Customer Reviews

When Comedy Was King [VHS]

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Let's talk about the movie first. I confess that I fell in love with Robert Youngson's silent comedy compilations with "The Golden Age of Comedy". The first time I saw it way back when on PBS, I was laughing almost non-stop, loud & hard for ninety minutes. (It should be noted that Laurel & Hardy were in almost the entire film, so that's to be expected.) "When Comedy Was King" has only one Laurel & Hardy film, but it's a SUPER good one ("Big Business"). Laurel & Hardy are christmas tree salesmen who run afoul of Jimmy Finlayson, and the movie explodes into an orgy of reciprocal destruction. (If you're under 30 & have never seen a silent movie, YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE TO IGNORE THIS FILM. See this now!)

The film also contains a great short from Harry Langdon, as well as "A Pair of Tights" (a sleeper classic among silents), the Buster Keaton classic "Cops" (where Buster has to outrun hundreds of cops), some Chaplin from the Mack Sennett days, and a short from Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, who influenced later comedians like Curly Howard & Jackie Gleason.

I'm told that Youngson's films used canned music, but if it's true, it doesn't show. The music feels like it was made for this film, as evidenced by some musical "mickey mousing" by the composer. The music and added sound effects are lively & comical. without overpowering the films themselves.

As for the DVD conversion, it is so unprofessional, that I question whether this is a legitimate release of the film. There is serious artifacting for a few seconds during the opening titles, It's also apparent that the manufacturer failed to use a 16mm or 35mm copy of the film, and used an analog video recording. You can tell from looking near the top of the picture frame, where there is some color-shifting & distortion. The laserdisc edition of this film is of far better picture quality than the DVD. There are no added features on the DVD either.

Long story short: "When Comedy Was King" is a film well worth owning, and a fine introduction to silent comedy for newbies. However, if you're a collector, your standards will be much higher, and this DVD release will not meet those standards.

If the DVD version which I have NEW at home, which includes two different movies is about $10, who in their right mind would pay what these sellers are asking, $120 USED? Seems like corportate America has some competition.

The Laurel and Hardy segments are the best. The final selection, "Big Business" is considered a comedy classic and probably their best short feature. Added narration and sound effects make this video even funnier.