Six classic shorts highlighting best in silent film entertainment, with the emphasis on comedy. Titles are as follows:
- PREVUE 8 (Standard 8mm, silent). The classic film sampler from Blackhawk Films. This was advertised nationally in magazines (I ordered mine through The Saturday Evening Post!). It's a great introduction to classic film collecting, with highlights from over a dozen films of every genre.
- SMILE PLEASE (Standard 8mm, silent). A one-reel Regent Films digest of one of Harry Langdon's first films for Mack Sennett. This includes virtually the entire hilarious photo studio sequence. Great cartoon-like gags from the Golden Age of Comedy!
- ONCE OVER LIGHTLY (Super 8, silent). An odd release from Ken Films. It's the 1930's Vitaphone comedy with Roscoe Ates, who is credited on the box. It's odd, because the cover art shows Ben Turpin! Ken Films also released a short with this same title, which was a 1940's Warner Bros compilation of Sennett-First National comedies, which DID feature Ben Turpin. The superimposed dialogue titles that appear at the beginning of this film are from the other release! Someone at the lab was asleep at the switch!
- KEYSTONE COPS (Standard 8mm, SOUND). This is a condensed AAP release of the 1935 Vitaphone short KEYSTONE HOTEL. This was a wonderful recreation of the great days of slapstick, with many old-time stars (Ben Turpin, Hank Mann, Chester Conklin, Jack Duffy, Bert Roach, Marie Prevost, and Ford Sterling as - what else - the Chief). A look at what might have been.
- GOOD OLD CORN (Standard 8mm, SOUND). Another AAP release of a Warner Bros collection of Sennett silent comedies. The narration is by Knox Manning, whom you'll recognize from countless Warners features and cartoons.
- SMALL TIME IDOL (Standard 8mm, SOUND). Also from AAP (the forerunner of Ken Films), this is actually a condensed version of the silent feature A SMALL TOWN IDOL, starring Ben Turpin, James Finlayson, and Phyllis Haver. Sennett reissued the film in 1932, and Warners/Vitaphone cut it down for this 1939 short.
- BONUS! Purchase this group, and as a extra added attraction, I'll throw in a copy of the classic comedy IT'S A GIFT! It's the great 1923 Hal Roach Studios film starring the one and only Snub Pollard. You've seen highlights in countless silent comedy compilations, here's the entire film, in Super 8 in a great print from Blackhawk Films, with original titles.
This 8mm film lot includes a selection of classic silent and sound comedies featuring renowned actors like Charlie Chaplin, Snub Pollard, Ben Turpin, Billy Bevan, Harry Langdon, and the Keystone Cops. The films are in black and white. All films were manufactured in the United States and fall under the categories of film stock and movies/TV. The sub-genre of the films is silent comedy, which is sure to delight fans of classic humor. The lot includes titles that will make you laugh out loud. This collection is perfect for film enthusiasts and collectors who want to add some laughter to their collection.