The Golden Age of Comedy

Personally, I wasn't all that keen on Chaplin, so his omission here doesn't bother me as it seems to others? Robert Youngson probably just never had the rights to use any of the material from those left out, although Keaton and Chaplin appeared in his next compilation. This is priceless entertainment, I think the music and added sound effects make these clips all the more enjoyable, plus the very witty and informative narration. Stan & Ollie are the standouts of course, for me the lengthy 'Two Tars' clips are the best, and the rest isn't far behind! Don't analyse it, just enjoy!

In 1957 Robert Youngson directed The Golden Age of Comedy which is a documentary with clips from the silent movies with our favorite comedians.You can see Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as jail birds who escape and they have to prove that they are painters.And in one clip Laurel and Hardy are having problems with cars and especially with the ones who are driving them.And who could forget the legendary pie throwing scene.The baby face Harry Langdon, offers lots of funny moments in the train.Billy Bevan and Mack Sennett's Cameo dog are hilarious.There are also clips from actors such as Will Rogers, Carole Lombard, Jean Harlow and the cross eyed Ben Turpin.For true silent comedy lovers it is impossible to get bored with The Golden Age of Comedy.Watch these golden clips from the silent era and have fun!

From the age of the Pie Fight comes this marvellous compilation by Robert Youngson.Watching it you can judge how much sheer joie - de vivre has been lost with the so - called "sophistication "of movie comedy in the ensuing decades.And where are the geniuses to rival Mr Chaplin and Mr Keaton?Who,today,is as universally loved as Mr Laurel and Mr Hardy whose masterwork "Big Business" is featured here? Feel free to laugh uproariously....."For Ghosts may be listening." "The Golden Age of Comedy" used to be a staple of Christmas Day TV. Sitting there watching it with a mince pie and a glass of port must be the nearest thing to paradise this side of the Elysian Fields.

This well-meant but misleading compilation celebrates the glory days of silent film comedy, for the most part through mediocre excerpts from the Max Sennett and Hal Roach Studios, which even at their peak could never match the sophistication of a Chaplin, Lloyd, or Keaton two-reeler. The repertory of Sennett and Roach gags rarely extended beyond mild parody, primitive slapstick, and artificial trick effects, giving an entirely false but lasting impression of silent comedy as nothing but frantic pratfalls and pie fights. The exception here is Laurel and Hardy, whose deliberate methods of wreaking mayhem overturned the time honored formula of fast and furious chases. Happily, the film gives them extra attention, but the majority of footage is devoted to second-rate clowns like Billy Bevan and cross-eyed Ben Turpin. Even the great Harry Langdon is represented only in a clip from a minor Sennett short which gives little indication of his unique talents, and the enthusiastic voice-over narration underlines his lackluster antics with forced wit and too many puns.

This film was a lot of fun to watch--with some wonderful clips of Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chase and others. What a lot of fun stuff! However, there is a BIG, BIG problem with the film. Nowhere in it do you see clips of Chaplin, Keaton or Lloyd--the three biggest film comedians of the 1920s. This is akin to a documentary about the 1960s without mentioning Vietnam or The Beatles! It's obvious that Robert Youngson just didn't have access to these other clips or he simply slapped them together without considering this. In his next film, WHEN COMEDY WAS KING, you DO get to see clips of Chaplin and Keaton--but, unbelievably, there is no Harold Lloyd! Well, if you JUST watch the film for its entertainment value, it's great. If you watch it for a historical overview, it is sadly incomplete and gives a false impression of the era.