American Slapstick, Vol. 2

Customer Reviews

Glimpses of How Closely Current Comedy Borrows from the Riches of Silent Film

David Crumm 2008-08-07

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

If you love silent film, if you find yourself drawn to archival collections of rarely seen movie gems and especially if you have a taste for broad comedy - you'll enjoy this new set from Facets.

There are two shorts from the `30s at the very end of the set - but it's essentially a collection of silents. And, because this is a silents set, you'll want to know that the audio track is entertaining. You'll hear some Scott Joplin here and other piano riffs from long ago. Some silent DVD releases in recent years have gone out of their way to enhance the audio experience, including offering multiple audio settings for the films. This is a single standard soundtrack -- nevertheless, lots of fun and well performed.

Here's what I think is most intriguing about this collection:

I reviewed this 3-disc set in the same week that the Seth Rogen comedy, "Pineapple Express," hit theaters and I got hooked on jotting down all the comic bits in these silent comedies that I had just seen in the new Rogen comedy. In fact, a clever film student could take the script of "Pineapple Express," listing all the slapstick bits one after another - and edit clips from silent films to fill the same script, virtually start to finish.

It's remarkable, really. Here's an example: In one fight scene, Rogen and his nemesis wrestle with Rogen's bulky figure half bent over a low counter, flipping around and tangling together. That's standard business from silent film. In this collection, it's Harold Lloyd fighting over the counter in a general store.

One bit after another, they're all here. Before I was done, I stopped jotting down the corresponding scenes because there were dozens.

What's more, in this set of comedies, you'll meet some rarely seen comic heroes - like Lloyd Hamilton, who is basically a Seth Rogen from the silent era. Like Rogen, Hamilton certainly didn't cut the typical figure of a leading man. Yet, he was attractive to the girls in his films, largely because of his loveable, hapless, persistent style. Like Rogen, his trademarks were a pudgy figure, a puzzled expression alternated with a confident smile, and his big round face. In "Pineapple," Rogen plays virtually the entire film in an ill-fitting suit, which was a Lloyd Hamilton trademark, as well.

This new collection is great fun - plus, if you've a taste for cultural history, you'll make all sorts of connections while you're chuckling.

Fine film treasures, only fair quality

Obscure silent comedy shorts

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American Slapstick, Vol. 2

Facets / All Day Entertainment

Hal Roach, Alfred J. Goulding, William Watson, Harold Lloyd, Louise Fazenda, Oliver Hardy, Bebe Daniels, 'Snub' Pollard

3 reviews

release date: 2008-07-22

~~$34.95~~
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Product Description

They were the bad boy superstars of the Jazz Age. They told jokes without words, with punch-lines made from brickbats and cream pies. At a time when pop culture was in its infancy, they made movies that would last for ages. They dressed in drag, wore crazy moustaches, showed a complete disregard for private property, and drove way too fast. This 3-disc collection is their legacy, a deluxe sampler of silent comedy rarities, B-sides, and one-hit wonders. Brace yourself for: Comedians in skirts (some of 'em girls!), the nut who used too much glue, the Frenchman with a mouthful of marbles, Charlie Chaplin comedies that don't have Charlie Chaplin in them, the girl everyone thought was crazy, the incomparable Snub Pollard goes looking for trouble, famous brothers doing their thing, and a portrait of Harold Lloyd as young man.
These never-before-on-home-video comedy shorts have been mastered from archival elements and rare collections, some of them previously thought lost altogether, and are presented with new musical scores. Hold on to your porkpie hat here comes AMERICAN SLAPSTICK VOLUME TWO!