Slapstick Encyclopedia, Vol. 1- In the Beginning: Comedy Pioneers

Slapstick Encyclopedia, Vol. 1- In the Beginning: Comedy Pioneers
This first volume of Slapstick Encyclopedia offers an unprecedented survey of once important, now forgotten but still funny vaudevillians, stage actors and novelty acts that gravitated to the film world during the first fifteen years of the century. Their work in front of the camera inspired the first wave of film comedy. Starting his career at the Essanay Studios as a janitor and shipping clerk, Ben Turpin rose to become one of the most easily recognizable figures in American slapstick and appears here in the 1909 film Mr. Flip.

Bert (Egbert Austin) Williams, the only black performer to cross over into the white vaudeville circuits, performs one of his Ziegfeld Follies routines for the Biograph cameras in A Natural-Born Gambler (1916). Also featured are the works of several other slapstick celebs who graduated to the screen from the stage, among them John Bunny and Victor Moore. In an abridgment of his Amercian-made feature Be My Wife (1921), Frenchman Max Linder (whom Chaplin openly acknowledged as a primary influence on his craft) demonstrates the effortless charm and gift for comedy that made him the first world-famous film comedian. various directors. U.S. 1909-21. Approx. time: 126 mins. B&W. Music by Eric Beheim, Brian Benison, Robert Israel, Ken Rosen.

Contents:
One Too Many (1916 - Oliver Hardy, Billy Bletcher)
The Wrong Mr. Fox (1917 - Victor Moore)
Mr. Flip (1909 - Ben Turpin)
Alkali Ike's Auto (1911 - Augustus Carney)
Mabel's Dramatic Debut (1913 - Mabel Normand, Mack Sennett, Ford Sterling, Fatty Arbuckle)
Fox-Trot Finesse (1915 - Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Drew)
A Cure For Pokeritis (1912 - John Bunny, Flora Finch)
Be My Wife (1921 - Max Linder)
A Natural-Born Gambler (1916 - Bert Williams)
Customer Review: Nine vintage shorts in KINO's Encyclopedia Vol. 1
The first edition of KINO's SLAPSTICK ENCYCLOPEDIA offers some of the best and least works in this eight volume collection. Video quality here is remarkably fine. The frenetic action in ONE TOO MANY (with Oliver Hardy) is overly distorted by a too-fast projection speed. The story of a man trying to fool a visiting uncle into thinking he's got a wife and child sets the improbable in motion: three women willingly "rent out" their infants. The modern viewer worries more that a baby might fall off a standard bed than if the overly porcine Hardy's ruse will succeed. Watch on the street for Ollie's first wife in this VIM Co. "Plump & Runt" comedy. THE WRONG MR. FOX has a coarse vaudevillian (Victor Moore) mistaken for a minister. Humor examples: Escorted by a group of "proper" congregants to his parsonage home, Jimmy Fox looks at it and says, "Is this the hash house? I'll bet the feed is punk." Jimmy begins his first Sunday sermon by immediately taking up a collection then distracting parishoners as he stuffs their donations in his pockets. Very unfunny. MR. FLIP is the oldest film here (1909) and a genuine highlight. To see how far cinematic technique had progressed at the end of the movies' first real decade is heartening, and a glimpse of 100 year old styles also intriguing. 4-minute segment stars an unrecognizable Ben Turpin. Directed by 'Broncho Billy' Anderson. ALKALI IKE'S AUTO is equally venerable but not as engaging, probably due to a too fast projection speed. One of a series of rural-set "Ike" shorts also directed by 'Broncho Billy.' MABEL'S DRAMATIC CAREER was made in 1913, the year that Miss Normand made 62 Mack Sennett KEYSTONE films! Sennett co-stars here as Mabel's jilted boyfriend. He visits a tiny movie theater screening a previous Keystoner called "At Twelve O'Clock." Mack, sees his ex-girl in the movie and tries to interact with her. Fatty Arbuckle (who's sitting next to him) wants Mack to shut up. We get a brief glimpse of a handcranked projector in operation. A top-notch short! FOX TROT FINESSE has a grayish cast to the transfer. Sidney Drew and his matronly wife play a married couple. She loves to dance to her fox trot 78s, he just wants to sit and read. The least slapstick movie here was aimed at adult sensibilities by the Drews. A CURE FOR POKERITIS stars John Bunny, a decidely unamusing flush-faced oversized man with a monstrous nose. Bunny plays poker for money and always loses. When he breaks a promise to stop gambling, his wife assembles a group of fake cops to raid the game. BE MY WIFE is a segment of a Max Linder feature. Because his sweety's mom doesn't like Max, he has to resort to all sorts of tricks to see her. The French-born Linder influenced Chaplin's, Lloyd's and Keaton's styles. A NATURAL BORN GAMBLER stars Bert Williams, an entertainment pioneer (at the time, he was the only black working in white vaudeville). Williams' talents shine in this recreation of one of his stage routines. A superb finish to an interesting collection. SLAPSTICK ENCYCLOPEDIA Vol. 2 features six Sennett comedies that run a total of 2 hours. Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website. (5.4) Alkali Ike's Auto (1911) - Augustus Carney/Harry Todd/Margaret Joslin/Arthur Mackley (7.8) Be My Wife (abridged) (1921) - Max Linder/Alta Allen/Caroline Rankin (5.9) A Cure for Pokeritis (1912) - John Bunny/Flora Finch/Leah Naird/Charles Eldridge (6.4) Fox Trot Finesse (1915) - Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Drew/Ethel Lee (5.5) Mabel's Dramatic Career (1913) - Mabel Normand/Mack Sennett/Alice Davenport/Ford Sterling/Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (3.2) Mr. Flip (1909) - Ben Turpin (5.7) A Natural Born Gambler (1916) - Bert Williams (4.4) One Too Many (1916) - Oliver Hardy/Billy Ruge/Billy Bletcher/Madelyn Hardy (6.2) The Wrong Mr. Fox (1917) - Victor Moore