Slapstick, Too
Picture: C
Sound: B- Extras: D Documentary: B
Eli Wallach narrates an exceptional compendium of classic
silent films clips in the Killiam-produced documentary Slapstick, Too
(1992) featuring some of the most vital clips of the silent screen comedy stars
one could ever hope to assemble.
Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Fatty Arbuckle, Mabel
Normand, Laurel & Hardy and others are shown as slapstick’s rise is
charted. We learn of the idea of
slapstick, its variants and its roots in vaudeville.
This is traced into the early sound comedies and shows why
many of those films were classics as well, but the focus is still the silent
era. This is an era where a majority of
all the films produced are long gone.
Nitrate stocks gone bad and a severe lack of preservation have been the
main culprits, with studios and independents not having cared enough to begin
with early on until it was too late.
Add those independents long gone who had their catalogs land up who
knows where, often the trash (!!!) and you can imagine the situation.
Here however, this very well thought out and edited piece
shows the vitality and greatness of the era, all at proper camera speeds. Silents were shot 16 – 18 frames per second,
while sound films goes at least 24 fps.
Overcranking on the set notwithstanding, many people for decades would
play the silent films at the sound speed because they either did not know to
switch to silent speed or had a projector that did not do silent speed. These comics have what is still some of the
best comic timing, athletics and talent ever.
Like thrillers, comedies (especially these) had their classic moments of
suspense, i.e., will the train or streetcar run the star over.
The full frame 1.33 x 1 presentation preserves the aspect
ratio of those silents in good prints and clips Killiam is known for. They are a company that has preserved and
reintroduced some of the most important films ever made. Some may look better now, but with so many
bad prints out there of these films (a situation worse than anything in the
sound era), these clips at their softest still look good for their age. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo features
healthy Pro Logic type surrounds for the music and Wallach sounds clear, but
there are no extras. Slapstick, Too
is a key must-see for all true film fans.
- Nicholas Sheffo
