Slapstick's Summary

Silent movie: the "slapstick"

In the 20's, the film projections became very famous. So, because of the high demand, more and more silent movies was made. One of the genre more liked by the public was the slapstick. The movies belonging to this genre were based in the use of gag visual. They were comedy movies.

"El Regador regado" by the siblings Lumiére is considered the beginning of this genre. Although there are other people that have contributed in the popularity of this genre. Some of the them are:

• Max Linder. He incarnated a character of distinguished and elegantly dressed appearance, who was caught in the most unusual entanglements. His great success led him to be the highest paid film actor in France.
• Mack Sennett. The appearance of this Canadian is the true turning point in the Slapstick. Sennet was a humorless comedian who made history by standing behind the camera and writing and producing his own comic films. In 1912 he founded his own company, Keystone and, for more than ten years, that brand was synonymous with film comedy. Nobody like him had known to exploit, until then, the possibilities of a simple humor based on falls and smacks.
• Charles Chaplin. The character of Charlot, the vagabond with bowler hat, cane and pants tied with a rope, made him one of the universal icons of the 20th century, but beyond that character, Chaplin proved to be a true genius. He took care as no one of the formal aspects of his productions and incorporated to them a dramatic touch. Undeniable classics such as El chico, La chimera del oro, Luces de la ciudad or Modern Times are clear examples of an unprecedented sensibility until then.
• Buster Keaton. The antithesis to Chaplin, Keaton was able to star in the most amazing risky scenes without disturbing the gesture or the sad look, which made him known by the nickname "Face of stick". His repertoire of masterpieces is impressive: The modern Sherlock Holmes, The hero of the river, The machinist of the General. Unfortunately, he was one of the masters of the silent comedian who worse took the step to sound.
• Unlike the rest, Lloyd did not come from vaudeville, but rather was an actor who decided to specialize in comedy. He achieved massive success by embodying the prototype of a normal American young man, subject to the new dangers of the big city. "The man fly" or "The Rookie Student" are some of his key works.

At the end of the 20s, with the generalization of the feature film and the emergence of the sound, the burlesque is transformed into comedy: the long duration requires another rhythm, the scripts have to develop more situations and the argument must structure a narrative line that makes of the film something more than a succession of gags. The comedy of pantomime gives way to verbal excess and absurd humor typical of the Marx brothers.

The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo; A Night at the Opera is the first of his films in which Zeppo no longer appears) are the archetype of the comedy dialogue or verbal of the 30s. Of great musical training ( Harpo the harp, Chico the piano, Groucho the guitar), belong to a family of artistic tradition. They started in vaudeville (variety theater: musical numbers, dance, magic, acrobatics, humor ...). In the 1920s they became one of the most successful theater groups in North America. Through their sense of humor they criticized society and demonstrated a great capacity for improvisation. His career changed when they signed, at the end of the 20s, with the Paramount and started making films in Hollywood. Goose soup (1933) and Una noche en la opera (1935) - this last one with La Metro - are two of the most important titles of his filmography.