Days of Thrills and Laughter (1961) User Reviews

A "Silent-Comedy" Documentary Of Chills And Thrills

[strong-122-478885 · 7/10 · 27 July 2013]

Released in 1961 - If you enjoy watching fantastically wild stunts and hilariously crazy slapstick comedy turned up to full-throttle, then this thrill-packed documentary is definitely guaranteed to get you roaring with peals of laughter.

Selected from hundreds of hours of vintage film clips, producer Robert Youngson brings to the viewer the funniest scenes ever captured on film from the likes of Charley Chase, Stan Laurel, Mack Sennett, "Snub" Pollard, Oliver Hardy, The Keystone Kops, Boris Karloff and Kewpie Morgan.

This delightful anthology is a treasure-filled look at yesterday, reminding all of the invention and artistry of uninhibited movie-making that took place during the silent era.

Presented in b&w, Days Of Thrills & Laughter (which is jam-packed with uproarious sight-gags, fast-paced car chases and elaborately staged pranks) has a running time of 93 minutes.

Unsatisfying compilation, but the best bits are cherishable.

[alice liddell · 7/10 · 27 October 1999]

Robert Youngson compilation of excerpts from silent movies. The 'thrills' feature some bizarre Hollywood action films, daredevil stunts, villainous villains, terrifying cliffhangers, hurtling trains, impassive heroes and knowing, smiling, up-for-it heroines. The 'laughter' is by far the most pleasurable section, recovering sadly obscure comics such as Snub Pollard, and paying testament to their bounteous invention, thoughtfulness and sheer good humour. The presentation of the film grates, especially with a narrator far too pleased with himself.

Nice clip show but with glaring omissions

[jellopuke · 6/10 · 9 January 2021]

No Keaton or Lloyd? Hmmmm. But what's here is nice even with the over done slide whistle sound effects and you get a good sense of some of the lesser known stars of the era. Decent primer to the style.

Golden moments of comedy and adventure

[Petey-10 · 19 January 2001]

Robert Youngson's Days of Thrills and Laughter from 1961 includes some great clips from silent comedy and adventure movies.Watch the adventures of Douglas Fairbanks and the famous magician Harry Houdini with the horror star Boris Karloff.For comedy lovers there are clips with Charles Chaplin and Harry Langdon.You can see Laurel without Hardy and Hardy without Laurel from the time they weren't the comedy couple everybody loved.There are lots of other great comedians of silent time in the movie.All the clips are very enjoyable to watch.They were very well picked for this movie.Every silent movie fan should enjoy watching these clips with the stars that no longer exist.Except in our hearts.

Good for those not familiar with silents....fans of the style of film, on the other hand, might want to pass up on this one.

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 24 March 2020]

"Days of Thrills and Laughter" is a very odd film consisting of various comedy clips from the silent age. I say very odd because it's not at all exhaustive and the actors they chose to highlight really had no rhyme nor reason. So, for fans of early comedy, it's probably NOT a great film to watch. For the uninitiated, it's probably better.

If you were to pick the top three most famous and important silent comedians, you would certainly have Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton. Why, then does this film only have Chaplin clips along with those of inferior comedians such as the VERY obscure Arthur Stone as well as a comedy with Douglas Fairbanks which is more an adventure picture? Why feature a Houdini film when there was NOTHING comedic about it and when Houdini never was a big film star?! And, why feature Al St. John when he was mostly the sidekick for Fatty Arbuckle during the teens and 1920s?! No...there really is no logic to any of these choices. I think this is because Robert Youngson already made a few similar films and here he has given up being as educational and thorough as he was in "The Golden Age of Comedy" or "When Comedy Was King".

The bottom line is that this film is essentially a time-passer and NOT really for anyone wanting an education about silent comedies. Worth watching but I would try finding some of Youngson's other compilations instead.