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Stooges DVD/VHS/Home Video / Re: Vitagraph Comedies Blu-Ray 4/30/24
« Last post by J_Kasumi on Today at 05:39:01 PM »OK, so there’s a TON to take in here. I am only slightly into the second disc at this point. Here are my early thoughts.You said it better than I could, since most of what you said is similar to what I think.
- Most, if not all, of this stuff is indeed more domesticated comedy versus broad Sennett like slapstick.
- The only comedians so far I would label as clowns are Edith Storey and maybe Hughie Mack and John Bunny. The latter two simply based on what they look like (I.e. overweight) versus any internal gifts. Edith Storey is delightful and in the case of John Bunny, I’m convinced he was a star because of what he looked like. In a world with a lot of boxed in medium shots and standard looking generic handsome young leading men and pretty young leading ladies, there’s no doubt Bunny visually stood out.
- Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew are by far the best of the domesticated comedians. They’re believable, likable and funny with well written shorts that make sense. There appears to be a lot of shorts coming up next on disc two and I’m looking forward to them.
- Frank Daniels on screen character, on the other hand, gives me the creeps.
- The Montgomery/Rock short I have indeed seen before on The Silent Comedy Watch Party. Crazy to think it’s the only surviving short in a series of forty plus films. Probably the most Stooge like film in the collection in terms of pacing and gag construction. I enjoyed it.
Some stuff better than others and all of it interesting. I haven’t even gotten to the Larry Semon disc yet and that I know I’ll enjoy. Hopefully other studio based silent comedy collections from Kino can see release like this if this sells well enough.