Product Description

The Silent Comedy Mafia series returns to the early years of slapstick, with some of the leading figures of silent comedy. This edition includes:

1. Idle Eyes (Weiss Brothers Artclass, 1928). Directed by Leslie Goodwins. Starring Ben Turpin, Billy Barty, Helen Gilmore and Georgia O'Dell.

2. Just Rambling Along (Rolin Film Company, November 3, 1918). Directed by Hal Roach. Starring Stan Laurel, Noah Young, Clarine Seymour and Bud Jamison.

3. The Janitor (Morris R. Schlank, 1919). Director unknown. Starring Hank Mann, Madge Kirby and Merta Sterling.

4. All Jazzed Up (Christie Film Company, January 10, 1920). Directed by Al Christie (?). Starring Bobby Vernon and Helen Darling.

5. The Bath Dub (Reelcraft, January 1921). Directed by Thomas La Rose (?). Starring Billy Franey.

6. The Big Idea (Hal Roach Studios, January 13, 1924). Directed by George Jeske. Starring Snub Pollard, Blanche Mehaffey, George Rowe, Billy Engle.

7. The Prodigal Bridegroom (Mack Sennett Productions, September 26, 1926). Starring Ben Turpin, Madeline Hurlock, Thelma Hill, Andy Clyde and Marvin Loback.

All films are complete and feature piano scores by Frederick Hodges.

Bonus: A selection of very rare Ben Turpin clips (1915-1932), and a photo gallery of silent-era comedians.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #82933 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-04-26
• Formats: Silent, NTSC
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 105 minutes

Customer Reviews

A good and enjoyable Slapstick selection
I was pleasantly surprised by this new release by Unknown Video, whose products seem to be getting better in quality all the time. Not only is this a careful selection of rare and interesting comedy shorts from the silent era, but this DVD contains 3 pages of very good notes on the films and comedians, as well as some nice bonus features. There are seven fun comedies in this collection; all averaging about 10 to 15 minutes in length, and each one features a different comedian and also a surprising or novel gag and idea or two. In fact, I ended up marvelling at some of the good comic ideas and how well they were executed. Two of them star cross-eyed Ben Turpin (and one of the bonus features is a selection of clips from other rare and old Turpin films), another shows an entertaining Stan Laurel in one of his first film roles from 1918, Snub Pollard and Bobby Vernon and Hank Mann star in the others; some of which are productions by well-known companies such as the Hal Roach Studios and Mack Sennett Productions, while others are far less known. All up, this makes for a good and interesting variety of comedians, styles and unique ideas, and although the one-liners might not have the same punch today as they had in the 1920s or earlier, other aspects of life and humour from days gone by are still appealing and entertaining. Between films, Unknown Video has included some informative notes on the films and their personnel, in addition to the printed notes with the DVD, and a lively, traditional piano score accompanies the entire selection. Picture quality is also of a good standard throughout. Although there is nothing terribly outstanding or special about any of these short comedies, I would still rate them as above average and definitely of interest to anyone only generally interested in silent comedy and slapstick. Needless to say, this DVD is a must for any serious collector of silent comedy, but would also serve nicely as a general introduction to anyone not so familiar with comedies of the 1920s.

Good Old-Fashioned Slapstick
This DVD has a bunch of complete silent comedy shorts, two of which star Ben Turpin, and then there's a lightning round of assorted Ben Turpin clips. You don't need to be a particular fan of his, not that there's anything wrong with him, because there's a good handful of films starring other old-time comedians. One of them, "Just Rambling Along," is a very early Stan Laurel comedy, made long before he ever heard of Oliver Hardy. I enjoyed all of these little movies. They're all brisk and fast-paced, and full of fun. I had never seen most of them before, and I've been a fan of silent comedies for a long while. The prints look good and the music sounds great (no needle-drop scores here, they're all custom piano scores and nicely done). I hope there'll be more of these coming out.