Silent Comedy

SILENT COMEDY

Impact of Sound

No matter how well photographed and directed, filmed drama is incomplete in the absence of audible spoken dialogue. The exaggerated mugging and pantomime required for communication between characters on screen impart a histrionic falsity to the most passionate declaration and turn tragedy into melodrama. With the advent of sound, movies fulfilled their potential and far outstripped the stage as a realistic dramatic medium. But sound killed the one movie genre that never needed to talk: the silent comedy.

Shorts

In the early years silent comedies were restricted to one-reelers and two-reelers—running for seven to fourteen minutes. These shorts did not permit the development of character or mixed emotions, but they were enormously popular throughout the silent era. One thousand reels of short comedies were released in 1925.

The Little Tramp

The golden period of silent comedy commenced in 1914 when Charlie Chaplin went to work at Mack Sennett's Keystone Studio, where he joined Fatty Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, Ben Turpin, and the Keystone Kops. Unhappy with the rush conditions at Keystone and wanting control over his work, Chaplin moved to other studios until he became his own producer in 1918. Unlike other comedians, who relied on slapstick or knockabout work, Chaplin developed the pathos of his Little Tramp figure.

Keystone

Sennett's comedy was physical, featuring custard-pie throwing and wild chases. Keystone's preeminence in the comedy field was diminished by the departure of Arbuckle and Normand. (Arbuckle's career was destroyed by his 1921-1922 rape trials even though he was acquitted.) Sennett's stable included Chester Conklin, Mack Swain, Charlie Chase, Charlie Murray, and Sydney Chaplin. Keystone's Harry Langdon was regarded as a potential Charlie Chaplin rival on the basis of The Strong Man, Tramp Tramp Tramp, and Long Pants (all 1927), in which he portrayed a character with child-like innocence, but his insistence on full control spoiled his movies. His career did not survive talkies.

Hal Roach

Audiences began to prefer comedies produced by Hal Roach, whose players included Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and Harold Lloyd. Laurel and Hardy worked together for twenty years, successfully shifting to sound. Most of their best sound work was in the two-reel format, but their Academy Award winner, The Music Box (1932), was a three-reeler. They became the most enduring team in movie comedy. Lloyd's Safety Last (1923) and The Freshman (1925) were among the most popular silent comedy features. Because Chaplin spent so much time perfecting his movies, Lloyd became the biggest moneymaker during the 1920s. Like the other comedians of this genre, his humor was visual—frequently utilizing narrow escapes from perilous situations—but Lloyd also developed realistic characters. Lloyd's talkies during the 1930s did not match the success of his earlier work.

Keaton

By critical consensus Chaplin and Buster Keaton were the greatest silent clowns. Keaton's trademark was deadpan humor—his lack of expression in comic or dangerous situations. Like Chaplin, he directed his movies. Keaton's movies were not popular; The General (1927), regarded as his masterpiece, lost money. Keaton did not enjoy Chaplin's control and ownership of his work after he became an M-G-M employee. His shift to talkies was disastrous, and by 1933 he was a has-been.

Some of the once-famous silent comedians continued to appear in small parts during the 1930s and 1940s, looking like ghosts.

Sources:

Walter Kerr, The Silent Clowns (New York: Knopf, 1975);

Richard Dyer MacCann, The Silent Comedians (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1993);

Mack Sennett, King of Comedy (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1954).