Pordenone Silent Film Festival - Origins of Slapstick: Transatlantic Echoes

[Uli Ruedel]

Dear all,

for the 42nd edition of the Giornate, Steve Massa and yours truly were allowed to get back at it again and curate a series focused on European and American slapstick.

As per the festival news (http://www.giornatedelcinemamuto.it/en/42a-edizione-delle-giornate-del-cinema-muto/),

"Also in a second incarnation is the series curated by Ulrich Rüdel e Steve Massa on the origins of Slapstick, specifically looking at the links between European and American comics. Divided into 5 themed sections (chase films, clowns, drag, mismatched pairs, married couples), each program consists of shorts and a feature, showcasing such well known comics as Harold Lloyd and Mabel Normand from the U.S., Walter Forde from the UK, and the most famous clowns of the early 20th century, the Fratellini Brothers from France, seen in a recreation of their influential circus act. Also included is the Danish duo Pat and Patachon, modelled in some ways after Don Quixote and Sancho Panza and precursors to other famed comic pairings."

Further, we have Syd Chaplin (in drag), André Deed, the comedy teams Slim Summerville & Bobby Dunn and Beef & Steak (Sig Arno & Kurt Gerron), Sarah Duhamel, the first Toto, Charley Chase (in MODERN LOVE), Karl Valentin & Liesl Karlstadt, a few precious seconds of Max Linder behind the scenes, and - a fun rediscovery, we hope - delightful Danish comedienne, Olga Svendsen (along with her film and stage partner, Oscar Stribolt).

The feature based programs are supplemented by a few little 'appetizers' of one reelers and fragments, and the online edition of the festival includes a one hour selection from the series scored by Daan van den Hurk.

Uli

[Ed Watz]

What a fantastic program, Uli and Steve! I wish that I was able to attend. Is that the part-talkie version of MODERN LOVE being shown?

I didn't know that Sig Arno and Kurt Gerron were a comedy team. What a shame Kurt didn't emigrate to the US, he was an amazing performer. For such a heavy man he does some pretty athletic dance moves in DIE DREI VON DER TANKSTELLE.

Best of luck with the show, I'm sure it will be great!

[Uli Ruedel]

Thanks, Ed; it was indeed, is an all-silent version even surviving? From what Steve and I heard (both laughter and comments, that is), the series was nicely received indeed, including the more off-beat selections like Toto and the Fratellinis. A shame, indeed a tragedy; and while Beef & Steak were surely intriguing to see for many reasons, the teaming(s) that really did win quite a few new friends were Pat and Patachon (while obviously still not everyone's cup of tea) and their charming dancer friends, Marguerite Viby and Nina Kalckar, as well as the unusual teaming of Syd (in drag) Chaplin nursing Edgar Kennedy. Hopefully "Oh! What a Nurse!" will be distributed more broadly some day, while "Højt paa en kvist" is on stumfilm.dk already but won't be the same without Meg Morley's brilliant accompaniment. Stumfilm.dk also has quite a selection of Olga Svendsen and Oscar Stribolt, and we hope we gave her and a few other wonderful comics a little bit more of the spotlight they deserve. Wish you could have joined.

Uli

[Ed Watz]

Thanks, Ed; it was indeed, is an all-silent version even surviving? From what Steve and I heard (both laughter and comments, that is), the series was nicely received indeed, including the more off-beat selections like Toto and the Fratellinis. A shame, indeed a tragedy; and while Beef & Steak were surely intriguing to see for many reasons, the teaming(s) that really did win quite a few new friends were Pat and Patachon (while obviously still not everyone's cup of tea) and their charming dancer friends, Marguerite Viby and Nina Kalckar, as well as the unusual teaming of Syd (in drag) Chaplin nursing Edgar Kennedy. Hopefully "Oh! What a Nurse!" will be distributed more broadly some day, while "Højt paa en kvist" is on stumfilm.dk already but won't be the same without Meg Morley's brilliant accompaniment. Stumfilm.dk also has quite a selection of Olga Svendsen and Oscar Stribolt, and we hope we gave her and a few other wonderful comics a little bit more of the spotlight they deserve. Wish you could have joined.

Uli

Thank you Uli, it sounds like your presentation with Steve was an exciting success. I'll be checking out those comedies on stummfilm.dk, I'd also like to catch more Pat & Patachon, I've enjoyed what little I've seen of them. OH! WHAT A NURSE! hopefully surfaces through Warner or TCM some day...

I've only seen the 4-reel silent cutdown of MODERN LOVE although I recall Joe Franklin running additional silent footage on his DOWN MEMORY LANE shows in the 1970s. Possibly he had the complete Kodascope-issued silent version from the late 1930s? At any rate, I'm sharing a couple images I had on MODERN LOVE, including my favorite scene:

DC AG CC ML.jpeg (126.88 KiB) Viewed 42406 times

MODERN LOVE.jpg (217.97 KiB) Viewed 42406 times