Slapstick Encyclopedia (1909-1927)

The clowns of the American silent screen bring laughter to a new generation in this wonderful box set, featuring 53 short films from the era's funniest comic talents: Laurel and Hardy, Fatty Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Mack Sennett, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Harry Langdon, Will Rogers, Ben Turpin and more. Meticulously prepared for DVD with fresh new musical scores, "Slapstick Encyclopedia" is a unique collection of silent comedy gems.

A veritable gold mine of rarities and little-known treats, Slapstick Encyclopedia lives up to its title as a stupendous compendium of silent-era comedy. Spanning the entire spectrum of slapstick from 1909 to 1927, this definitive collection (curated by film historians David Shepard and Joe Adamson) dutifully credits Keystone Cops creator Mack Sennett as the founder of the slapstick phenomenon. But it reaches far beyond Sennett (who alienated most of his popular stars) to acknowledge nearly every major and minor slapstick star and style. The development of slapstick, which had its roots in vaudeville, is witnessed chronologically, mixing the manic pie-fight sensibility of Sennett's Keystone hits with the lesser-known, more sophisticated parlor-room comedy of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew, while legendary black vaudevillian Bert Williams plies his popular trade in a Biograph short from 1916.

Early appearances by Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Fatty Arbuckle, Ben Turpin, Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, and others demonstrate the gradual emergence of the popular personalities (like Chaplin's Little Tramp) that would dominate silent comedy at its peak, establishing timeless screen icons and forever altering Hollywood's way of doing business. But the real strength of this set is its wide scope, unearthing neglected talents ripe for rediscovery (like Charley Bowers and Larry Semon), and allowing the viewer to witness the evolution of gags from simple improvisation to the elaborately planned chase-oriented routines that emerged in the early 1920s. With print quality ranging from good to pristine, and original musical accompaniment by six of the world's leading silent-movie musicians, this 18-hour, 50-film laugh-athon is surely one of the finest DVD sets ever produced.Extras:

Volume 1
In the beginning: film comedy pioneers
1. Opening [:58]
2. One Too Many (1916) [15:55]
3. The Wrong Mr. Fox (1917) [13:53]
4. Mr. Flip (1909) [4:30]
5. Alkali Ike's Auto (1911) [11:58]
6. Fox Trot Finesse (1915) [14:02]
7. A Cure for Pokeritis (1912) [13:42]
8. Be My Wife (1921) [13:32]
9. A Natural Born Gambler (1916) [23:34]

Volume 2
Keystone tonight!: Mack Sennett Comedies
1. Mabel's Dramatic Career (1913) [14:57]
2. Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life (1913) [14:12]
3. The Rounders (1914) [12:02]
4. A Muddy Romance (1913) [11:37]
5. A Movie Star (1916) [24:48]
6. Teddy at the Throttle (1917) [24:43]

Volume 3
Sennett in the Twenties
1. Saturday Afternoon (1926) [30:55]
2. Super-Hooper-Dyne Lizzies (1925) [20:27]
3. Wandering Willies (1926) [20:34]
4. Circus Today (1926) [20:43]
5. Bonus Film: His Marriage Wow (1925) [16:43]
6. Bonus Film: All Night Long (1925) [3:55]

Volume 4
Funny girls: genders and their benders
1. The Detectress (1919) [22:06]
2. One Wet Night (1924) [12:00]
3. Know Thy Wife (1918) [13:33]
4. Rowdy Ann (1918) [21:23]
5. Hearts and Flowers (1919) [23:56]

Volume 5
Keaton, Arbuckle and St. John
1. Fatty and Mabel Adrift (1916) [34:58]
2. Oh, Doctor! (1917) [23:19]
3. The Garage (1920) [22:23]
4. The Boat (1921) [27:35]
5. The Iron Mule (1925) [13:39]

Volume 6
Hal Roach’s all-star comedians
1. Oranges and Lemons (1923) [12:31]
2. Get Out and Get Under (1920) [28:36]
3. Mighty Like a Moose (1926) [23:18]
4. Big Moments from Little Pictures (1924) [19:30]
5. Bonus Film: Haunted Spooks (1920) [22:52]

Volume 7
Hal Roach: the lot of fun
1. Laurel and Hardy Lafftoons [24:00]
2. Dogs of War (1923) [24:59]
3. Fluttering Hearts (1927) [23:23]
4. It's a Gift (1923) [10:31]

Volume 8
Chaplin and the music hall tradition
1. A Night in the Show (1915)
2. A Rare Chaplin Snippet (1916)
3. The Rink (1916)
4. Live Wires and Love Sparks (1916)
5. He's in Again (1918)
6. Pie-Eyed (1925)
7. Only Me (1929)

Volume 9
The race is on
1. Water Wagons (1925) [17:23]
2. Outbound (1924) [14:08]
3. Chasing Choo-Choos (1927) [22:12]
4. Danger Ahead (1926) [20:26]

Volume 10
The anarchic fringe
1. Yukon Jake (1924) [20:47]
2. Three of a Kind (1926) [23:26]
3. Dry and Thirsty (1920) [12:12]
4. Family Life (1924) [20:47]
5. Now You tell One (1926) [26:51]
6. The Grocery Clerk (1920) [27:36]




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