Narrator Hughie Green tells "jokes" over clips of old silent films. Including greats such as Fatty Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, the Keystone Cops and more.
07-12-1962
45 min
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Roscoe Arbuckle (March 24, 1887 - June 29, 1933), widely known to audiences as “Fatty” Arbuckle, was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked with Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd as well as with his nephew, Al St. John. He also mentored Charlie Chaplin, Monty Banks and Bob Hope, and brought vaudeville star Buster Keaton into the movie business. Arbuckle was one of the most popular silent stars of the 1910s and one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood at the time.
In one of the earliest Hollywood scandals, Arbuckle was the defendant in three widely publicized trials between November 1921 and April 1922 for the rape and manslaughter of actress Virginia Rappe. Rappe had fallen ill at a party hosted by Arbuckle at San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel in September 1921, and died four days later. A friend of Rappe accused Arbuckle of raping and accidentally killing her. The first two trials resulted in hung juries, but the third acquitted Arbuckle. The third jury took the unusual step of giving Arbuckle a written statement of apology for his treatment by the justice system. Despite Arbuckle's acquittal, the scandal largely halted his career and has mostly overshadowed his legacy as a pioneering comedian.
Charles “Charlie” Chaplin (April 16, 1889 – December 25, 1977) was an English comic actor, film director and composer best-known for his work during the silent film era. He used mime, slapstick and other visual comedy routines, and continued well into the era of the talkies, though his films decreased in frequency by the end of the 1920s. His most famous role was that of The Tramp, which he first played in Kid Auto Races (1914). From 1914 onwards he was writing and directing most of his films, by 1916 he was producing them, and by 1918 he was also composing the music for them. In 1919 he co-founded United Artists. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Chaplin the 10th greatest male screen legend of all time.
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname The Great Stone Face. He was recognized as the seventh-greatest director of all time by Entertainment Weekly. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Keaton the 21st-greatest male star of all time.
Lake was an American film actress. She began her career during the silent film era and often appeared in comedy shorts opposite Roscoe Arbuckle. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Lake began her career as a dancer. She made her screen debut in 1912, and she appeared in a number of comedy shorts by Mack Sennett. Lake was often the leading lady of Roscoe Arbuckle in comedies like Oh Doctor! (1917) and The Cook (1918). Arbuckle directed both films and was joined by Buster Keaton who had a leading role in Oh Doctor.
Lake also played dramatic roles with Bert Lytell in Blackie's Redemption and The Lion's Den, both from 1919. During the 1920s she appeared in a number of Metro silent film features as the lead actress. At the height of her career she earned $1,200 per week as a motion picture actress.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Alice Lake has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1620 Vine Street.
Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian born actor, director, comedian and studio head, known as the 'King of Comedy'. He produced more than 1,000 silent films and several dozen talkies during a 25-year career. He became a United States citizen in 1932.
Sennett was born and raised in Richmond, Quebec. He moved to Connecticut when he was 17 years old.
In New York City, he took on the stage name Mack Sennett and became an actor, singer, dancer, clown, set designer, and director for the Biograph Company.
He later opened Keystone Studios in Edendale, California, in 1912. Keystone possessed the first fully enclosed film stage, and Sennett became famous as the originator of slapstick routines such as pie-throwing and car-chases, as seen in the Keystone Cops films. He also produced short features that displayed his Bathing Beauties, many of whom went on to develop successful acting careers.
Sennett's work in sound movies was less successful, and he was bankrupted in 1933. In 1938 he was presented with an honorary Academy Award for his contribution to film comedy.
Mack Sennett died in Woodland Hills, California in 1960, aged 80.
[biography (excerpted) from Wikipedia]