Silent Comedy-The Road Not Taken

Much has been written about how sound film "killed" the silent comedy style and set back the technical progress of filmmaking for at least several years while filmmakers and technicians grappled with the new challenges facing them.

Comedy especially seemed to fall into two camps: the vaudeville-imported dialogue comics like Wheeler and Woolsey and The Marx Bros., and the slapstick-comedy with sound that was used by Harold Lloyd, Mack Sennett, etc. and proved to be an ineffective solution.One thing I'm surprised that more historians/critics haven't written about is the fact that in sound film's earliest days, there were several filmmakers who could have completely re-written the way films were made."Talkies" basically established themselves as extensions of the stage in the sense that they were dialogue-driven, and many early sound films featured actors standing around in front of the camera as if they were on a stage facing an audience.It is interesting to note, though, the directors who did not feel the need to fill their films with dialogue.

Chaplin is certainly the most notable of these. Rather than seeing CITY LIGHTS and MODERN TIMES as "silent films", I think they are an interesting glimpse at what might have been if sound films hadn't felt the need to saddle themselves with dialogue from beginning to end. The other most notable example of this is in the films of Rene Clair, who combined music with lyrics that propelled the story (almost like comic operas), and a strong sense of visuals (akin to the silent film). These films are really unlike anything made since. The earliest talkies of Ernst Lubitsch also came close to this. His film TROUBLE IN PARADISE has been called a "musical without music", although it is more heavy on dialogue than either Clair or Chaplin's films. At their most creative, the films of Laurel and Hardy fit this pattern as well. Some of their shorts play out more like situation comedies, but when you look at how inventively they played with sound in many of their films (while using only minimal dialogue), it is really very unique and innovative.

Later, Jacques Tati would experiment with and master this technique as well (think of a film like PLAYTIME, for instance). It is all very similar to what Buster Keaton had discussed using sound for, if he had been able to maintain creative control. Keaton had wanted to use music, sound effects and only selected dialogue to propel the story (unlike the corny vaudeville banter he was forced to recite in his early talkies at MGM).

This is not to suggest that the films of great visual directors such as Hitchcock, Welles, Ford, Hawks, etc. were simply non-stop gabfests, but they are still driven by dialogue in a way that the films of Chaplin, Clair, Tati, etc. were not.I wonder, if sound film hadn't latched on to the stage traditions of wall-to-wall dialogue, what kinds of new techniques would have emerged in combining the visual storytelling of silent films with limited, selective use of sound. It's interesting to think about this as a cinematic "road not taken".

Silent Comedy Night in Towson

Thanks to Bruce Calvert for passing this along:
"The Friends of the Trinity Organ present the annual Silent Movie Night on Friday, October 27, beginning at 7:00 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, 120 Allegheny Avenue, Towson. Organist Michael Britt will provide background music for the antics of favorite silent movie-era comedians. It's laugh-aloud entertainment for the entire family, and it's free. Popcorn and other treats will be provided."

If you're going to be in the Towson area next Friday, make sure to stop by and check out the lineup of silent comedies being shown.

The screenings of silent films have become a rarity. However when they are shown, it is often with live accompaniment, which is a real treat. This is the way silent films were meant to be seen.

The evening of silent comedy at the Trinity Episcopal Church will include live organ accompaniment. This is a traditional instrument for silent film accompaniment, and should prove to be a fun evening for all.

Make sure to show your support for events like this by coming out next Friday. If you've never seen a silent comedy, you're in for a real treat. Silent comedy is really a language unto itself. It doesn't rely on over-plotting and dialogue as so many comedies since 1929 have had to. There is a constant breakneck pace, freewheeling antics, and sense of absurdity to it all, especially in the short films.

I will be following up with a review of the performance and the films shown.

Visit the Trinity Episcopal Church of Towson's website at: http://www.trinitychurchtowson.org/Home/Home.aspx

Comedy Filmmaking Timeless or Not?

Tastes in comedy are a funny thing, aren't they? I find it very interesting to read these period reviews of the great comedy films to see how much the general perception of the films have changed. The [Variety] reviewer calls WAY OUT WEST a faltering and stumbling comedy. (Interestingly, Variety only seemed to have praise for OUR RELATIONS and the Fox films). I've read other reviews of such towering comedies as THE GENERAL, DUCK SOUP and IT'S A GIFT which warned the star comedian that if they continued making films like these they might find themselves out of work.You really can never predict how or why the general view of a certain comedy film will change.

For instance, I now hear a lot of complaints from younger people who try to watch the Marx Bros. comedies and find the dialogue impossible to follow (and these are people who want desperately to enjoy the films but can't). This is probably due to two reasons that are entirely not the fault of the Marx Bros: that audiences' ears have become so adjusted to crystal clear sound that any pops or hisses (the soundtracks of the Paramount films are especially rough in spots) make it very difficult to focus on dialogue (especially in dialogue-driven films such as these), and that language itself changes so much over time. This factor will probably date the Marxes faster than anything else, as nothing changes more over time than language, and their dialogue was so focused on devices like puns which require a full understanding of the words involved. Of course this isn't a criticism of the Marx Bros. anymore than it would be to say that the language of Shakespearean plays is no longer the common vernacular. People interested in these works will always be able to build up some context and appreciate them. On the other hand, the sight of Laurel and Hardy moving a piano up a giant staircase will always be instantly accessible and funny.

Oliver Hardy's Favorite Films

When asked to name his five favorite of his own films, comedian Oliver Hardy's response was somewhat surprising, and very telling. One would expect his favorite films in which he appeared to be the best of the Laurel and Hardy comedies for which he became internationally famous. Instead, the five films he named were rather unexpected.
The list:
WAY OUT WEST
NO MAN'S LAW
ZENOBIA
THE FIGHTING KENTUCKIAN
JITTERBUGS

Looking at this list, we can see that Hardy clearly had a preference for films in which he was allowed to do more of his own work rather than as part of a team. The only "obvious" film on the list is the great WAY OUT WEST, which is now pretty much recognized as Laurel and Hardy's greatest feature.

It is the other films on this list that provide a key into the career of Oliver Hardy that he rarely revealed to the public.

NO MAN'S LAW is a 1928 Western in which Hardy is cast in a quite menacing role as a villain. This film has something of a reputation as an extremely intense, adult Western, and Hardy most likely saw this as one of his greatest acting turns.

ZENOBIA offered Oliver Hardy clearly one of the best roles of his career, as kindly Southern doctor Henry Tibbett. In this Hal Roach comedy, Hardy takes the lead role, supported by former silent screen clown Harry Langdon. This film was made during the brief period in which Stan Laurel's contract was expired, but before Oliver Hardy's had expired. There were rumors that Roach was trying to push Langdon and Hardy as a new team. It's easy to see where audiences may have gotten this impression based on reading industry news publications, but in reality, the film really offers the two comic greats relatively few scenes together, and they certainly don't have the interaction that Laurel and Hardy had together. Overall, the film is something of a curiosity. It's a gentle little slapstick comedy with strong romantic subplots and even a strain of early Civil Rights propaganda running throughout it. The cast includes a large number of character actors, including Billie Burke, Alice Brady, Stepin Fetchit and Hattie McDaniel. One can see where Hardy would have taken great pride in his performance in this rather strange little film.

THE FIGHTING KENTUCKIAN offers Hardy perhaps his strongest dramatic performance, as the sidekick to hero John Wayne in this story of fighting off the last of Napoleon's loyalists in 1818 Alabama. The film offered him a chance to act opposite one of his best friends in Hollywood, and gave Hardy a chance to prove what a successful career he could have had as a character player.

Finally, the last film on this list is also the strangest. One can understand Hardy's fondness for his solo performances, but this last film on the list is something of a mystery. JITTERBUGS is one of the team's better later Fox outings. Laurel and Hardy play two musicians in the Zoot Suit band who get caught up in a scam and end up pulling a "conning the con-men" scheme to help out their friend. Hardy most likely had a strong fondness for this film because of his characterization of a Southern gentleman, a role he always enjoyed playing, very much like his off-camera self. JITTERBUGS has its moments but is not really top-notch Laurel and Hardy.

Looking over this list, we can learn a lot about the types of roles Hardy most enjoyed playing, and his desire to be seen as a single entity rather than just as one-half of the world's funniest comedy team.

Political Comedies Part I

This is the first of a multi-part article detailing the history of political comedies onscreen.

With the upcoming release of the new Robin Williams comedy MAN OF THE YEAR, I thought this would be an appropriate time to look back at some of the great political comedies over the years.

Political satire has been with the movies since the very beginning of course. But for some reason, it never really took off as a genre until the early 1930s. It's very difficult to say why this is. Perhaps due to the onset of the Depression, it was a welcome relief to poke fun at those in power. I don't want to suggest that political satires somehow only began at this point, but rather, that it kicked off a trend for this type of humor that would last throughout the second World War.

Ernst Lubitsch, the brilliant comic writer-director, introduced a mythical Ruritanian kingdom in his 1929 musical comedy THE LOVE PARADE, starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeannette MacDonald. This film set the trend for several films to follow.

The first to appear was probably Wheeler and Woolsey's CRACKED NUTS (RKO, 1931), a small comedy that skewered a mythical kingdom, much like the one portrayed in THE LOVE PARADE-a sort of generic, middle European kingdom that seems decidedly pre-World War I. CRACKED NUTS is a fairly weak comedy by any standards, but it did help pave the way for even better work to follow.

MILLION DOLLAR LEGS was released in 1932, and audiences and critics alike weren't entirely sure what to make of it. The film was scheduled to coincide with the 1932 Olympic games held in Los Angeles. The plot involves a brush salesman (Jack Oakie) selling Baldwin brushes ("They brush") who falls in love with the President's daughter Angela (Susan Fleming) in a Ruritanian kingdom, Klopstokia, ruled by the President (W.C. Fields) elected by arm-wrestling matches. His rival (Hugh Herbert) is planning to overthrow the government. The President decides to enter his country in the Olympic Games to win funding for the country.

The premise is essentially a silly one, and the political satire is rather indirect. Fields steals the show, but absurdity rules in this comedy which knows no bounds.

Wheeler and Woolsey returned to political comedy with one of the most overtly politicized comedies of the decade, DIPLOMANIACS, released in 1933. As barbers on an Indian reservation sent to the Geneva Peace Conference, the film maintains a highly bizarre tone and never lets down. The absurd finale has them pleading for world peace while performing a soft shoe number at the peace conference, before being blown to smithereens and emerging in blackface and leading the members of the convention in an apocalyptic gospel number. Many comedy fans cite this as a more direct and perceptive satire than the Marx Bros.' classic DUCK SOUP. It contains some very interesting dialogue and seems to be a sort of forerunner of such satires as DR. STRANGELOVE and MASH.

DUCK SOUP is so famous it hardly needs recounting here. Interestingly, in recent years, critics have suggested that DUCK SOUP isn't really political satire at all, and that audiences in the 1960s read more into the film than was actually there. The film does contain some standard Ruritanian government comedy but it's true that it isn't particularly political. It mainly serves as a clothesline on which to hang many classic Marx bits, such as the hoe-down in the middle of Congress, the wonderfully absurd trial scene, and the cabinet meetings with Groucho and his staff. The film culminates in perhaps the zaniest, most absurd sequence ever put on film.

After the enforcement of the Production Code in 1934, political comedies seemed to die down. The often-outrageous sexual nature of the humor in these films, plus the overall anarchic tone, were undoubtedly to blame.

Political comedy made a big comeback in 1940 when Charles Chaplin made THE GREAT DICATOR, perhaps the first political comedy to directly portray current events and hold them up for satire. Chaplin's film lacks the overall absurd qualities of the earlier satires, and holds the mirror up to real life. He offers up some rather serious and solemn scenes to counter the humor, which would later be done in films like MASH. Chaplin sets scenes inside concentration camps, Jewish ghettos, and the battlefields of the world war, and makes them incredibly funny. In his dual role as the Dictator, and the Jewish Barber, Chaplin makes some heavy statements about humanity, culminating in his infamous speech in which he steps out of character to deliver a heartfelt plea for world peace to the audience. By directly referencing current events, Chaplin ushered in a new era of political comedy that would be refined and developed into a sharper form of satire in the years to follow.

To be continued.

Wheeler and Woolsey and The Comedy Pantheon

This is the first in a series of little overviews of some unjustly neglected comedians:

In the unwritten film comedy pantheon, there reigns a list of great clowns whose works regularly show up on any listing of the great comic films. Their names and faces remain very familiar through caricature and homage.

However, what of the talented clowns who were not so lucky to get a place in this pantheon of immortality?

This brings us to Wheeler and Woolsey. This comic duo rank with the second-tier comic masters, perfectly funny and brilliant clowns whose work is perhaps more closely tied with the era in which it was produced and maybe doesn't transcend generations and cultures as well. I would also put Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis (when teamed with Dean Martin), Danny Kaye, Red Skelton and Eddie Cantor in this sort of pseudo-pantheon.

Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey were part of the influx of vaudeville and Broadway comedians who invaded the screen in the wake of the coming of talkies in 1929. They had performed in vaudeville together and were made famous through the show RIO RITA, which was optioned by RKO and filmed in 1929. This blockbuster musical led to a series of other music comedies starring the duo, including THE CUCKOOS and the mediocre DIXIANA.

Their peak occurred in the early 30s, in the "precode" era, when their raunchy, adult and often risque humor (one scene in RIO RITA has them embracing eachother and kissing eachother passionately on the lips for no apparent reason) could go without too much notice. Of all the vulgar comedians, Wheeler and Woolsey were perhaps the most vulgar of all. Their film SO THIS IS AFRICA caused a mild controversy when it was released in 1933 due to the explicit sexual dialogue. 1933 also saw the release of their masterpiece DIPLOMANIACS, which recalled both MILLION DOLLAR LEGS and DUCK SOUP but was actually much more explicitly political than both of those films. This bizarre little musical comedy features the duo as barbers on an Indian reservation, whose chief sends them to Switzerland to attend the Geneva Convention and plead for world peace, which they do in the form of a soft shoe number and acrobatics routine. The whole film is almost too strange to describe in words.

In 1934, the Catholic Legion of Deceny pressured Hollywood to enforce the production code, which severely limited any hint of anything even remotely less-than-saintly being portrayed on screen. This affected Wheeler and Woolsey more harshly than perhaps any other comedians. Their humor neutered, they found themselves in a series of rather disappointing vehicles before retiring in 1937 just before Woolsey's death.

Their comedy has its fans today. It's often bizarre and ambiguous nature has prompted much writing about their work in recent years (make sure to check out Ed Watz' definitive biography of the team's work).

The Marx Bros. on Turner Classic Movies

In an effort to keep readers up-to-date on screenings, both theatrical and non-theatrical, of their favorite films, I wanted to make note of the Marx Bros. films being shown on Turner Classic Movies this week.

This is and of itself is not unusual. The Marx Bros. films, unlike their contemporaries Laurel and Hardy and W.C. Fields, receive plenty of airtime and quality DVD treatments. For the record, the films being shown on Turner include ANIMAL CRACKERS, MONKEY BUSINESS, HORSE FEATHERS and A DAY AT THE RACES (all great).

However, this Thursday marks another interesting landmark on TCM-the showing of the Dick Cavett Show with Groucho as his guest. This promises to be an entertaining, witty and informative program. For those unfamiliar with it (for younger viewers, this is quite possible, as the program is already all of thirty-five years old), the Dick Cavett Show was a highly popular late-night talk show which ran from 1969 to 1973, then again in 1975, before being brought back on PBS in the early 1980s (it looks like new episodes may be appearing on the air again soon, on Turner Classic Movies. A new interview with Mel Brooks aired in August 2006.) Cavett was an always-informed host, getting the most of his hour-plus interviews with a wide range of guests.

You may wonder what Dick Cavett has to do with classic movies. For one thing, he was genuinely knowledgable about the medium in a way few are today, frankly. Second, he frequently interviewed the great film stars of Hollywood's Golden Age. TCM has re-broadcast a number of these programs, including Woody Allen, Bette Davis, Robert Mitchum and Alfred Hitchcock. The Groucho episode is particularly tantalizing as a glimpse at the older Groucho, as sharp and funny as ever (and doing his own material at this point).

Groucho, of course, became notoriously candid in later years. His interviews were occasionally unusable due to his colorful language and stories, and he even sued to try to withhold publication of the Marx Bros. Scrapbook in 1973, which is perhaps one of the most frank and oftentimes crude pieces of literature ever published.

Above all, Groucho remained an entertainer to the very end. For some real fun, check out the four Marx Bros. films being shown this week:

A DAY AT THE RACES (10/12, 9 PM)-Perhaps the last full-blown Marx masterpiece, this delightful musical comedy has a little something for everyone. There are a few sequences that, admittedly, do go on a little long. But then the Marxes show up and bring it back to its comic center.

ANIMAL CRACKERS (10/13, 12 AM)-Without a doubt one of the seminal motion pictures of the early sound era. The crackling dialogue and manic actions of the Marx Bros. helped change the course of filmmaking in these early days of talkies. This one is a musical comedy based on their hit 1928 Broadway show, ostensibly about a stolen painting, but really just a great excuse to trot out one classic Marx Bros. routine after another. Listen carefully on this one-some if it is actually quite subtle and doesn't hit the viewer over the head with a comic mallet to deliver the laughs. The show really gets going and no target is safe from the Marxes' satirical barbs. One of the greats.

MONKEY BUSINESS (10/13, 1:45 AM)-The Marx Bros. are stowaways on an ocean liner and cause chaos between two rival gangsters in this witty gem. Featuring some of the Bros.' most memorable one-liners and puns (both verbal and visual), this film co-stars the lovely Thelma Todd, and features my favorite Marx Bros. line (the one with the pickpocket on the boat).

HORSE FEATHERS (10/13, 3:15 AM)-Ah, yes. I cannot tell you how many people have told me, "I know I'm SUPPOSED to like DUCK SOUP the most, but I find HORSE FEATHERS even funnier." You won't find this one topping the list of the world's greatest films, probably because it doesn't skewer politics the way DUCK SOUP does (although it does give the college system a good once over, that should count for something). This one features the great football game finale ("Is there a doctor in the house?" "Why yes, I'm a doctor." "How do you like the game, doc?").

Treat yourself to four comic gems. Set up the DVR or TiVO or DVD recorder or whatever you need to do to find time and laugh.

And remember, the password is Swordfish.

BABES IN TOYLAND and The Colorization Debate...

Legend Films, the company famous (or infamous, in some circles) for reviving the long-dormant novelty known as colorization, has announced that it will be releasing a "restored" version of the Laurel and Hardy comedy Christmas classic, BABES IN TOYLAND, better known under its reissue title, MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS.

This beloved film has been a staple of the holiday season for quite some time. Originally released in 1934, it re-appeared sporadically in revivals, until being quietly squelched when Disney released their 1961 remake of the film. The charm, wit and magic of the Laurel and Hardy version won a whole new generation of fans (including myself) when it began re-appearing on television, most often in a cut form missing about seven minutes of footage (mostly the cute romantic numbers, but also some of the scarier Bogeymen footage).

In 1991, Goodtimes Home Video released one of their few real quality products: a colorized version of BABES IN TOYLAND, on video. This film has often been cited as the finest example of colorization, although most agree that colorization on any film is a bastardization of the original art, and takes away from the original in serious ways.

For those unfamiliar with colorization's history (already all of twenty years old), it began in 1985 when Ted Turner, who had just acquired the largest film library in the world, decided to "update" the old classics by using a crude computer system to add color to transparent copies of black and white films. The premiere of the colorized YANKEE DOODLE DANDY on US television in 1985 drew the highest ratings for a film on television up to that time. The 20th Century-Fox family classic MIRACLE ON 34th STREET followed later that year. By 1986, Turner was going through his library and colorizing everything he could, from CASABLANCA to THE MALTESE FALCON. Thankfully, he couldn't touch CITIZEN KANE, since Orson Welles' original contract included control over color, or lack thereof. Of course, it also helped that one of Welles' final statements was, "Keep Ted Turner and his god damn crayolas away from my film!" Woody Allen and Ginger Rogers even led a Supreme Court case against the defacing of these cultural landmarks.

By the early 1990s, colorization was everywhere. Then, in 1994, Turner launched the Turner Classic Movies channel, and like a sinner on his deathbed, suddenly recanted and promised to preserve and restore and make available the classic films, uncut and in their original glory. This about-face was welcome, and absolved Turner of his earlier indiscretions with the computer generated color.

For years, the only companies dealing with colorization were low-budget companies that used it as a novelty to spruce up often public domain titles. For the most part, though, colorization appeared to be a thing of the past. A novelty or gimmick that was never really taken seriously.

Then in 2004, Legend Films released the first in a series of colorized films on DVD. In this case, it was the 1936 cult classic REEFER MADNESS, not necessarily a cinematic masterpiece, but a film, nonetheless, that was originally shot in one format (black and white) and was now being converted to another (computer generated color) for no good reason.

Legend Films has made colorization marketable again, albeit on a much smaller scale. Because they are limited to public domain films, they won't be trashing the time-honored classics anytime soon. However, their Christmas lineup includes that old standby, BABES IN TOYLAND.

I have to wonder how there's will compare to the earlier version, which is already available on DVD (and at its original 79 minutes running time too). Stan Laurel was once quoted as saying that he wished very much that they had had the money to shoot BABES IN TOYLAND in color. Would he have approved of the colorization if done with great care? Who can say. Because Laurel is no longer around, I believe the best approach is to leave the film as it is. There is nothing wrong with viewing it in its original black and white (there is a copy of the black and white version in circulation on DVD albeit with a remade end title for copyright purposes).

Ultimately, colorizing the film is not going to win it any new fans. Besides, if one really wanted to see it in color, it's already available in that format.

What's more curious though, will be to see how this latest foray into colorization goes. With improving technology, who knows? I tend to think it will remain nothing more than a novelty or gimmick.

A Night at the Opera at Penn State

The Marx Brothers' masterpiece A NIGHT AT THE OPERA is being shown as part of the Penn State Film Series in honor of the film's co-star Allan Jones, a native of Pennsylvania. This rare big-screen outing of this comedy classic gives comedy fans both cause for celebration and pause for reflection.

It is always cause for excitement when a great film is given a theatrical screening venue, even if it is just a single screening on a single screen. The fun of being able to see the film as it was meant to be seen, with a full audience sharing in the humor (and don't let them tell you otherwise-comedy is most certainly NOT a purely personal thing-ask a standup comedian if he'd consider his performance successful if only a single audience member laughed). The Marx Bros. in particular benefit from being seen with an audience. For this film, they took selected comedy scenes on the road, performing them before audiences to gauge how long the anticipated laughs would last, so that the audience would not laugh over the next line, thereby killing the joke (this was a frequent criticism of their earlier films, made at Paramount, where the jokes came so fast that for every one you laughed out loud at, you'd miss the next two).

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA is basically a supreme achievement of the art of comedy. Taking timing to the extremes, the Marx Brothers set a standard for comedian comedy that would last for many years after this.

For those who haven't seen the film yet, the plot is quite simple: Otis B. Driftwood (Groucho) is trying to fleece high society matron Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont) out of her fortune by signing up a big time tenor to sing at the New York Opera. Meanwhile, baritone Riccardo Baroni (Allan Jones) is in love with soprano Rosa Castaldi (Kitty Carlisle), much to the dismay of the company's lead performer and the plot's villain, Lassparri (Walter Woolf King). In order to get to New York to be with Rosa, Riccardo and his two wacky companions (Chico and Harpo) stow away in Groucho's stateroom on the ship, and create mass mayhem on board the ocean liner bound for America. Upon their arrival in New York, the romantic tensions heat up when Rosa is barred from appearing in the opening performance, things get even crazier, and the whole New York opera world is turned on its head in one of the zaniest finales ever committed to film (think opera meets a baseball game meets a Tarzan movie and you'll be getting closer).

Well, maybe the plot doesn't really matter. What does matter is that A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, with its sparkling and witty script by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind (ranking up their with the best of the classy, witty 1930s screwball comedies, but not above such lines as Margaret Dumont's inquiry "Do you have everything Otis?", to which Groucho replies, "I haven't had any complaints yet!"), fine performances (even the supporting cast has some fine moments), and vintage Marx humor, provides as much solid entertainment as one could possibly hope for in a 90 minute comedy.

The film is produced by Irving Thalberg, the "boy genius" of Hollywood, who helped the Marxes out of a temporarily floundering career by mixing their brand of zany musical comedy with the more polished production values of MGM and adding in a little romance to broaden their appeal. Despite the reservations hardcore Marx fans have over this formula, it worked this time, and worked perfectly. The direction is also good, although, who could really say they "directed" the Marx Brothers. This time around, the referee was Sam Wood, who later helmed the Marxes' A DAY AT THE RACES, and the great 1939 Robert Donat film, GOODBYE MR. CHIPS.

I mentioned earlier that any screening of A NIGHT AT THE OPERA is a cause for celebration. It's also a time to pause for a moment and remember that not that long ago, the Marxes (and many other classic comedians) were regular fare on college campuses and on the art and revival circuit. Their presence at these venues have decreased astronomically since the takeoff of home video and now DVD. Clowns like W.C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy and others held a cult-like position among many film societies. Today, they are nearly forgotten in these very same circles.
On that note, it is good to see this revival of this particular classic.

Bottom line-go, have fun, and remember, "there ain't no sanity clause."

Laurel and Hardy and A New Audience-Part I

For years, it was common knowledge that if you asked a Laurel and Hardy fan about his or her favorite of the teams' films, you'd get a fairly standard set of responses. There are the time-honored classics, of course. SONS OF THE DESERT, WAY OUT WEST, and BLOCKHEADS, not to mention the numerous shorts, one of which everyone has a favorite. Perhaps you care for the sophisticated situation comedy of CHICKENS COME HOME, or the carefully choreographed chaos of HOG WILD, THE MUSIC BOX or HELPMATES. And let's not forget perhaps the best of all, BIG BUSINESS, with is epic devastation of a man's home, a Model-T Ford, and a Christmas tree.

There were some facets of Laurel and Hardy's career that remained generally unexplored except to the more extensive fans. Their silent output, for instance, was largely unseen for many years; partly due to the instability of the nitrate film (all but one of their films have been recovered now, though), but also due to the simple fact that silent films would not have the same marketability on afternoon or Sunday morning television the way one of their talkie shorts would.

About ten years, this changed when the Hal Roach films suddenly became harder to come by. Because of the advent of video and DVD, the silent Laurel and Hardy comedies suddenly became the easiest to find. As a result, new audiences were becoming acquainted with these films in a way that earlier fans may not have had a chance to, unless they happened to be collectors of Blackhawk Films' Super-8 and 16mm prints.

Thus began a new period of evaluation for these short films.

Flash forward to 2006:

The situation with the "classic" Laurel and Hardy-Hal Roach features (those produced between, say late 1929 and 1940) is even worse. No longer available on video, these films have sunken in to a sort of oblivion. Totally unavailable in this country for purchase, the films have been lovingly restored and are available in a giant box set throughout Europe.

To be fair, a number of Laurel and Hardy films have gotten a decent DVD release in this country. Hallmark did release a limited number of the films, including three of the best features and a handful of shorts, to DVD; however, most of these were botched versions made from dupey VHS transfers twenty years ago for TV (in some cases, the DVDs even included breaks where commercials would have been shown!) So much for caring enough to give the very best...

Thankfully, Warner home video has lived up to their usual high standards by releasing a Laurel and Hardy collection featuring two films-one great, and one not-so-great, some brief clips, plus a somewhat chintzy documentary hosted by Chevy Chase. But you take what you can get.

The most unexpected DVD release of 2006, however, has been the two-volume collection of the Laurel and Hardy films no fan ever expected to see resurrected:

I'm referring, of course, to the Fox Films.

For those unfamiliar with these, perhaps the most controversial comedy films ever made, the Fox films refer to a group of six films made between 1941 and 1945 at 20th Century-Fox studios, that were designed to transform Laurel and Hardy into the next Abbott and Costello. For years, the films were routinely dismissed by fans and scholars alike, not worth a second look. Some fans even wished the films would be burnt and not allowed to tarnish the reputation of the beloved comedians. Everyone from Stan Laurel himself, to critic Michael Medved, trashed these films as though they were a pariah on the film comedy genre.

In 1986, author Scott MacGillivray published LAUREL AND HARDY: FROM THE FORTIES FORWARD, which championed their post-1940 work, especially the Fox films, and attempted to offer a fresh perspective on these old movies. MacGillivray was perhaps ahead of his time, because now, ironically, twenty years later, it is the Fox films that have been released in wonderful editions worthy of Laurel and Hardy.

Looking at the films now, they offer quite a number of suprises. True, the first two films are a little atypical, to say the least. GREAT GUNS feels like a slightly tired BUCK PRIVATES, and A-HAUNTING WE WILL GO is part Abbott and Costello haunted-house type comedy and part Z-grade Fox thriller a la Charlie Chan or Mr. Moto. It's obvious the boys had very little creative control on these first two.

But things start to pick up with JITTERBUGS (one of Hardy's favorite of his own films), in which the boys play Zoot Suit jive musicians caught up in a sting in which they attempt to outwit some crooks by even more crooked methods themselves.

THE DANCING MASTERS, featuring a young Robert Mitchum, is like two films: in the first part, Laurel and Hardy run a dancing school; in the second half, they are involved in an insurance fraud scam gone wrong. THE BIG NOISE (possibly the best of the bunch) has the boys involved in some secret not-so-intelligence, and THE BULLFIGHTERS puts them South of the Border as hapless detectives on the run from an innocent man they sent to jail who is out for revenge.

Silly as they sound, they are actually surprisingly good comedies. In these later films, it is really Oliver Hardy who stands out as the dominant comedian. Laurel does much wordless humor, nodding and gesturing comically in support to Hardy's wonderful handling of dialogue and character parts.

The irony is that now that these are the most easily accessible Laurel and Hardy films on the consumer market, we may see what would have once seemed unthinkable: that the reputation of the Fox films will actually exceed that of the classic Hal Roach films.

It actually wouldn't be too surprising. Here's my theory (you heard it here first):

"The Roach-L&H films are among the most brilliant works of art the screen has ever seen. They are carefully crafted comic masterpieces that are a combination of English music hall and American silent slapstick comedy. The timing of the comedy reflects these influences, as it is never rushed or forced, but instead very leisurely, setting up complex gag sequences with great payoff.

The Fox films are generally much more broad, overtly silly and comical, and move much faster. They are paced much more like a "modern" comedy style, which really can be traced back to Abbott and Costello and the rapid-fire radio influence that carried over to the TV sitcom. Laurel and Hardy actually adapted quite well, managing to combine some of their time-tested slapstick (the fountain sequence in THE BULLFIGHTERS, for instance), with some fun new dialogue and character humor.I've known several people, who normally don't watch any "classic" comedies, who find the Roach L&H shorts to be unbearably slow and not worth the wait to get to the punchlines, but find the Fox films generally funny and amusing.

There is also the fact that many long-time Laurel and Hardy fans have seen all the Roach films countless times over the last ten, twenty, thirty, or forty years (as the case may be), and the Fox films, some of which have only recently become easily accessible thanks to the DVDs, may find a new audience with the long-time fans who aren't as familiar with that group of films, especially since the element of unfamiliarity and surprise is so essential to comedy."

To recap, my personal opinion is that the Fox films, produced in a much more "contemporary" style, will prove more accessible to new audiences unfamiliar with the pre-1940 style of comedy film.

Only time will tell. I hope for a time when all their work is available for evaluation and for enjoyment by the average fan, who may not be interested in purchasing a multi-region DVD player and a $600 box set from England or Germany.

In the mean time, the release of the Fox films should keep Laurel and Hardy fans happy with something new. Despite the reputation the films have gotten over the years, people who approach them with a fresh vantage point will surely discover the magic of Laurel and Hardy, which ultimately transcends whatever studio they happened to be working at.