Comedy is a man in trouble : slapstick in American movies

Legendary screen comedian Jerry Lewis once said, "The premise of all comedy is a man in trouble." The films that endeared Lewis and others to us hinged on the physical assault of their hero, the pie in the face or slip on the banana peel that reduced the movie star to the level of the audience. Alan Dale presents a lively and accessible look at slapstick, a form of comedy with roots in the circus and vaudeville that has been refashioned by actors ranging from Buster Keaton to the Marx Brothers, from Katharine Hepburn to Jim Carrey. Alan Dale worked at a Los Angeles talent agency before earning a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Princeton University. He is currently working toward a J.D. at Yale Law School. Winner of the Theater Library Association's Special Jury Prize for Distinguished Achievement

An enthusiast's look at American comedies and the physical comedians who made them great.

Legendary screen comedian Jerry Lewis once said, "The premise of all comedy is a man in trouble." The films that endeared Lewis and others to us hinged on the physical assault of their hero, the pie in the face or slip on the banana peel that reduced the movie star to the level of the audience. Comedy Is a Man in Trouble presents the legacy of physical humor from the performances of vaudeville actors and circus clowns-who coined the term "slapstick" by playfully and noisily beating each other with wooden paddles-to its ongoing popularity today in the films of Jim Carrey and the Farrelly brothers.

Alan Dale's personal and passionate tour of movie slapstick begins with an original assessment of the work of famed silent clowns Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton. Dale rejects the long-held notion that the talent of these comedians lies in their ability to combine comedy and tragedy and suggests that their riotous imaginations and their physical grace revealed greatness in comedy for its own sake. A decade later the Marx Brothers exploited the new technology of sound film in their fast-paced verbal exchanges-and, in doing so, invented a verbal form of slapstick later exploited by directors such as Preston Sturges and Howard Hawks. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Jerry Lewis energetically revised and combined the physical and verbal humor of his predecessors for a new generation of viewers.

Comedy Is a Man in Trouble presents a lively, accessible, and lavishly illustrated look at a form of comedy that has its origins in ancient Greece and in American vaudeville and has beenexpanded and refashioned in film by everyone from W. C. Fields and Marion Davies to Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. Here is not only an amusing look at film comedy history, but an insight into the human condition and what causes us to laugh.

Alan Dale worked at a Los Angeles talent agency before earning a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Princeton University. He lives in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Translation Inquiries: University of Minnesota Press

Library Journal

Slapstick has always been a film staple, and Dale (writing and American studies, Princeton) presents a history of cinematic slapstick, which he defines as an elemental aspect of existence...a fundamental, universal, and eternal response to the fact that life is physical. This is a selective, appreciative survey of the diverse masters of physical comedy, from Charlie Chaplin (with emphasis on his later Great Dictator), stone-faced Buster Keaton, all-American nice guy Harold Lloyd, the Marx Brothers, writer-director Preston Sturges, and French cult-favorite Jerry Lewis. Rejecting the notion that slapstick necessarily involves pathos, the author deftly combines criticism and biography, offering keen insight and lively prose. He notes that studio bosses believed that men rejected female clowns because they didn t laugh at attractive women, yet Dale makes a compelling case for Katharine Hepburn as a breakthrough slapstick artist. This book is a fine addition to public and academic libraries, deserving a place next to Walter Kerr s The Silent Clowns (Da Capo Pr., 1990. reprint) and other classics on film comedy. Stephen Rees, Levittown Regional Lib., PA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Contents......Page 10 Preface......Page 12 1. Comedy Is a Man in Trouble......Page 16 2. Chaplin as Proteus, Low-Down and High Up......Page 46 3. Junior: Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton......Page 74 4. Girl Heroes......Page 107 5. The Marx Brothers: The Buoyant Refuse of Our Teeming Shore......Page 163 6. Preston Sturges: Girl in a Jam, Boy in a Jam......Page 192 7. Jerry Lewis: The Once and Future King of Comedy......Page 221 Coda......Page 244 Notes......Page 252 Works Cited......Page 268 A......Page 278 B......Page 279 C......Page 280 D......Page 282 F......Page 283 G......Page 284 H......Page 285 J......Page 286 K......Page 287 L......Page 288 M......Page 290 O......Page 294 R......Page 295 S......Page 296 V......Page 299 W......Page 300 Z......Page 301 Machine generated contents note: 1. Comedy Is a Man in Trouble 1 2. Chaplin as Proteus, Low-Down and High Up 31 3. Junior: Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton 59 4. Girl Heroes 92 5. The Marx Brothers: The Buoyant Refuse of Our Teeming Shore 132 6. Preston Sturges: Girl in a Jam, Boy in a Jam 161 7. Jerry Lewis: The Once and Future King of Comedy 190 Coda 213 Notes 221 Works Cited 237 Index 247. Comedy Is a Man in Trouble presents a lively, accessible, and lavishly illustrated look at a form of comedy that has been expanded and refashioned in film by everyone from W. C. Fields and Marion Davies to Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. Here is not only an amusing look at film comedy history, but an insight into the human condition and what causes us to laugh