High Cost of Loving
Alcazar Theatre / San Francisco, CA / 1917
On Broadway, The High Cost of Loving opened August 25, 1914 at the 39th Street Theatre
and reopened at the Theatre Republic at 207 W. 42nd on November 16, 1914. There is no closing
date but there is a record of 75 performances.
(Actual broadside measures 5"x 14")
Kolb & Dill
Clarence William Kolb (born July 31, 1874 in Cleveland, Ohio/died 1964 in Los Angeles) and Max M. Dill (born Sept. 15, 1876 in Cleveland and died November 1949 in San Francisco)
were boyhood friends when they decided to enter show business.
1928
The earliest record of their act was when they were in theirtwenties and starring in the 1901 Chicago company of FiddleDeeDee. On Broadway the same starring roles had
been played by the great comedy team of Webber & Fields, and taking over from such well-known act illustrates how far Kolb & Dill had come in only a short time. In fact, they
took over so many similar parts that they became known in later years that they became know as the "West Coast Webber & Fields."
Sennet film publicity shot
They settled in San Francisco but continued to tour, most notably in 1904 to Australia. Eventually, like many other vaudeville stars, they found themselves drawn to the silent
film lots of Los Angeles. They made five films in one year (1916-17, for Max Sennett) and their careers lasted well into the introduction of sound film.
- from 1922 film Give, Take -
Of the two, Kolb was the more successful "character actor" and was working well into his eighties. In 1947 the team reunited for the last time in The High Cost of Loving.
