Favorite Films (lists up to participating site members)

[Steadmund Brand]

As far as comic genius goes... no doubt Stan Laurel should be up there with Chaplin, hmm who else would I put on that list.. lets see

1- Charles Chaplin
2- Stan Laurel
3- Buster Keaton ( but more as a stunt coordinator but still)
4- W.C Fields- however, from all that I have read none of us ever saw the best of Fields.. he was washed up by the time he started making films.
moving away from silent films I would say

5- Ernie Kovacs- too bad he is all but forgotten....he really was a visionary...I am far too young to have watched him, he died long before I was born, but I have collected his works over the years and can only imagine how fresh it was at the time... seeing as so much of it still holds up today

anyone want to add some more? or debate this list?

Steadmund Brand

[Mayerling]

G'day Jeff

I saw it wasn't your list, but such lists are always a good source for debate.

G'Day GUT,

You are right, they are a good source of debate. When I mentioned a listing based on comic genius putting Stan up alone, I should add that (although Langdon did work as a gag writer and constructor in the 1930s) the genius of his brief stardom was Frank Capra.

Jeff

[GUT]

I would put Stan and Ollie above Harry too (and if the list was creative comic genius, Stan would be the name - Ollie was smart enough to see which of the two was the creative half of the pair).

I'd put Charlie Chase and Ben Turpin above Harry too - don't forget it was not my list but Kerr's (and I recommend his book highly).

Jeff

G'day Jeff

I saw it wasn't your list, but such lists are always a good source for debate.

[Mayerling]

I'd put Laural and Hardy above Langdon, but I guess they were a team not individuals.

I would put Stan and Ollie above Harry too (and if the list was creative comic genius, Stan would be the name - Ollie was smart enough to see which of the two was the creative half of the pair).

I'd put Charlie Chase and Ben Turpin above Harry too - don't forget it was not my list but Kerr's (and I recommend his book highly).

Jeff

[GUT]

I'd put Laural and Hardy above Langdon, but I guess they were a team not individuals.

[Mayerling]

Mayerling, What do you think of Sunb Pollard or Charley Chase or Ben Turpin? I would put those three above Langdon as the 4th big silent comic...(American anyway)

Steadmund Brand

Actually I like all three better than Langdon, but Pollard is like an adjunct (for the most part) to early Harold Lloyd comedies with Bebe Daniels. Later he branches out on his own. Turpin is actually better than Walter Kerr suggested in "The Silent Clowns". Turpin is constantly trying to pretend to being very verile and brave (like a silent film version of Bob Hope) but always turns chicken. Chase is actually quite good - so far I have not seen any of his comedies that I felt were inferior. The last one I watched on "You Tube" was "Mighty Like a Moose".

Kerr suggested the following pecking order.

Chaplin
Keaton
Lloyd
Langdon
Raymond Griffiths ("Hands Up"; "Paths to Paradise"; "Trent's Last Case")
Laurel & Hardy
Maybe W.C.Fields

Jeff

[Steadmund Brand]

Mayerling, What do you think of Sunb Pollard or Charley Chase or Ben Turpin? I would put those three above Langdon as the 4th big silent comic...(American anyway)

Steadmund Brand

[Mayerling]

There was a documentary made about Langdon... I knew I saw it few years back, but i had to look it up to remember what it was called, It's called
Harry Langdon: Lost and Found (1997), not bad, not great..Personally I never found Langdon very funny, same thing with Fatty Arbuckle....yeah I feel bad for the hatchet job done on him, but his films are just unfunny...again, just my opinion

there was also a good documentary on Max Linder, Max Linder: Man in the Silk Hat..that is worth checking out as well...

Steadmund Brand

I have seen the one on Linder. Ultimately a tragic story of a brilliant comic (whom Chaplin admired and imitated a little).

I agree about Langdon, but recently in looking at some of his films on "You Tube" I see there was something special (if whispy) in his characterization. Fatty is prone to too much violence (in part due to the influence of Mack Sennett), but he can demonstrate a willingness to be active in his comedies (which was all important in early Hollywood comedy, which was mostly slapstick). His duet film with Chaplin shows him at his best. And Keaton (whose career in film he helped launch) thought highly of him.

[Steadmund Brand]

There was a documentary made about Langdon... I knew I saw it few years back, but i had to look it up to remember what it was called, It's called
Harry Langdon: Lost and Found (1997), not bad, not great..Personally I never found Langdon very funny, same thing with Fatty Arbuckle....yeah I feel bad for the hatchet job done on him, but his films are just unfunny...again, just my opinion

there was also a good documentary on Max Linder, Max Linder: Man in the Silk Hat..that is worth checking out as well...

Steadmund Brand

[Mayerling]

Ohhh the Man You Loved To Hate!!! great pic!!!!

the Lloyd one was Harold Lloyd the Third Genius correct... I hate to admit I have yet to see it..*hanging my head in shame*

I also should have mentioned the Lon Chaney Jr. documentary " Son of a Thousand Faces, was really good.. as was the doc that wa sa bonus Feature on the Wolf Man Legacy collection dvd ,Pure in Heart: the Life and Legacy of Lon Chaney, Jr., there was also a GREAT short documentary on that saet called He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce.. really worth checking out!!!

Steadmund Brand

Funny but there was no attempt to do one about Langdon. Possibly a lack of active interest out in the silent film societies.

Jeff

[Steadmund Brand]

Ohhh the Man You Loved To Hate!!! great pic!!!!

the Lloyd one was Harold Lloyd the Third Genius correct... I hate to admit I have yet to see it..*hanging my head in shame*

I also should have mentioned the Lon Chaney Jr. documentary " Son of a Thousand Faces, was really good.. as was the doc that wa sa bonus Feature on the Wolf Man Legacy collection dvd ,Pure in Heart: the Life and Legacy of Lon Chaney, Jr., there was also a GREAT short documentary on that saet called He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce.. really worth checking out!!!

Steadmund Brand

[Mayerling]

There was a marvelous series in 1980 from Thames Television narrated by James Mason called "Hollywood" about the birth of motion pictures up to 1929. Most of the episodes are on "You Tube" now. I watched one about a week ago.

Also : "The Man You Love to Hate" about the career of Eric von Stroheim.
Steadmund mentioned the series "Unknown Chaplin" and "Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow". There was also a third one dealing with Harold Lloyd. Mason had narrated the first two, but had died before the Lloyd one was made, so Lindsay Anderson narrated it.

Jeff

[Steadmund Brand]

Well I guess I'll start a list of documentaries about Movies

I'll start with what got me thinking about this, I know I will be missing a bunch, but this is pretty much off the top of my head

1-Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan
2-Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film (13 part series)
3-Dangerous Days: Making of Blade Runner
4-Fellini: I'm A Born Liar
5-Stanley Kubrick: A Life In Pictures
6-Carl Dreyer My Metier
7-Dad Made Dirty Movies (about Stephen Apostolof)
8-Le grand Meiles
9-The Battle Over Citizen Kane
10-RKO Production 601: the Making of Kong
11-Lon Chaney: a Thousand Faces
12-Universal Horror
13-Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows
14-Flying Saucers Over Hollywood (About Ed Wood and Plan 9 From Outer Space)
15-Behind the Planet of the Apes
16-Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror
17- The Wicker man Enigma
there are a couple great documentaries on Buster Keaton
18-So Funny It hurt: Buster Keaton and MGM
19-Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow
also some fun ones on my favorites the Marx Brothers
20- Inside the Marx Brothers
21-Marx Brothers in a Nutshell
22-The Unknown Marx Brothers
23- Marx Brothers from Vaudeville to Hollywood
And I'll finish for now with some good Chaplin documentaries
24-Chaplinesque
25-Unknown Chaplin
26-Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin

Please feel free to add more or to comment on any of the ones I have mentioned

Steadmund Brand

[GUT]

For special effects I liked the movie FX.

[Paddy Goose]

For special effects I liked Terminator II where the bad guy melted then came back together