Welcome to BlogHub: the Best in Veteran and Emerging Classic Movie Blogs
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You can rate and share your favorite classic movie posts here.
Slapstick Summer Series: Moving On | Alkali Ike’s Auto (1911)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Aug 8, 2012
Related to yesterday’s post, Ike (first ‘Alkali Ike’, then ‘Universal Ike’ after the actor moved from Essanay to Universal Studios) was another pre-Tramp/Fatty character portrayed in multiple films — this time, by Augustus Carney, and in almost 50 different movies read more
Slapstick Summer Series: Character Development | How Bumptious Papered the Parlor (1910)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Aug 7, 2012
Before Roscoe was ‘Fatty’, before Chaplin was ‘The Tramp’, and before Harold Lloyd was ‘Lonesome Luke’ (or ‘The Boy’), John Cumpson was ‘Bumptious’, a slapstick character he portrayed in 13 different movies. How Bumptious Papered the Parlor read more
Slapstick Summer Series: When Harry Met Zecca | Slippery Jim (1910)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Aug 6, 2012
Ferdinand Zecca reportedly came up with the idea for Slippery Jim after reading about the escape acts of Harry Houdini. That inspiration worked out nicely for me as this is my favorite film from 1910. It’s visually and structurally closer to films from the early 1910s than to those from the la read more
Slapstick Summer Series: Laugh Olympics | An Obstacle Course (1906)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jul 27, 2012
In honor of tonight’s Opening Ceremonies — Guy’s Une course d’obstacle.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1649427/
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I Believe It’ll Bring a Lot of Good Thoughts — To Your Heart
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jul 26, 2012
Bob Ross remixed by Symphony of Science’s John Boswell, aka melodysheep, for PBS Digital Studios.
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Slapstick Summer Series: Passing the Torch | The Race for the Sausage (1907)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jul 25, 2012
The similarities to The Policemen’s Little Run, released earlier the same year, are obvious. Each have their own merits and choosing one over the other ultimately comes down to personal preference.
More significant than the movie itself are the circumstances revolving at the time around the fi read more
Slapstick Summer Series: A Vehicle for Comedy | The ‘?’ Motorist (1906)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jul 24, 2012
Perhaps the most fantastic slapstick of the century’s 1st decade, the influence of Melies is obvious [note: R.W. Paul, producer and cinematographer of "The '?' Motorist", built the 1st camera used by Melies].
However, unlike most works by his fellow cinemagician, Walter R. Booth’s “ read more
Slapstick Summer Series: Don’t Sleep on These | The Rolling Bed (1907)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jul 23, 2012
Let’s say you’re Louis Feuillade and you want to top two previous movies centered around mattress hi-jinks (Guy’s The Drunken Mattress and Melies’s The Tramp and the Mattress Makers). How would you go about doing this? Why, utilizing the entire bed of course! With the shortes read more
Slapstick Summer Series: Semi-Meta | A Fall from Five Floors (1906)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jul 20, 2012
As one might expect, the pioneers of motion pictures (being photographers themselves) often used the photographing process itself as a plot device within their films. With the evolution of prank-based comedies towards slaptick, a natural transition existed for these meta-ish films to introduce situa read more
Slapstick Summer Series: Multilevel Comedy | The Irresistible Piano (1907)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jul 18, 2012
Alice Guy continues her exploration and expansion of the slapstick genre by moving from horizontal space (as utilized in the “chase” films) to vertical space. In Le piano irrésistible, music seeps through walls and ceilings to charm all those within hearing range. On a related note, Guy read more
Slapstick Summer Series: Ladies, Please! | Those Awful Hats (1909)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jul 16, 2012
Although rudimentary and often too-easily dismissed, Those Awful Hats is a must-see for all fans of early cinema and film history. Reasons being (in no particular order):
We’re treated to a live-action PSA of the famous theater slides which asked women to remove their giant hats so as to not read more
Slapstick Summer Series: The 1st Pie Face | Mr. Flip (1909)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jul 13, 2012
Mr. Flip, played by cross-eyed comedian, Ben Turpin, is quite the ladies’ man…and by “ladies’ man”, I mean borderline sexual harasser who constantly receives his just desserts [sp]. Speaking of which, this film (directed by Gilbert M. “Broncho Billy” Anderso read more
Slapstick Summer Series: Vaudevillians | Robetta and Doretto, No. 2 (1895)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jul 9, 2012
Short recording of 1890s vaudeville slapstick act, “Robetta and Doretto”, performing one of their routines (Chinese Laundry Scene). It’s funny that even in these plot-less few seconds we glimpse elements familiar from the earliest slapstick movies.
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Slapstick Summer Series: Key Foundation Cornerstone | The Bricklayers (1905)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jul 7, 2012
Alice Guy’s Les Maçons provides plenty of comedic action, and with slapsticky coppers pre-dating those of Keystone by a decade.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1649371/
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Slapstick Summer Series: Outside The Tableau | Chimney Sweep (1906)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jul 5, 2012
Terribly slow beginning, but notable for the chase sequence beginning at the 8:10 mark and featuring some of the very few external shots by Méliès. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0228447/ Share this:FacebookTwitterPinterestTumblrRedditStumbleUponDiggEmailLike this:Like7 bloggers like read more
Slapstick Summer Series: Timeless | A Very Fine Lady (1908)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jul 4, 2012
A beautiful woman causes mayhem with weak-willed men (some things never change). Add a laugh track and Louis Feuillade’s Une dame vraiment bien could be a modern “Hidden Camera” TV-show. But what’s up with the ending?!?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0208539/
Sha read more
Slapstick Summer Series: A Step Back | The Runaway Horse (1908)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jul 3, 2012
Of historical importance for being among the group of early chase films. Not the best of the bunch – old-fashioned pacing takes much of the blame for this – but not bad either. Louis J. Gasnier’s Le cheval emballé also contains a unique reverse-action shot, which may have been the read more
Slapstick Summer Series: Dark Comedy | The Thieving Hand (1908)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jul 2, 2012
A bit macabre, a bit surreal, and quite clever — The Thieving Hand, directed by J. Stuart Blackton. We also find out what Thing was up to before he became so helpful to The Addams Family.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0288252/
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Slapstick Summer Series: The Original Queen of Comedy | Laughing Gas (1907)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jun 29, 2012
Significant not just for having the comedic lead portrayed by a woman, but also a woman of color. Bertha Regustus, listed on IMDB with just a single movie credit, is a delight in this film directed by Edwin S. Porter.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0234086/
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Slapstick Summer Series: A Killer Joke | That Fatal Sneeze (1907)
The Giddy Blog Posted by chrisgiddens on Jun 28, 2012
Under-appreciated gem by Lewin Fitzhamon about an elderly man caught in a powerful sneezing fit as a result of retaliatory pepper from a whipper-snapper he mildly pranked at the film’s beginning.
The humorous effects are creative and crescendo appropriately to the grand finale.
http:/ read more