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From: tomczak@harvard.ARPA (Bill Tomczak)
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: Re: Keaton, Sennett, etc.
Message-ID: <395@harvard.ARPA>
Date: Sat, 5-Oct-85 12:17:42 EDT
Article-I.D.: harvard.395
Posted: Sat Oct  5 12:17:42 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 7-Oct-85 02:47:25 EDT
References: <695@decwrl.UUCP>
Reply-To: tomczak@harvard.UUCP (Bill tomczak)
Organization: Aiken Computation Laboratory, Harvard
Lines: 29
Summary: 

> From: boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN)

>Well, mark me down for another one who cannot appreciate the silent comedies.
>I like all kinds of comedy, from the slapstick of the Three Stooges to the
>droll, intellectual wit of Woody Allen, but for some reason I have been unable
>to fathom, I've never been able to warm to any of the classic film comedians
>(Keaton, Chaplin, etc.) or comedy teams (Laurel & Hardy, Marx Brothers, etc.).

Wow! Someone who admits to liking the Three Stooges!! (Although I have
to admit that in my sillier moments I get real charge out of the
Stooges).

One thing I thought of as I read this was that as I watched a bunch of
Keaton films awhile back I found myself very slightly annoyed at one
common theme that seemed to run through all his films.  The comedy in
almost every single case (I actually think is was EVERY case, but I
can't be sure) revolved around someone not saying something to somebody
else or making assumptions based on a lack of communication between two
or more people.  It also seemed to be presented as something that
'decent' people just didn't do/say.  Several times it occurred to me
that "if only he/she/they had said (whatever)" everything would be
fine.  And also the funniness would be gone.  I've noticed this is many
other films of the silent era and wondered how much of the comedy might
be based on cultural conventions of the time (1920's). Perhaps the
changes that have occurred in society since then are one reason for not
being able to appreciate comedy from that era?  Has anyone else had
this kind of experience??

Bill Tomczak@harvard.{ARPA, UUCP}