The fun factory : the Keystone Film Company and the emergence of mass culture

From its founding in 1912, the short-lived Keystone Film Company—home of the frantic, bumbling Kops and Mack Sennett's Bathing Beauties—made an indelible mark on American popular culture with its high-energy comic shorts. Even as Keystone brought "lowbrow" comic traditions to the screen, the studio played a key role in reformulating those traditions for a new, cross-class audience. In The Fun Factory, Rob King explores the dimensions of that process, arguing for a new understanding of working-class cultural practices within early cinematic mass culture. He shows how Keystone fashioned a style of film comedy from the roughhouse humor of cheap theater, pioneering modes of representation that satirized film industry attempts at uplift. Interdisciplinary in its approach, The Fun Factory offers a unique studio history that views the changing politics of early film culture through the sociology of laughter. Frontmatter List of Illustrations (page xi) Acknowledgments (page xiii) Introduction (page 1) PART I. "SATIRE IN OVERALLS": THE KEYSTONE FILM COMPANY AND POPULAR CULTURE 1. "The Fun Factory": Class, Comedy, and Popular Culture, 1912-1914 (page 19) 2. "Funny Germans" and "Funny Drunks": Clowns, Class, and Ethnicity at Keystone, 1913-1915 (page 65) 3. "The Impossible Attained!" Tillie's Punctured Romance and the Challenge of Feature-Length Slapstick, 1914-1915 (page 105) PART II. "MORE CLEVER AND LESS VULGAR": THE KEYSTONE FILM COMPANY AND MASS CULTURE 4. "Made for the Masses with an Appeal to the Classes": Keystone, the Triangle Film Corporation, and the Failure of Highbrow Film Culture, 1915-1917 (page 143) 5. "Uproarious Inventions": Keystone, Modernity, and the Machine, 1915-1917 (page 180) 6. From "Diving Venus" to "Bathing Beauties": Reification and Feminine Spectacle, 1916-1917 (page 210) Conclusion (page 247) Notes (page 253) Filmography (page 315) Index (page 343) From Its Founding In 1912, The Short-lived Keystone Film Company - Home Of The Frantic, Bumbling Kops And Mack Sennett's Bathing Beauties - Made An Indelible Mark On American Popular Culture Wit Its High-energy Comic-shorts.--page 4 Of Cover. The Fun Factory: Class, Comedy, And Popular Culture, 1912-1914 -- Funny Germans And Funny Drunks: Clowns, Class, And Ethnicity At Keystone, 1913-1915 -- The Impossible Attained! Tillie's Punctured Romance And The Challenge Of Feature-length Slapstick, 1914-1915 -- Made For The Masses With An Appeal To The Classes: Keystone, The Triangle Film Corporation, And The Failure Of Highbrow Film Culture, 1915-1917 -- Uproarious Inventions: Keystone, Modernity, And The Machine, 1915-1917 -- From Diving Venus To Bathing Beauties: Reification And Feminine Spectacle, 1916-1917. Rob King. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 253-313) And Index. Includes Filmography: P. 315-341. From its founding in 1912, the short-lived Keystone Film Company-home of the frantic, bumbling Kops and Mack Sennett's Bathing Beauties-made an indelible mark on American popular culture with its high-energy comic shorts. Even as Keystone brought "lowbrow" comic traditions to the screen, the studio also played a key role in reformulating those traditions for a new, cross-class audience. In The Fun Factory, Rob King explores the dimensions of that process, arguing for a new understanding of working-class sensibilities within early cinematic mass culture. Interdisciplinary in its approach, The Fun Factory offers a unique studio history that views the changing politics of early films through the sociology of laughter