SHERLOCK JR. (1924)

The Golden Age of Comedy (Post 5 of 12)

Sherlock Jr.

Sherlock Jr. packs an awful lot into its 44 minute running time. Buster Keaton has two passions in this film: as a projectionist and as an amateur detective. The two passions meld as Buster tries to solve the mystery of who robbed his finance's father. Of course, Buster is initially accused of the crime.

But the plot takes a back seat to the creativity and the final chase scene. The scene where projectionist Keaton's double jumps into the movie screen is still pretty impressive (Who needs CGI? And the Woody Allen's Purple Rose of Cairo owes a debt of gratitude here.)

The chase finale is just as good as the one in Seven Chances. Buster jumps between trains, through traffic, over a bridge where two trucks come together and in and out many other tricky predicaments. Buster's car lands in the water and he creatively turns it into a sailboat. Without excessive use of special effects, it makes me wonder how these silent screen comedians survived to the end of the picture.

There are little pleasures here too. The scene of Buster walking instep directly behind the man he is shadowing is yet one of them.

There is also the great final punchline where Buster and his reconciled girl view other actors on screen and emulate what is going on in the screen.

Another Buster classic.

SONS OF THE DESERT (1933)

The Golden Age of Comedy (Post 4 of 12)

Sons of the Desert

Sometime during the 70's, I received a present of a book called Laurel and Hardy by John McCabe and Al Kilgore. It has pictures of the scenes and breakdowns of the plots of all the movies that the comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy made together. This coincided with the local channel 46 showing the Laurel and Hardy features and shorts just about every night. At least the talkies.

I first saw some of L & H's silent footage in some of the Robert Youngson film compilations I mentioned in an earlier post this month.

Laurel and Hardy, unlike many comedy teams, didn't have a straight man. You had dopey, skinny Englishman Stan and the constantly put upon, fat Southern gentleman Ollie. After they were first teamed in 1926, they made silent shorts until the advent of sound pictures. When they began making talkies at the Hal Roach studio, the team got even better. Almost all their best shorts and feature films were made during the thirties for Roach. And I'm glad to see an L and H movie listed in the 1001 movie book. The plot of Sons of the Desert involves Stan and Ollie as henpecked husbands (a common theme in their movies) and their desire to go to the Sons of the Desert lodge convention in Chicago. Of course, you know the wives are going to find out and this is where the main thrust of the comedy comes from. It also has a funny cameo by Hal Roach regular Charley Chase as a conventioneer.

I think they could have chosen some other L and H features like Pardon Us, Way Out West or Blockheads, but Sons of the Desert is a pretty good choice if you are going to narrow it down to one. In fact, Sons of the Desert has been the name of the Laurel and Hardy fan club for years.

But I would add that in order to be a complete historical moviegoer, you need to watch a couple of their talkie shorts. The Music Box, Another Fine Mess or Big Business are good places to start.

And don't forget to check out a couple of their silents as well.

THE GOLD RUSH (1925)

The Golden Age of Comedy

(Post 3 of 12)

The Gold Rush

Charlie Chaplin's full length Klondike adventure The Gold Rush includes probably the Little Tramp's most famous bit of comic business, the starving man's dining off his shoes as if the nails were chicken bones and shoelaces were spaghetti. Other fun bits include his partner envisioning Charlie as a turkey and coming after him as if he was dinner. Chaplin said in Charles Chaplin: My Life in Pictures these comic ideas came from the idea of starving fortune hunters during the gold rush resorting to cannibalism.

Of course, we also have the love story of Charlie falling for the local saloon girl, who mocks him behind this back before eventually...well, you know she'll eventually discover she loves him too.

Chaplin's feature films are well represented in the 1001 movie book. (The Gold Rush, City Lights, Modern Times, Monsieur Verdoux) Though I really think they could have found room for The Great Dictator, too.

DUCK SOUP (1933), ANIMAL CRACKERS (1930)

The Golden Age of Comedy

(Post 2 of 12)

Duck Soup & Animal Crackers

When I was in middle school, I had an assignment to work on a book report. Apparently there wasn't much in the way of guidelines, because I chose to do my report on a  book about The Marx Brothers called The Marx Brothers: Their World of Comedy by Allen Eyles that I had picked up at the local Walden Books. I can't remember what kind of grade that I received for this orignal book choice, but it did indicate I was a bit of a fan.

I was (and suppose still am) partial to the five Paramount movies featuring all four of the Marx Brothers.

Duck Soup

The Marx Brothers were:

The fast talking wordsmith Groucho, with his signature cigar and moustache

The mute, clownish harpist Harpo with his signature horn and top hat

The Italian Chico and his endless butchering of the English language

and Zeppo...I'm not really sure why Zeppo was there, but I kind of liked having him around anyway.

Of the Paramount Marx Brothers films, the only one to make the 1001 movie cut is Duck Soup.

It is one of the most famous comedies of all-time and certainly has as many funny gags as any of the Marxes movies. Highlights include the song Hail Fredonia, Harpo and Chico's constant confrontations with street vendor Edgar Kennedy, Groucho's many scenes with Margaret Dumont (a regular target of his barbs), the final gun battle scene with the Marxes representing the last stand for their country and the classic mirror scene with Chico and Harpo dressed up as Groucho.

No, you can't deny Duck Soup's place on the 1001 list.

But what about the others Paramount movies ?

These films include:

The Coconuts, the first Marx feature and based on their Broadway play.

Horse Feathers, the one set in a college with the football finale.

Monkey Business, the one where they are stowaways

These films have many great moments in their own rights, but none hit the target as consistently as Duck Soup.

However, one other of the Marx Paramount films would make my list.

That would be Animal Crackers.

Now I admit to having a sentimental attatchment to Animal Crackers.

For various reasons, the film had been out of circulation for many decades after it was released. After a restoration, it was re-released in 1974 and that is when I first viewed it. It was certainly the only Marx Brothers movie I went to see as if it were a new release!

The film itself has some of the Brothers best gags.

They include:

1. The party of the first part dictation from Groucho to Zeppo
2. Groucho (as Captain Spaulding) and his farfetched tales of African safaris
3. Groucho's songs "Hello, I Must Be Going," and "Hooray for Captain Spaulding."
4. Harpo and Chico's many scenes, including Chico looking for a flash and Harpo giving him everything but a flashlight.
5. The card playing scene featuring Harpo, Chico and Margaret Dumont.
6. Groucho's scenes with Margaret Dumont, of course
7. Chico's interminable piano rendering of Sugar Time.
8. The constant movement of the valuable Bogarde painting as if it were nothing more than a road map.
9. The overall comic writing of Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby and George S. Kaufman.
10. And the finale, where Harpo knocks everyone out with his flit spray before spraying it on himself before passing out into the arms of a lovely blonde.

So Duck Soup and Animal Crackers remain my two favorites from the list, but I certainly enjoyed going back through all of them.

Animal Crackers