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.
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.
