Product Description
In this third volume of Slapstick Encyclopedia, Kino on Video celebrates the first ladies of screen comedy with six sensational shorts which dispel the myth that comedy was primarily a man's domain. While Keystone's "Bathing Beauties" were satisfied to pose and look pretty, these dauntless damsels flung themselves into the making of mirth with spirited abandon.
Highlighted by a bit of bawdy cross-dressing and smart innuendo that would never have gotten past the Hays Office in the mid-'30s, Hearts And Flowers (1919) is buoyed by the good-humored sensitivity of Louise Fazenda, backed by Phyllis Haver and Ford Sterling.
Fay Tincher challenges conventional notions of femininity in the titular role of Rowdy Ann (1919), produced by Al Christie), a raucous comedy in the untamed West. Equally determined is Gale Henry, who co-stars with Charley Chase and Vivian Oakland in Mighty Like A Moose (1926) and, in an earlier role, follows a mystery into the depths of Chinatown in The Detectress (1919).
When Stan Laurel was asked to name the ten greatest comediennes of all time, one of the first on the list was Alice Howell, who stars in One Wet Night (1924). Dorothy Devore downplayed the violent nature of slapstick in favor of more sophisticated laughs in such films as Know Thy Wife (1918, co-starring Earl Rodney). various directors. U.S. 1918-26. Total time: 117 mins. B&W. Music by Eric Beheim, Brian Benison, Robert Israel, Ken Rosen.
Contents:
Mighty Like A Moose (1926, w/Charley Chase)
The Detectress (1919, w/Gale Henry)
One Wet Night (1924, w/Alice Howell)
Know Thy Wife (1918, w/Dorothy Devore)
Rowdy Ann (1919, w/Fay Tincher, Harry Depp)
Hearts And Flowers (1919, w/Louise Fazenda and Ford Sterling)
