The 100 Greatest Silent Film Comedians
The 100 Greatest Silent Film Comedians

Author: James Roots

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2014-10-23

Total Pages: 465

ISBN-13: 1442236507

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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.

The Great Funnies
The Great Funnies

Author: David Robinson

Publisher:

Published: 1969

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 9780289796405

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It would be impossible in a book of this size to offer anything like a comprehensive survey of the vast, tumbling, chattering, shrieking army of clowns who have peopled the first seventy years of the cinema; and this essay pretends to be no more than a bird's-eye view, only lingering from time to time over a figure of particular importance or special attraction. Even so, everyone will find some of his favourites forgotten, or written off in an inadequate aside. I can only apologize for the inevitable. The section of the book devoted to silent comedy may seem disproportionate; but I have felt it important to give space to the more remote and unfamiliar film comedians than to dwell on artists who are still active or whose work can readily be seen at first hand.

Joe Franklin's Encyclopedia of Comedians
Joe Franklin's Encyclopedia of Comedians

Author: Joe Franklin

Publisher: Lyle Stuart

Published: 1979

Total Pages: 347

ISBN-13: 9780806505664

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Combing every medium--vaudeville, musical comedy, films, radio, and television--Franklin brings together, in text and pictures, the comedians and the classic routines that have, for nearly a century, made America laugh

The Comedians
The Comedians

Author: Kliph Nesteroff

Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic

Published: 2015-11-03

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13: 0802190863

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“Funny [and] fascinating . . . If you’re a comedy nerd you’ll love this book.” —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, National Post, and Splitsider Based on over two hundred original interviews and extensive archival research, this groundbreaking work is a narrative exploration of the way comedians have reflected, shaped, and changed American culture over the past one hundred years. Starting with the vaudeville circuit at the turn of the last century, the book introduces the first stand-up comedian—an emcee who abandoned physical shtick for straight jokes. After the repeal of Prohibition, Mafia-run supper clubs replaced speakeasies, and mobsters replaced vaudeville impresarios as the comedian’s primary employer. In the 1950s, the late-night talk show brought stand-up to a wide public, while Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, and Jonathan Winters attacked conformity and staged a comedy rebellion in coffeehouses. From comedy’s part in the civil rights movement and the social upheaval of the late 1960s, to the first comedy clubs of the 1970s and the cocaine-fueled comedy boom of the 1980s, The Comedians culminates with a new era of media-driven celebrity in the twenty-first century. “Entertaining and carefully documented . . . jaw-dropping anecdotes . . . This book is a real treat.” —Merrill Markoe, TheWall Street Journal

The Day the Laughter Stopped
The Day the Laughter Stopped

Author: David Yallop

Publisher: Constable

Published: 2014-10-23

Total Pages: 351

ISBN-13: 1472116593

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The true story behind the 'Fatty Arbuckle' Scandal David Yallop is no stranger to controversy. The impact of his investigations in such bestsellers as In God's Name, Beyond Reasonable Doubt and To Encourage the Others has reverberated around the world. In The Day the Laughter Stopped, he uncovers the incredible true story behind the Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle scandal of 1921, when the fat film comedian stood accused of the rape and murder of a pretty screen actress. Arbuckle's is the story of a man born in extreme poverty who was destined to rise to the heights of a multi-million dollar career, only to have it snatched from him by a wave of hysteria and bigotry that swept the globe. It is the story of Hollywood and what really happened in the corridors of power; the political corruption of San Francisco; the immorality of a president. How Charlie Chaplin's career was saved. How Buster Keaton's was begun. Both by Arbuckle. It is a life story that ranges from comic heights to tragic depths. The Day the Laughter Stopped confirms David Yallop's reputation as the world's greatest investigative author, combining exhaustive research with compulsive narrative.

Where we Came In
Where we Came In

Author: Charles Allen Oakley

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-12-04

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 1317928679

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Originally published in 1964, this book tells the history of the British cinematograph industry for the first time. It describes moments of splendid triumph and others of shattering failure. The mood switches from reckless optimism to demoralising pessimism, from years in which British films won the highest international awards to those when they were dismissed with scorn. It recalls a score of productions still ranked among the world's best, and the stars whose reputation was established in them. Attention is focused on the directors, those who kept to the fore during two and three decades and those with only one major success to their name. Behind them the men are identified who strove, often to their considerable financial loss, to gain a worthy place for British films in the world’s markets.