The Golden Age of Comedy (1957)

A compilation of scenes featuring some of the best-known comics from the silent era in their best films.

Director:

Robert Youngson

Writers:

Robert Youngson, René Clair

Stars:

Stan Laurel, Ward Wilson, Oliver Hardy

Cast

Credited cast:
Stan Laurel	...	Stan (archive footage) (as Laurel)
Ward Wilson	...	Self / Narrator (voice)
Oliver Hardy	...	Ollie (archive footage) (as Hardy)
Will Rogers	...	(archive footage)
Carole Lombard	...	(archive footage)
Jean Harlow	...	(archive footage)
Ben Turpin	...	Rodney St. Clair (archive footage)
Harry Langdon	...	(archive footage)
Charley Chase	...	(archive footage) (as Charlie Chase)
Billy Bevan	...	(archive footage)
Andy Clyde	...	Andy (archive footage)
Harry Gribbon	...	(archive footage)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Edgar Dearing	...	Policeman at car fight (archive footage)
Madalynne Field	...	Fat Girl Track Competitor (archive footage)
Thelma Hill	...	Brunette Girlfriend (archive footage)

Storyline

A compilation of scenes featuring some of the best-known comics from the silent era in their best films.

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Plot Keywords:

slapstick comedy | tom mix spoof | spoof | keystone kops | 1920s | 

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Taglines:

An explosion of mirth and madness! You'll laugh like you haven't laughed in years!

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Genres:

Comedy | Documentary

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Quotes

Narrator: [Last lines] The curtain lowers. The clowns depart. Hail and farewell. We will never see their like again. This is The End of a memory.

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Connections

Edited from Circus Today (1926)

User Reviews

Sennett is the Keystone of Film History

Robert Youngson's first big compilation of silent comedy clips holds an important place in the history of film. Before this film, silent films were viewed as creaky antiques, suitable only for the occasional sneering jeer, like the "Goofy Movie" series and the rare fond memory of old-timers. It was only beginning in 1949, with Walter Kerr's article on the "Four Greats" of silent comedy, that a reappraisal began.

If, as some reviewers complain, there is no Lloyd, Keaton or Chaplin available here, well, their place was already being reestablished or, in Chaplin's case, had never been questioned. If the movie begins with a series of clips from the Sennett studios, it was surely Sennett's reputation which had sunk lowest, until he was recalled only as a purveyor of primitive pie fights in worn-out prints. Here, Youngson offers them in clean copies with admiring voice-overs and good musical accompaniment. If they're not the way the audience was intended to see them -- as complete films -- this surely shows them off to advantage as they had not been seen in thirty years. If nowadays the purist sneers at the film's perceived shortcomings, he should recognize that without Youngson's daring and surprisingly successful offering here, that purist would probably have never heard of those talents; given that almost all that survives of the Laurel & Hardy THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY exists only because Youngson put most of its second reel here....

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

March 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

The First Kings of Comedy

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White