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When Comedy Was King

Play trailer Poster for When Comedy Was King Released Mar 29, 1960 1h 21m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 3 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Culling together footage from features and short comedies of the silent era, this documentary is a showcase for the talents of Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Buster Keaton, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and lesser-known actors. These slapstick clips, mostly from the 1910s and '20s, find humor in the mundane and the bizarre. In one bit, Chaplin gets in a hilarious bar fight, while another finds Arbuckle coping with the fact that his house is suddenly adrift in the ocean.

Critics Reviews

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Walter Goodman New York Times How can you go wrong with Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Fatty Arbuckle, Laurel and Hardy, Ben Turpin, the Keystone Kops and other favorites of the silents? Jan 8, 2018 Full Review Isabel Quigly The Spectator Yet another of these hundred-years-hence social historian's documents, with almost as much fun for the Freudians as the nuns have to offer. Jul 20, 2018 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Homage documentary on the noteworthy silent era comics. Rated: B- Nov 8, 2010 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Though it's simply a compilation of short silent comedy bits from the 1910s and 1920s -- it is enormous fun. As DVD has given silent cinema short shrift, these are very welcome to see, as they are not available anywhere else. Compiled by historian Robert Youngson, there are great films with Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton (being chased by an entire police department), Snub Pollard (as a wacky inventor in a house that Tim Burton ripped off of for Pee Wee's Big Adventure), Gloria Swanson tied up on a train track by Wallace Beery, The Keystone Kops (mass destruction of property), Fatty Arbuckle (who is great!) and Laurel & Hardy (destroying a house a la Norman McLaren's Neighbours), among others. A voice over gives a running commentary about the thin plots (the intertitles have been removed) which, though really hokey at times, also gives a lot of historical context. Very rare, and lots of fun. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Read all reviews
When Comedy Was King

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When Comedy Was King

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Movie Info

Synopsis Culling together footage from features and short comedies of the silent era, this documentary is a showcase for the talents of Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Buster Keaton, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and lesser-known actors. These slapstick clips, mostly from the 1910s and '20s, find humor in the mundane and the bizarre. In one bit, Chaplin gets in a hilarious bar fight, while another finds Arbuckle coping with the fact that his house is suddenly adrift in the ocean.
Director
Robert Youngson
Producer
Robert Youngson
Screenwriter
Robert Youngson
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 29, 1960, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Oct 7, 2003
Runtime
1h 21m