Happy Times and Jolly Moments

This is a rather disjointed look at fragments from the Mack Sennett silent comedies, the days of Fatty Arbuckle, Ben Turpin, Buster Keaton and other "greats" from that era, but particularly the frantic chase scenes involving the Keystone Cops.

Interestingly, there's never a glimpse of the era's most famous clown, Charlie Chaplin.

Accompanied by an appropriate musical soundtrack and narration, it's an enjoyable enough look at the past with some amazingly well-timed stunts and chases taking up much of the screen time.

But there have been other short subjects devoted to this topic which gave a fuller view of the Mack Sennett comedies.

Summing up: Good for a glimpse but surely there were better and funnier clips to show than what goes on here.

WE HAD SEEN this title on sale at Sears, 62nd Street & Western Avenue store in the early 1970's. This was long before the Home Video craze; so naturally the format was either 8 mm or Super 8 Silent. (You see, Schultz, you would play the film on your home projector! Got it?)

WELL, UP UINTIL very recently, we thought that this title was a compilation of various silent film stars that was created by that purveyor home movies in 8 mm, KEN FILMS. But now we know better, ever since TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES aired the 2 reeler some 2 weeks back.

WHAT IS REPRESENTED as a look back at the GOLDEN AGE of SCREEN COMEDY at the MACK SENNETT Studios features many a forgotten moment of visual gags and speeded up action from Sennett's KEYSTONE Company. Names like Billy Bevan, Ben Turpin, Chester Conklin, Mabel Normand, Louise Fazenda, Polly Moran, Ford Sterling and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle are featured.

ALTHOUGH THIS Documentary 2 Reel Short is well worth your investing 20 minutes in, it's not quite what it claims to be; well, not quite. (Read on, Schultz!)

THIS FILM IS the product of Warner Brothers' Short Subjects department. They must have acquired the rights to a lot of SENNETT Silent Movies, for they released this HAPPY TIMES compilation in 1943 and had previously released Sennett's 1921 silent feature, A SMALL TOWN IDOL in 1939. This was a version with added musical score and it had been edited down to a short (2 reels, we believe).

ADDITIONALLY, THROUGH THEIR Vitaphone Subsidiary, Warners produced a series of sound comedies with a definite homage to the silent days. There were several with Roscoe Arbuckle and one starring Ben Turpin, Ford Sterling and many Sennett veterans titled KEYSTONE HOTEL. It did us all proud with its maintaining the spirit of the old films, with a great deal of great sight gags; as well as a marked heavy dose of reverence for the now outmoded silent.

WELL, SOME OF those scenes filmed in the sound era 1930's were used in the HAPPY TIMES & JOLLY MOMENTS Short; being passed off as the McCoy, actual footage from pre World War I and the Roaring Twenties. The scene of "Fatty" Arbuckle and a great deal of Ford Sterling as Chief of Police and his Keystone Kops are really from those Warner Brothers Shorts Subjects from the '30's!

WELL, NOW You've been told these little tidbits of otherwise useless info, You can take this all to the bank! (Just ask Schultz!)

Happy Times and Jolly Moments (1943)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Documentary short on Mack Sennett and the many comedies he made during the silent era. After a few nice shots of Sennett studios we then get to see various clips from his films, which include stars like Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, Ben Turpin, Buster Keaton and various others. A handful of compilations about silent films were produced around this time and it was good to see one that didn't make fun of the pictures. Sennett and the actors are all shown respect and Warner even touched up the film by adding some pretty good music to the clips. Since these films weren't too old when this movie was made most will be shocked at how good the print quality is on the silents shown. These films today all look pretty poor so it was nice seeing them look so good.

A Warner Brothers Short Subject.

Leering villains. Damsels in distress. Frantic chases. Wacky slapstick humor. All this & more, as we fondly remember so many HAPPY TIMES AND JOLLY MOMENTS from the days of Silent Cinema.

This nostalgic little film is a look at many crazy highlights from the Mack Sennett Studios' heyday. Ben Turpin, James Finlayson, and other stars of the past are recollected in some of their funniest film clips. We get to watch a Mack Sennett Bathing Beauty talent contest. We're taken to a splendiferous custard pie throwing melee with Roscoe `Fatty' Arbuckle. Finally, after pratfalls, violence & assorted mayhem, we get to ride along with the Keystone Kops on a wild & wonderful road chase.

I've seen many shorts featuring clips from silent films, and this one isn't bad; in fact, it's quite enjoyable. The clips are well-presented, with a minimum of the "Aren't these corny!" wisecracks one sadly finds in many silent film clip shows. The action is underscored nicely with lively music and those classic Warner Brothers cartoon sound effects, which fit quite well into the Sennett universe. And, as the films weren't terribly old at the time this film was compiled, the source material is quite good. Best of all, the comics are given due credit for their work; the film could even serve as a nice mini-introduction to this era for the film student. All told, the film is a fond look back at Sennett comics of the 20's, and captures the outrageously zany gag-making of the time.