Days of Thrills and Laughter

"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.