A-Z of Silent Film Comedy

A-Z of Silent Film Comedy PDF Author: Glenn Mitchell
Publisher: B.T. Batsford
ISBN:
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
An encyclopedic look at silent film comedy that covers all the greats, from the Keystone Kops to Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton, as well as myriad lesser-known figures. Readers will delight in reacquainting themselves with the movies that first made audiences laugh.

A-Z of Silent Film Comedy

A-Z of Silent Film Comedy PDF Author: Glenn Mitchell
Publisher: B.T. Batsford
ISBN:
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
An encyclopedic look at silent film comedy that covers all the greats, from the Keystone Kops to Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton, as well as myriad lesser-known figures. Readers will delight in reacquainting themselves with the movies that first made audiences laugh.

100 Essential Silent Film Comedies

100 Essential Silent Film Comedies PDF Author: James Roots
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442278250
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
This book celebrates 100 significant silent film comedies from around the globe, including The Circus, The General, Safety Last, and Steamboat Bill Jr. Each entry contains information about the cast and crew, production details, DVD availability, and an explanation of why the film is essential viewing.

American Silent Film Comedies

American Silent Film Comedies PDF Author: Blair Miller
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
This illustrated compilation identifies people, studios, technical companies, and terms associated with silent film comedy from about 1890-1930. More than 300 entries are biographical, including actors, studio and other corporate executives, directors and other technical personnel, inventors, etc. These sketches usually include birth and death dates and a summary of the contributions of the person to the genre; some entries include a photograph, selected filmography, and movie-magazine excerpts. For the more than 100 entries on studios and companies there is a brief history, emphasizing the firm's contribution to the development of silent film comedy. The third category of entries is quite a miscellany, including Blacks in Silent Film Comedies, Edison Kinetogram (a bulletin announcing new Edison films), Keystone Kops, Nickelodeons.

Too Funny for Words

Too Funny for Words PDF Author: David Kalat
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476678561
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
American silent film comedies were dominated by sight gags, stunts and comic violence. With the advent of sound, comedies in the 1930s were a riot of runaway heiresses and fast-talking screwballs. It was more than a technological pivot--the first feature-length sound film, The Jazz Singer (1927), changed Hollywood. Lost in the discussion of that transition is the overlap between the two genres. Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd kept slapstick alive well into the sound era. Screwball directors like Leo McCarey, Frank Capra and Ernst Lubitsch got their starts in silent comedy. From Chaplin's tramp to the witty repartee of His Girl Friday (1940), this book chronicles the rise of silent comedy and its evolution into screwball--two flavors of the same genre--through the works of Mack Sennett, Roscoe Arbuckle, Harry Langdon and others.

American Film Comedy

American Film Comedy PDF Author: Scott Siegel
Publisher: Prentice Hall
ISBN:
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
An A to Z guide to film comedies. Illus.

The 100 Greatest Silent Film Comedians

The 100 Greatest Silent Film Comedians PDF Author: James Roots
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442236507
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 465

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Book Description
The silent film era featured some of the most revered names of on-screen comic performance, from Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to Harold Lloyd, Douglas Fairbanks, and Laurel & Hardy. Besides these giants of cinema, however, there are other silent era performers—both leading actors and supporting players—who left an enduring legacy of laughter. In The 100 Greatest Silent Film Comedians, James Roots ranks the greatest performers based on a scorecard that measures each comic’s humor, timelessness, originality, and teamwork. Far more than just a listing, this is an idiosyncratic and entertaining review of the men and women who created the golden age of comedy. As a critic and deaf viewer, Roots brings a truly unique perspective to the evaluation of these performers and their work. He has viewed thousands of silent comedies and offers some assessments that run contrary to the standard list of performers. While many obvious names are placed in the top echelon, the author also champions performers who have been neglected, in part because their work has not been as visible. Each entry includes a filmography a scorecard an evaluation of the artist’s overall work an assessment of representative films DVD availability With the increased availability of films on DVD, as well as Internet access, more and more silent performers are being discovered by film fans. Supplemented by an appendix of comedians who missed the cut, as well as an annotated bibliography, The 100 Greatest Silent Film Comedians will be an invaluable resource to anyone wanting to know more about the brilliant entertainers of the silent era.

Silent Comedy

Silent Comedy PDF Author: Paul Merton
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1409035662
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description
On the surface it may seem slightly surprising that a master of verbal humour should also be a devotee of silent comedy, but Paul Merton is completely passionate about the early days of Hollywood comedy and the comic geniuses who dominated it. His knowledge is awesome - as anyone who watched his BBC 4 series Silent Clowns or attended the events he has staged nationwide will agree - his enthusiasm is infectious, and these qualities are to be found in abundance in his book. Starting with the very earliest pioneering short films, he traces the evolution of silent comedy through the 1900s and considers the works of the genre's greatest exponents - Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy and Harold Lloyd - showing not only how each developed in the course of their career but also the extent to which they influenced each other. At the same time, Paul brings a comedian's insight to bear on the art of making people laugh, and explores just how the great comic ideas, routines, gags and pratfalls worked and evolved. His first book for ten years, this is destined to be a classic.

Silent Mystery and Detective Movies

Silent Mystery and Detective Movies PDF Author: Ken Wlaschin
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786454296
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 291

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Book Description
The silent film era was known in part for its cliffhanger serials and air of suspense that kept audiences returning to theaters week after week. Icons such as Douglas Fairbanks, Laurel and Hardy, Lon Chaney and Harry Houdini were among those who graced the dark and shadowy screen. This reference guide to silent films with mystery and detective content lists more than 1,500 titles in one of entertainment’s most popular and enduring genres. While most of the films examined are from North America, mystery films from around the world are included.

Lame Brains and Lunatics

Lame Brains and Lunatics PDF Author: Steve Massa
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781593932688
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 492

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Book Description
Silent Film Comedy was a fortuitous combination of art and technology, where the physical comedy skills and artistry passed down from the Commedia dell'Arte, English music hall, and American vaudeville were captured for posterity by the newly created motion picture camera. While the Chaplins, Keatons, and Laurel & Hardys are still remembered and celebrated, this book profiles unsung practitioners such as Billie Ritchie, Marcel Perez, Lige Conley, and George Rowe, with special focus on the neglected comediennes Alice Howell, Gale Henry, Fay Tincher, and Josie Sadler. Popular icons on the order of Mack Sennett, Marie Dressler, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, and W.C. Fields are re-examined, plus detailed histories of silent comedy teams and kid's comedies are offered. The book also includes selected filmographies and is lavishly illustrated with more than 225 rarely-seen photographs and advertising images. Steve Massa is a leading enthusiast of silent comedy, who has devoted 45 years to researching the genre. A librarian in the Billy Rose Theatre Collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, he has organized comedy film programs for the Museum of Modern Art, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Pordenone Silent Film Festival. In addition to consulting with the Eye Film Institute, Netherlands and other archives, and writing for film journals such as Griffithiana, he is a founding member of Silent Cinema Presentations which produces NYC's Silent Clown Film Series. Steve has also contributed articles and commentary tracks to many comedy DVD collections such as The Forgotten Films of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Becoming Charley Chase, and Kino Video's Buster Keaton: The Short Films Collection.

Slapstick Comedy

Slapstick Comedy PDF Author: Tom Paulus
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135966230
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
From Chaplin's tramp to the Bathing Beauties slapstick comedy supplied many of the most enduring icons of American cinema in the silent era. This collection of fourteen essays by film scholars challenges longstanding critical dogma and offers new conceptual frameworks for thinking about silent comedy's place in film history and American culture.