEF, it was Emil's second film with Harry Von Zell and his fifteenth Columbia short-subject.
Emil's diary for Saturday, October 19, 1946:
Movie Bit # 17
"Mr. Mischief" - at Columbia
My welcome to Columbia ranch is by now in the familiar "family" style. Everybody simply calls me "Emil" and all the grips take me for granted. The "Columbia comedian," they say.
Harry Von Zell, the star of this two-reeler talks more with me than
And yet another diary entry ends mid-sentence, as though Emil were interrupted and forgot to return to finish. Still, it gives more information than the extremely brief diary entry for his second day on the job, Monday, October 21, 1946:
A day with Harry Von Zell
MEET MR. MISCHIEF has Emil playing a character named "Mr. Perkins," an "old eccentric radio sponsor" who happens to show up just in time to get in the middle of a practical joke that has Harry convinced someone's trying to kill him. It's just a few seconds into his role when Emil, looking quite dignified, takes a framed painting slammed over his head, and then a door is thrown open into his face.
Before it's all over, he take several more hits followed by a straight-into-the-face shot with a seltzer bottle, including a close-up! Just another day on the job for the "Columbia comedian."
One week later, Emil made no note in his diary to indicate whether he was aware it was the first "anniversary" of his professional film debut. It was nevertheless a wonderful day in the young actor's life and career.
Emil's dairy entry on October 26, 1946:
A day of good luck!
Imagine going to a cashier's office to pay a bill of $9 -- and getting a check worth $37.03! That's what happened to me today at Columbia studio, when I went to pay for some still photos I ordered.
And then imagine going to a show and seeing yourself listed on the title of the screen. Norman Aronson met me and Howard Nichols before we viewed "Mr. Wright Goes Wrong."
