Silent Clowns (2006) User Reviews

Bloody Great Series!

[calvindyson · 10/10 · 21 June 2006]

It's about time that a show like this was put on TV. Something that reminds us of the brilliance, and, yes genius, of the Classic Silent Comedians.

This terrific series hosted by Paul Merton profiles some the greatest of the silent clowns, Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and (my own favourites) Laurel and Hardy.

The Laurel and Hardy episode was my personal favourite. I loved the new music score for "Your Darn Tootin'" composed by Phil Glass I believe. I also throughly enjoyed the Chaplin episode as I finally got to see the legendary "Easy Street" in all its glory! I hope this series is released on DVD some day but then I doubt it ever will.

Overall a terrific series!

A Long Overdue Salute To The Comedy Greats

[ShadeGrenade · 10/10 · 25 July 2006]

When I was young, two of my favourite programmes were 'Mad Movies' hosted by Bob Monkhouse, and 'The Golden Silents' with Michael Bentine, which instilled in me a lifelong love of the classic silent comedians such as Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, Keaton, and Lloyd. I got that same wonderful feeling again watching Paul Merton in this excellent B.B.C.-4 series. His enthusiasm for the subject is unmistakable, and he managed to convey it to the audience. Seeing children laughing out loud at silent comedy was the most wonderful sight on television in years. The feature on the painstaking restoration work on the films in the 'Keaton' edition was fascinating too. The cherry on the cake was the screening in each edition of a complete movie, my favourite being 'Safety Last' starring Harold Lloyd. Now we know at last how he did that scene on the clock! Forget today's 'cutting edge' rubbish, it'll soon be forgotten. Silent comedy, on the other hand, will live forever. Let's have another series soon, Paul!