Comedy Short Films Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

"Yes, [dying is] tough, but not as tough as doing comedy."
— actor Edmund Gwenn [1875-1959], on his deathbed

There were funny cavemen, no doubt. Native American and many other ancient cultures have a wicked sense of humor. Comedy became institutionalized during the Industrial Revolution with British music hall, European cabaret, the minstrel shows of the American South, and American vaudeville & burlesque shows. With the advent of motion pictures, these types of performances began dying out; many venues were quickly replaced by nickelodeons and storefront movie theaters.

After the era of cinema experimentation, and the nickelodeon theaters, and the establishment of the early motion picture companies and studios – Biograph, Vitagraph, Keystone, Ince, Essanay – movies settled in to a one- and two-reel format. (A full 1000-foot reel of 35mm film projects for 16½ minutes at 16 frames per second, and around 10 minutes at the modern standard of 24 frames per second.)
Among other innovations by D.W. Griffith, his epic "The Birth of A Nation" [1915] consists of twelve reels and runs for 190 minutes (over 3 hours). Shorts continued in popularity alongside features into the Sound Era, and theaters typically booked a newsreel, a cartoon or two, a short film, and the primary attraction of feature length (9-10 reels, or more), and sometimes a lesser 'second feature'.

But the advent of the double feature in the 1930s, the 'Consent Decree' court case of 1948, and then competition from free broadcast television limited the need for the short film. Newsreels started disappearing circa 1951, because television was more immediate than the weekly news on film. Studio-owned animation departments shut down in the 1950s, and the artists (such as William Hanna & Joe Barbera) gravitated to television.
The last studio producing short films was Columbia Pictures; they downsized their short features division in 1952 and ended production of short films in December 1957 (by not renewing the contract with The Three Stooges).

Filmmakers continue to make films, including comedies, in short lengths (often a half-hour nowadays) because that is what the subject or budget dictates, or as a way to break into the cinema industry. Film festivals exist today for gaining attention and possible distribution for short films, or perhaps promotion of the filmmaker/s to feature work. (Several such festivals are included in the links section below.)

Joe McDoakes comedy shorts [1942-56]
Portrayed by George O'Hanlon in 60 b&w short subjects • character credits at IMDb

"So You Want To Be In Pictures" [Warner Bros. / Vitaphone June 1947]
Written & directed by Richard L. Bare; narrated by Art Gilmore; starring George O'Hanlon; cameos by
Wayne Morris, Janis Paige, 'Ronnie' Reagan, Alexis Smith & Martha Vickers; Oscar nom for Best
Short Subject • full credits at IMDb

Pete Smith [1892-1979]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Smith_(film_producer)

"The Silent Comedy Mafia, Volume 1" DVD Box Set [2006]
Unknown Video b&w DVD [8/00] for $19.95
contains 8 silent short films, with piano scores by Frederick Hodges: "Just Rambling Along" [Rolin/Pathé Nov 1918] directed by Hal Roach, starring Stan Laurel & James Parrott; "The Janitor" [Nov 1919] starring Hank Mann & Madge Kirby; "All Jazzed Up" [Christie Film Co. Jan 1920] directed by Al Christie, starring Bobby Vernon & Helen Darling; "The Bath Dub" [Reelcraft Jan 1921]; "The Big Idea" [Hal Roach/Pathé Jan 1924] starring 'Snub' Pollard; "A Prodigal Bridegroom" [Mack Sennett/Pathé Sept 1926] starring Ben Turpin & Thelma Hill; and "Idle Eyes" [Weiss Brothers Artclass 1928] starring Ben Turpin; extras include photo gallery & Ben Turpin clips (1915-32)

"American Slapstick" DVD Box Sets [2006]

Volume 1: Image Ent. b&w DVD set [11/2006] 3 disks for $31.49
contains seventeen short silent films, many new to DVD: "Caught In The Rain" [1914] and "Laughing Gas" [1914] with Charlie Chaplin; "A Submarine Pirate" [1915] starring Syd Chaplin; "Luke's Movie Muddle" [1916] with Harold Lloyd playing 'Lonesome Luke' as an usher at a nickelodeon theater; "Cupid's Rival" [1917] starring Billy West, with Oliver Hardy; "The Bond" [1918] Charlie Chaplin promotional short for war bonds; "Pay Your Dues" [1919] starring Harold Lloyd as the 'glasses' character; "Golf" [1922] starring Larry Semon, with Oliver Hardy; "The Nonskid Kid" [1922] with Eddie Boland & Sunshine Sammy {of 'Our Gang' fame}; "Sold At Auction" [1923] starring 'Snub' Pollard; "The Smithy" [1924] starring Stan Laurel, mistakenly put in charge of building a house; "Lizzie's of The Field" [1924] starring Billy Bevan; "Heavy Love" [1926] starring The Ton of Fun; "Uppercuts" [1926] starring Jack Duffy; "Beauty and The Bump" [1927] starring Perry Murdock; "Forgotten Sweeties" [1927] starring Charley Chase; and "Reckless Rosie"
[1929] starring Frances Lee — PLUS a silent comedy clip reel and a PDF-file reprint of a 1915 Chaplin promotional book

Volume 2: Facets/All Day Ent. b&w DVD set [7/2008] 3 disks for $30.99
contains thirty short films: five Harold Lloyd shorts: "Luke Joins The Navy" [1916], "Bliss" [1917] & "By The Sad Sea Waves" [1917], "Hey There!" [1918] & "Don't Shove" [1919]; three Snub Pollard shorts: "Looking For Trouble"
[1919] with Gaylord Lloyd; "The Dippy Dentist" [1920] with Gaylord Lloyd; & "Whirl o' The West" [1921]; three Syd Chaplin shorts: "Caught In A Park" [1915], "Gussie's Wayward Path" [1915] & "Charley's Aunt" [1925]; "A Hash House Fraud" [1915] starring Louise Fazenda; "The Hobo" [1917] starring Billy West, with Oliver Hardy; "Charley Out West" [1919] animated short; "A Fresh Start" [1920] with Jimmie Adams; "Cinderella Cinders" [1920] starring Alice Howell; "At Your Service" [1921] starring Sidney Smith; "Be Reasonable" [1921] starring Billy Bevan; "Dodge Your Debts" [1921] starring Gaylord Lloyd; "Shiver and Shake" [1922] starring James Parrott & Jobyna Ralston; "Post No Bills" [1923] starring James Parrott; "Oh! Shoot" [1923] with Bobby Dunn & Eddie Lyons; "Call The Wagon" [1923]; "Jonah Jones" [1924] with Dick Sutherland & Lloyd Hamilton; "Kid Speed" [1924] starring Larry Semon; "Hold Still" [1926] starring Anne Cornwall; "Breezing Along" [1927] starring Lloyd Hamilton; "Faro Nell"
[1929] starring Louise Fazenda; "Hollywood Runaround" [1932 sound short] and "Playboy Number One" [1937 sound short]

"Anthology Series: Forgotten Comics Collection"

Volume 1: Classic Video Streams b&w DVD [6/2009] for $16.99
contains 8 silent comedy short films: "A Roman Scandal" [1919] starring Colleen Moore; "Chasing The Chaser"
[1925] starring James Finlayson; "Fresh Paint" [1920] starring 'Snub' Pollard; "Her First Flame" [1920] starring Gale Henry; "The Plumber" [1921] starring Billy Franey; "Ride 'Em Cowboy" [1924] starring Bobby Vernon; "Scrambled Eggs" [1925] starring Phil Dunham; and "Twas Henry's Fault" [1919] starring Elinor Field
Volume 2: Classic Video Streams b&w DVD [6/2009] for $16.99
contains 13 silent comedy short films: "The Bath Dub" [1921] starring Billy Franey; "Billy The Bear Tamer"
[1915] starring Billy Quirk; "Dry and Thirsty" [1920] starring Billy Bletcher; "Fun's Fun" [1925] starring Cliff Bowes; "His First Flat Tire" [1920] starring Sidney Smith; "How Fatty Made Good" [1913] starring Hughie Mack; "One Wet Night" [1924] starring Alice Howell; "Ship Shape" [1925] starring Cliff Bowes; "Slick Slickers"
[1928] starring Neal Burns; "Splash Yourself" [1927] starring Bobby Vernon; "Three of A Kind" [1926] starring Frank Alexander; and "Three Tough Onions" [1928] starring Monte Collins
Volume 3: Classic Video Streams b&w DVD [6/2009] for $16.99
contains 10 silent comedy short films: "Ambition" [1917] starring Billy Ruge; "Danger Ahead" [1926] starring Earl McCarthy; "His Off Day" [1926] starring Phil Dunham; "Innocent Ambrose" [1920] starring Mack Swain; "Midnight At The Old Mill" [1916] starring Lloyd Hamilton & Bud Duncan; "Monkey Shines" [1920] starring Eddie Barry; "Slim Becomes An Editor" [1914] starring Walter Rodgers; "Tight Cargo" [1926] starring Charles Puffy; "Under A Spell" [1925] starring Neely Edwards & Alice Howell; and "Yukon Jake" [1924] starring Ben Turpin
Volume 4: Classic Video Streams b&w DVD [6/2009] for $16.99
contains 12 silent comedy short films: "An Auto Nut" [1924] starring Paul (James) Parrot; "Blundering Black-smiths" [1917] starring Lloyd Hamilton & Bud Duncan; "Custard's Last Stand" [1927] starring Billy Franey; "Dunces And Dangers" [1918] starring Larry Semon; "The Egyptian Mummy" [1914] starring Lee Beggs & Constance Talmadge; "Flivvering" [1917] starring Victor Moore; "It's A Gift" [1923] starring 'Snub' Pollard; "Mary's Merry Mix-Up" [1917] starring Jay Belasco; "Now You Tell One" [1926] starring Charles R. Bowers; "Polidor Cambia Sesso" [1918] Italy starring Olga Capri; "Wife and Auto Trouble" [1916] starring William Collier, Sr.; and "The Wrong Mr. Fox" [1917] starring Victor Moore
Volume 5: Classic Video Streams b&w DVD [6/2009] for $16.99
contains 11 silent comedy short films: "A Safe Investment" [1915] starring Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Drew; "A Suffra-gette In Spite of Himself" [1912] starring Marc McDermott; "Alkali Ike's Auto" [1911] starring Augustus Carney; "A Tin-Type Romance" [1910] starring Leo Delaney; "Big Game" [1921] starring 'Snub' Pollard; "The Chief Cook" [1917] starring Billy West; "Frauds and Frenzies" [1918] starring Larry Semon; "His Day Out"
[1918] starring Billy West; "His Second Childhood" [1914] starring Charles Murray; "The New Fire Chief"
[1912] starring Dick Lee; and "Slim Becomes An Editor" [1914] starring Walter Rodgers

producer Ernest Pintoff won Oscar for Best Cartoon Short

"The Critic" 4-minute Eastmancolor short [Columbia Pictures May 1963]
Created, written & narrated by Mel Brooks; co-produced & directed by Ernest Pintoff;
won Oscar for Best Cartoon Short & BAFTA for Best Animated Film; full credits at IMDb

"De Düva (The Dove)" short film [indep Oct 1968]
A 15-minute b&w parody of several Ingmar Bergman films, spoken in a pseudo-Swedish made-up language (with subtitles); Oscar
nomination for Best Live-Action Short. Co-produced & directed by George Coe & Anthony Lover; co-produced & written by
Sidney Davis; starring George Coe, Pamela Burrell, Sidney Davis, Madeline Kahn, Stan Rubinstein, Tom Stone, Peter Turgeon
& David Zirlin; DVD/Blu-ray not available; full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia
view film at Google Videos {in new window}

"The Dot and The Line" [M.G.M. Dec 1965 animated short]
Ten-minute animated short along classic love story lines – boy meets girl, boy loses girl to another, boy expands his capabilities and wins her – except that the 'people' in question are a dot and a very straight line and a squiggle.
Directed by Chuck Jones & Maurice Noble; narration by Robert Morley; nominated for Best Short Film at Cannes, won Oscar for Best Animated Short; full credits from IMDb

	available as part of the "Warner Brothers Academy Awards Animation Collections" [2008] 3-disk set of 15 Oscar-winners & 26 Oscar-nominated cartoons Warner Brothers Home Ent. color DVD [2/2008] 3 disks for $37.99 or on the 1-disk version with the 15 winners only [2008] Warner Brothers Home Ent. DVD [2/2008] for $16.99
	"The Dot and The Line: A Romance In Lower Mathematics" [1963] by Norton Juster SeaStar 6½x5½ hardcover [12/2000] for $7.95 Random House pb [1/91] out of print/used

www.silentcomedians.com
http://www.shortfilmcentral.com/
http://www.splitsider.com/

	"The Great Movie Shorts: Those Wonderful One- and Two- Reelers of The Thirties & Forties" [1972] by Leonard Maltin, with 'more than 200 nostalgic photos' Crown Publrs11x8½ hardcover [1972] out of print/used
	"The Slapstick Queens" [1973] by James Robert Parish Oak Tree Publns hardcover [3/77] out of print/used A.S. Barnes hardcover [1973] out of print/used
	"The Comic Mind: Comedy and The Movies" [1973] by Gerald Mast covers Charlie Chaplin, Rene Clair, Buster Keaton, Harry Langdon, Harold Lloyd, Ernst Lubitsch, Jean Renoir, Mack Sennett, many others Univ Chicago Press 9x6 pb [9/79] for $30.00 Univ Chicago Press hardcover [12/79] out of print/used
	"Two For The Show: Great 20th Century Comedy Teams" [1979] by Lonnie Burr Authors Guild BackInPrint 8½x5½ pb [6/2000] for $16.95 Julian Messner hardcover [5/79] out of print/used
	"The Columbia Comedy Shorts: Two-Reel Hollywood Film Comedies, 1933-1958" [1986] by Ted Okuda & Edward Watz McFarland & Co. 9x6 pb [10/98] for $35.00 McFarland & Co. 9½x6½ hardcover [9/86] for $45.00
	"Slapstick!: The Illustrated Story of Knockabout Comedy" [1987] by Tony Staveacre Angus & Robertson pb [1987] out of print/used
	"American Silent Film Comedies: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Persons, Studios & Terminology" [1995] by Blair Miller McFarland & Co. 9¼x6 hardcover [7/95] for $45.00
	"Illustrated History of Movies Thru Posters - Volume 12: Comedy Movie Posters" [2000] by Bruce Hershenson & Richard Allen self-published 11x8¾ pb [7/2000] for $13.60 more on Magic Lantern's Movie Posters & Books Page
	"Comedy Is A Man In Trouble: Slapstick In American Movies" [2000] by Alan Dale Univ MN Press 8¾x5¾ pb [10/2001] for $22.50 Univ MN Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [9/2000] for $67.50
	"Film Comedy" textbook [2002] by Geoff King Wallflower Press 9x6 pb [5/2002] for $20.00 Wallflower Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [5/2002] for $80.00
	"A-Z of Silent Film Comedy: An Illustrated Companion" [2003] by Glenn Mitchell, Foreword by Kevin Brownlow B.T. Batsford 9¾x7 pb [6/2003] out of print/used
	"The First Hollywood Sound Shorts, 1926-1931" [2005] by Edwin M. Bradley McFarland & Co. 10x7 hardcover [4/2005] for $95.00
	"Kings of Comedy: The Slapstick, The Funny Trick, The Master of Mime, The Double Act, The Matter of Fact & The Classic One-Line" [2006] by Johnny Acton & Paul Webb Sterling/Main Street 7x5½ hardcover [3/2006] out of print/used
	"Hollywood's Classic Comedies: Featuring Slapstick, Romance, Music, Glamour or Screwball Fun!" [2007] by John Howard Reid Lulu.com 10¾x8 pb [6/2007] for $19.95 200 films reviewed and rated, covering all genres of movie comedy; featured comedy teams include Bud Abbott & Lou Costello, George Burns & Gracie Allen, The Crazy Gang, Bob Hope & Bing Crosby, Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy, Ole Olsen & Chic Johnson, and Bert Wheeler & Robert Woolsey; featured comedians include Joe E. Brown, Eddie Cantor, Charlie Chaplin, Claudette Colbert, Joan Davis, W.C. Fields, Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Stanley Holloway, Buster Keaton, Percy Kilbride, Arthur Lake, Harold Lloyd, Marjorie Main, Will Rogers, Penny Singleton, Red Skelton, The Three Stooges, Jacques Tati, Clifton Webb & Norman Wisdom
	"Romantic Comedy: Boy Meets Girl Meets Genre" [2007] by Tamar Jeffers McDonald Wallflower Press 8x6 pb [10/2007] for $22.00

	"Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film" [HBO 1980] Written & directed by David Gill & Kevin Brownlow, narration by James Mason series credits from IMDb complete box set: HBO b&w/color VHS [10/2001] 13 tapes - out of prodn/rare Vol. 8: "Comedy - A Serious Business" HBO VHS [6/98] out of prodn/used
	"It Came From Hollywood" [Paramount Oct 1982] Short bits by comedy greats excerpted from obscure or otherwise-just-plain-terrible movies, featuring Dan Ackroyd, John Candy, Cheech & Chong, and Gilda Radner Paramount DVD release of 2002 cancelled due to copyright issues Paramount color VHS [11/98] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb
	"Robert Benchley and The Knights of The Algonquin" [2000] 26 Paramount comedy shorts [1928-42], with 3 that feature Alexander Woollcott & Donald Ogden Stewart Kino Video b&w DVD [2/2006] for $26.99 Kino Video b&w VHS [6/2000] out of prodn/used
	"Slapstick Encyclopedia, 1909-1927" [2002] Curated by film historians David Shepard & Joe Adamson Image Ent. b&w DVD [4/2002] 5 disks for $62.99 includes 53 complete shorts plus snippets, from directors & comedians Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Monty Banks, Charley Bowers, Charlie Chaplin, Oliver Hardy, Buster Keaton, Harry Langdon, Stan Laurel, Max Linder, Harold Lloyd, Will Rogers, Larry Semon, Mack Sennett, Ben Turpin & Bert Williams

	"Vitaphone Cavalcade of Musical Comedy Shorts" DVD Box Set [2011] Warner Bros. DVD-R set [3/2011] 6 disks for $59.99 contains 53 theatrical shorts, including twelve in eye-popping early three-strip Technicolor
	"Vitaphone Varieties, 1926-1930" DVD Box Set [2011] Warner Bros. DVD-R set [7/2011] 4 disks for $59.99 contains 60 theatrical shorts

Magic Lantern Video & Book StoreComedy Short Films

Magic Lantern Video & Book Store
Comedy Short Films