Happy Times and Jolly Moments

This is a pleasant, if a bit lack-luster short made up of clips from various Mack Sennett comedies. Oddly, though, the film NEVER mentions Charlie Chaplin--who began his career with Sennett and helped make the studio great. During his two year stint, Chaplin made dozens and dozens of shorts, but judging by this short film, you'd think he'd never worked there! Apart from that, this is a nice though shallow look at Sennett (a.k.a. "Keystone") comedies, with some very funny clips throughout. However, if you would like a better collection and homage to silent films, I recommend the Robert Youngson-produced features, such as THE GOLDEN AGE OF COMEDY or WHEN COMEDY WAS KING. They simply are more coherent and offer longer and better clips.

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.

Almost as soon as talking features started to crowd out silent movies in the final years of the 1920s, silent movies were relegated to being 'primitive' and 'melodramatic.' There were movies that met that description, but there were also enormously sophisticated works that told their tales in an almost purely visual fashion. Through the 1930s, the silents in the vaults were mined for burlesques, like MGM's GOOFY MOVIES, with the old pictures recut, with nonsensical titles, and projected at the wrong speed, burlesquing the entire industry.

In 1943, when this sentimental look at Mack Sennett's silent work came out, we were at war, and older audiences were doubtless nostalgic for a look back to an era when things were simpler, and no one was worried that the Japanese were about to invade Seattle. Gradually, silent movies were revived, their artistry gradually recognized. This may be the turning point from utter contempt to recognition that grandpa had his flaws, but he also did some very good things.

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.