Classic Film Comedy Short Stories #1

To give credit were it is due this new set of posts called "Classic Film Comedy Short Stories" is heavily inspired by Animation Antidotes from the website  http://cartoonresearch.com/. I am a fan of this website and am purposely using it's idea.

 In the Abbott and Costello movie "Hold That Ghost"(1941), the musical numbers by the Andrew Sisters were added after the movie was completed. This was because the last two Abbott and Costello movies (Buck Priviates, and In The Navy)  had featured The Andrew Sisters and had been very financially successful. Director Arthur Lubin said he was not aware these songs were being added to his film at the time. The musical numbers however were great and made a good film even better.

In his autobiography Charlie Chaplin un-modestly claimed that "Monsieur Verdoux" (1947) was his most clever movie. It was indeed a masterpiece though it was his first financial flop.
"Monsieur Verdoux" (1947) was originally an idea for a serious movie based on the real life murder Henri Désiré Landru. This idea was conceived by Orson Welles, and Welles wanted Charlie Chaplin as the lead actor. However Chaplin saw the potential for a great comedy, and he did not want to work under another director. So Chaplin bought the idea and directed it his own way. The film does contain a credit saying "Based off an idea by Orson Welles".

The movie "Snow White and The Three Stooges" (1961) was originally going to be directed by comedy legend Frank Tashlin. Frank Tashlin had directed many great Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, along with "The Son of Paleface", "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter", and the best Martian and Lewis film (In my opinion) "Artists and Models". However Frank Tashlin's plan for the movie would go too much over budget for 20th Century Fox's taste so he was replaced by Walter Lang. This was not Walter Lang's first time directing The Stooges. He had directed the 1933 feature "Meet The Baron", which while it did not star The Stooges (It starred Jimmy Durante and Jack Pearl), the Stooges did have supporting roles in that film. "Snow White and The Three Stooges" turned out to be a great film but one that was drastically different than what Stooge fans were suspecting. (Yes this film goes past my cut off date, but I am including it because The Three Stooges made many films within my included dates) 

The Fredrico Fellini film "I Vitelloni" (1953) featured the soon to be popular Italian comedian Alberto Sordi as the character Alberto. However he was not popular at this time. In fact promoters for the film keep his name off all the advertisements for the movie, because the were afraid people would not see it if they knew Sordi was in it. The film however was a huge hit and made both Fredrico Fellini and Alberto Sordi household names in Italy, and it is easy to see why.

When Buster Keaton's film "Seven Chances" (1925) was previewed before an audience, Buster noticed that people were laughing during a chase scene at a part he didn't suspect. He then noticed that he happened to knock over a few pebbles. Keaton added to this by making the pebbles trigger boulders, therefore creating what is considered the films best moment.

-Michael J. Ruhland         

Charlie Chaplin Carnivial #1

We are going to start our look at Charlie Chaplin today with the 2nd film staring him, Kid Auto Races at Venice. When Keystone Film Company got a hold of Chaplin, they didn't quite know what to do with him. The first film with him, Making A Living(1914), was artistically a huge failure. The film simply wasn't funny. So what Keystone decided to do was to visit a soapbox racing event for children, and let Chaplin purposely interrupt the filming, letting Charlie improvise how he interrupts it, and hoping something funny would happen. This film was also the first in which Chaplin wore his immortal costume, that would soon be recognized as his Little Tramp character. While this film unsurprisingly does not have the polish later Charlie Chaplin films would , it still remains quite entertaining today. From 1914 and directed by Henry Lehrman, here is Kid Auto Races at Venice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyVu8fx36j4

Twenty Minutes of Love marked the first time Mack Sennet, head of Keystone Film Company, allowed Charlie Chaplin to direct his own films. While Chaplin would later try to get away from, the slapstick for the sake of slapstick, style of humor of Keystone by creating more motivation for the slapstick, here he plays by the rules of the Keystone style of comedy. This is a fast, fun, and purely slapstick short. From 1914, directed by Charlie Chaplin, and also staring  Minta Durfee, Edgar Kennedy,  Gordon Griffith, Chester Conklin, Josef Swickard and Hank Mann, here is Twenty Minutes of Love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ5sShqrJcQ

Next comes one of Charlie Chaplin's great masterpieces, A Dogs Life. This film was Chaplin's first film for Frist National. You will notice in here a strong break from the type of humor at Keystone. The pace is slower, and all the jokes come from the story and characters, and have clear motivations. You will also notice the story line is more defined and there is drama present. Chaplin wanted to show that comedy and drama could be combined, and he proved his point masterfully. Here we can see Chaplin as a fully formed artist in this true cinematic masterpiece. From 1918, directed by Charlie Chaplin, and also staring Chaplin's long time costar Edna Purviance, and Charlie's brother Sydney Chaplin, here is A Dog's Life.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9oqCepIkqc

Charlie Chaplin's films were rightfully sensations world wide, and  he was one of the first filmmakers to be hailed as a great artist. Therefore the image of the Little Tramp appeared everywhere. His image could be seen in a comic strip in the newspaper, toys, animated cartoons (done by Otto Messmer and Pat Sullivian, two artist who would bring us the silent Felix the Cat cartoons)  and anywhere else you can think. Actors such as Billy West (not to be confused with the cartoon voice actor) made a career imitating Chaplin in films. One of my favorite uses of the Little Tramp outside of Chaplin's own films is the appearance of an cubist animated tramp appearing in the classic French Avant-Garde film, Ballet Mecanique. Besides the animated appearance of Chaplin's Little Tramp there is much more this film offers. It is also a brilliant representation of the struggle of humanity against the attack of mechanization. In fact this film is such an artistic success that co-director  Fernand Leger, considered giving up his highly successful painting job to become a film maker. Sadly for the  world of film this never happened, but at least we have this artistic masterpiece. So from 1924, and directed by Fernand Leger, and Dudley Murphy, here is Ballet Mecanique.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QV9-l-rXOE

-Michael J. Ruhland