The silent clowns

Walter Kerr's The Silent Clowns is a must. Tons of great pictures and details on Buster, Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Laurel & Hardy- but also on lesser known "clowns". It is obvious how much Mr. Kerr loved his work. At one point he talks about how he enjoyed going to Buster Keaton movies as a youth. This book lives up to the hype as the greatest book ever on silent comedy. You can read this book 50 times and still enjoy it. *Get the HARDCOVER version. The paperback version does not do this book justice.

This book is not only the single best volume ever written about silent film comedy, but the best about silent film, period. Only Kevin Brownlow's The Parade's Gone By even comes close. There are chapters on the mechanics and aesthetics of silent film that should be read by everyone with an interest in the form. In addition, his chains of reasoning and perceptions are put forth with an aptness and lucidity that conceals the depth of the intellectual analysis. The elegantly straightforward prose makes this book a joy to read from start to finish. Further, in addition to covering the film work of the "big four" (Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, and Langdon) Kerr also sheds welcome light on lesser-known and even forgotten figures, such as the "unexpected" Raymond Giffith. Finally, this is a book that was well-produced on every level, right down to the layout, chapter headings, and fonts. Numerous film stills of every size (inluding some generous two-page spreads) make it a feast for the eyes as well as the mind, cogently and often playfully setting off the text. The original hardback edition published by Knopf was meant as a sort of intelligent coffee-table book (most assuredly NOT an oxymoron in this case), and the present oversized-paperback edition provided by the good folks at Da Capo should be seen in the same light. Both a celebration of silent comedy and a superb investigation of the form. Also a book that you can dip into again and again over the years with undiminished pleasure and come away with reinvigorated enthusiasm for the subject. If you don't have it, get it.

What Kerr has essentially revealed in this book is the very pulse by which the silent comedic form remaines timeless. He manages to write his book with such a love, yet such an intellectual understanding, that much like the art form he analyzes, it is a book devoid of snootiness or cynicsm. The book has many stengths, but carries such weight because it isn't only pre-occupied with Keaton and Chaplin. The chapters on Harold Lloyd -- who remains understudied -- are very insightful, yet objective. And while other silent comedians aren't given quite space that the major four American comedians are (Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, Langdon), a respectable analysis of Arbuckle, Sennett, Linder, Laurel and Hardy, and many more are presented. Valuable perspectives on "non-comedic" actors like Fairbanks, Pickford, and Gish are also hearty reading.Kerr also give great insight into aesthetic issues, such as music composition and presentation, varying artists' cutting techniques, the roles of women in selected films, the alternate use of frame rates, and much, much, more. What makes the book so refreshing to read is how very much Kerr loves his subject, not necassarilly his subjects. Most books about the silent comedians -- Keaton and Chaplin in particular -- cannot help but devote numerous pages and even chapters to the filmmaker's vices (i.e. Chaplin's womanizing, Keaton's alcoholism). Kerr mentions such subjects when pertinent, but they do not become the book's thrust, nor are such issues presented to undercut the artist or his work in any way. Flawed men these clowns were, but their work remains relatively perfect.

If you get any book or combination of books on silent film, this one is a must have. Incredible research, great examples of each master's style, technique, and persona.You don't have to be a film buff to enjoy this book; the author obviously loves his subject, and his enthusiasm is infectious...I find myself coming back to this book repeatedly, and each time find something new.When written, Kerr proclaimed that he had a predilection for the work of Keaton, read why and check out "The General" or "The Navigator" and you'll know why he's doesn't seem as dated or quaint as Chaplin.Buy it.

Surely one of the best books ever published about any aspect of the movies, longtime NY Times theater critic Walter Kerr's paean to the comedies he grew up on in the 1920s brings both affection and an extremely discerning critical eye to the period and its figures, large and small.Kerr had seen many of the films as a boy, but deciding not to trust his memory, he went back and viewed hundreds of silent films with-- in those pre-VCR days-- the aid of archives such as George Eastman House and collectors such as William K. Everson. The result is a particularly painstaking and well-documented account of the rise of film comedy. You might disagree with his dismissal of Mack Sennett, for instance, but there's no denying he has the ammo to make his case. He helps us see what was distinctive about such shadowy figures as Raymond Griffith (who might be the fifth great silent clown if more of his films survived), Max Linder (Chaplin's early model) and Lloyd Hamilton. And when it comes to the giants-- Keaton and Chaplin in particular-- no one has ever analyzed so well what is unique and magical about each of them.Highly intellectual yet entirely accessible, Kerr's text would be enough for any book, but it is also a beautifully designed coffee table book with many large and unfamiliar stills from the period