Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

XoWizIama Excellent adaptation.

Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

dbborroughs This is one of Robert Youngson's compilation features from the early 1960's. Youngson took clips from the silent slapstick films and spliced them together in a nostalgic look back at comedy of yester year. Youngson turned out a good number of these films and they all work to varying degrees. Broad spectrum look at the comedy of silent days is an excellent look at the early days of comedy with looks at Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Snub Pollard (in the influential Its a Gift) and others. While not necessarily the best work of all of the performers, Chaplin has mostly his early Sennett stuff, which shows off why he was a star but isn't the funniest stuff he ever did, Keatons's Cops is cut up and while it is a really funny film, it may not be his best work either. Then again they are actually the things I would probably show someone to begin to foster a love of silent comedy. I like this film a great deal and consider it probably Youngston's second best film after Days of Thrills and Laughter. Definitely worth a a look

MartinHafer First, I must point out that it is VERY VERY hard to give a rating score to a movie that is really just a compilation film. The only original content is the mostly good narration, sound effects and music. So a good score is 100% impossible--so take my 8 with a "grain of salt".Second, while I loved watching this film, it makes a serious omission. It talks about the "3 great comics" but never even mentions Harold Lloyd--who, for a while, was the highest paid and most popular comic alive. The problem was that when the movie was made, Lloyd retained ownership of his films and Robert Youngson (who created this film) couldn't show Lloyd clips. While I do understand this, it was a great disservice to Lloyd and probably contributed to his being forgotten for many years. A discussion of slapstick without mentioning Lloyd is akin to doing the same and not mentioning Keton or Chaplin--it just isn't right.However, despite this, the clips chosen were very funny and well worth seeing. In particular, I loved the Snub Pollard clip with his amazing car!! I use this film for my history classes, as it's a great introduction to slapstick American comedy.

Snow Leopard This enjoyable compilation of footage from an assortment of well-known silent comedies is fun to watch, and it brings back the feel of an era well worth remembering. It would also work as a good introduction to silent comedy for anyone curious about the era. The narration works well enough for the most part, taking an obviously admiring tone, while trying to convey a feel for the era as well as providing some information.The silent movie years produced a great many fine, talented screen comedians, each of whom had his or her own particular style. Although it would not be possible to do justice to all of them - or even to mention every worthwhile comic of the era - in a single feature, this collection still does a good job of introducing several of the best-known comedians in some features that illustrate their styles and abilities.Many silent film fans will already have seen most or all of the features that this compilation highlights, but even so, it can be very enjoyable to see these clips from some of the fine classics of the era, plus footage from some comics who were a cut below the best of their time, but who are still worth remembering.For those less familiar with silent comedy, the selections provide a look at a fair number of the favorite performers of the era. It would be easy to suggest some other stars who would have been very worthy inclusions (Harold Lloyd, for example), but what there is here certainly provides some good examples. Several of the features chosen are from very funny movies that are worth seeing in their entirety if you have enjoyed the highlights.

Petri Pelkonen Robert Youngson's movie When Comedy Was King from 1960 shows us some great clips from the silent era.It is narrated by Dwight Weist.You can laugh with Charles Chaplin, Charley Chase, Harry Langdon, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Ben Turpin, Billy Bevan, Snub Pollard, Buster Keaton and lots of others.Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy cause trouble to Jimmy Finlayson in Big Business (1929).In Hal Roach comedy A Pair of Tights (1929) Marion Byron is sent to get some ice cream while Edgar Kennedy and the gang waits in the car. Getting ice cream hasn't ever been as hard as it is to Marion Byron in this funny clip. When Comedy Was King offers you lots of laughter with these clowns of silent comedy.These clowns have been long gone and there will never be comedians like them again.