Drama Comedy Flashcards
Sleeper
films may be defined as those low-budget films that are not expected to do well at the box office, but instead has great
success. Examples of sleeper films include:
Sci Fi – Star Wars
Romance – My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Horror – Friday the 13th
Westerns – Young Guns
Parodies
are spoofs (making fun) of the original film. Some examples of parodies include:
Sci Fi – Space Balls
Horror – Scream or Blair Witch Project
Westerns – Blazing Saddles
Aristotle
Comedy portrays people as worse than they are.
tragedy
we suffer pain; in comedy, pain is a fool, suffered gladly.
In tragedy, every moment is an eternity; in comedy, eternity is a single moment.
Webster’s
A play dealing with the lighter side of life.
Ivins
Nothing is sacred. You can find Humor in everything. (Ex. Alcoholism, Jail) Comedy, itself, relies on Timing.
Any topic can have humor; however, not every topic is funny. Tragic events, such as, 9-11, Pearl Harbor,
Hurricane Katrina are not humors events. As time goes by we find humor in the surrounding smaller events.
First Comedy Film (same as the first film ever made)
Fred Ott’s Sneeze
1900 – 1910
Films were silent, and dramas were popular
b. At the end of the day, crews had to expose all the film in a camera, so they filmed bits of visual comedy to humor
themselves.
c. As they showed these comic physical bits of action (called slap-stick) to their families and audiences before a
feature film, they became popular.
d. However, no comedy films were being made. They believed that comedy would never sell.
1912 – 1933:
Mack Sennett is considered to be the father of the comedy genre.
a. He was a lowly writer for one of the studios, and pestered his bosses to allow him to make a comedy film.
b. He created the Keystone Cops, and ensured the success of the film by hiring highly trained clowns and acrobats
that could handle the physical comedy. They were the most grotesque looking actors he could find (for humor).
He also varied the speed of the film to give the actors a robotic jerky type of action. This made them less human,
and audiences did not worry so much about them getting hurt.
c. His films became very popular. 1/3 of all films made in the 1920’s were comedies.
d. He discovered three of the most influential comedians of this time: Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd.
e. Although he was responsible for this genre, he died penniless and unknown; shunned by the industry he created.
Charlie Chaplin
The biggest comedian of his time. Created a character called the Little Tramp.
b. At one point, he was making $670,000 a year in the late 1920’s (a tremendous amount of money in those days).
c. Combined interest with several other artists and formed their own studio, United Artists.
d. 1927 – The Jazz Singer, the first “talkie”, was released. Chaplin banked on the fact that “talkies would never sell.”
e. By the time he started making talkies, it was too late. He began to make political films, against his friends’ advice.
f. He was labeled a communist, and while out of the country, his assets were ceased, and he was met by the Coast
Guard and not allowed to return to this country.
g. He was never the success in Europe that he was here
Silent Film Actors That Made The Transition Into Talkies
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
i. Once they made a film together, they never parted.
ii. Their claim to fame is that they were more successful in talkies than they were in silent films.
b. Our Gang Kids (Little Rascals)
i. Reported to have gang wars with the munchkins from The Wizard of Oz.
ii. They were mean and spoiled.
1930’s – Comedy Teams
3 Stooges
b. Marx Brothers – Created a new style of comedy, “screwball” (frantic action and verbal wit) that suited talkies.
1940’s to 1950’s – Single Performers Gain Popularity
Danny Kaye
b. Jackie Gleason
1950’s to 1960’s – Comedian Style of Training: Clowning
Red Skelton
b. Lucille Ball – Claim to fame: First comedian that was more popular on television than in the films.
c. Bob Hope and Bing Crosby
d. Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
1970’s
Woody Allen – More of a cerebral type of humor; psychologist and life with his mother.
b. Saturday Night Live and SCTV
c. Monty Python – British Humor
d. Mel Brooks
e. Flip Wilson – The first black comedian to have major success.
Steve Martin
