Product Details

• Actors: Ben Turpin, Stan Laurel, Bobby Vernon, Hank Mann, Billy Franey
• Directors: Hal Roach, George Jeske, Leslie Goodwins, Mack Sennett, Lloyd Bacon
• Format: Silent, NTSC
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Unknown Video
• DVD Release Date: April 26, 2006
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000FILYV6
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #221,785 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Silent Comedy Mafia #1" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good and enjoyable Slapstick selection, August 10, 2006

By 

Barbara (Burkowsky) Underwood (Tumut, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Silent Comedy Mafia #1 (DVD)

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.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Old-Fashioned Slapstick, August 8, 2006

By 

Walter Belhaven - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Silent Comedy Mafia #1 (DVD)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Produced, February 3, 2010

By 

frankebe (redwood city, ca United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Silent Comedy Mafia #1 (DVD)

These are not the funniest movies to come out of the silent era, but they are charming and amusing, and nothing goes on too long. The prints are very, very good, with nothing missing except a main title once or twice or a bit of a shot here and there. The "photo gallery" isn't much of itself, but it gives you the chance to hear a particularly good ragtime piano piece, complete, by the composer for this collection, and it was so appealing that I watched the whole sequence just to enjoy the music.

Frederick Hodges is a fine pianist and composes the most engaging "new" 1910s-piano music I've ever heard. His music fits the period of these films perfectly. He never in any way even attempts to make any musical noise to fit any action, and completely ignores the possibility that he could underscore a comic moment. But somehow it doesn't matter. The music is absolutely delightful, his tunes are gracious, and the tempos he chooses fit the speeds of the action. Hodges really reaches perfection of style in the final film, "The Prodigal Bridegroom".

The only oddness to this compilation is the section of "Ben Turpin clips". Why give us clips? Particularly when a "clip" is really quite long, why not just show us another complete movie?

If there were carefully chosen sound-effects added to these movies, there are moments that would be hilarious. As it is, I suggest you gather as many friends together as you possibly can, give them a few drinks and tell a lot of jokes to warm them up, then show a few of these films and your audience will provide the necessary sound effects.

There is now a Volume 2 available through "Unknown Video", by the way, and it is even better than volume 1!