GOLDEN AGE OF COMEDY

I don't know about you, but when I watch a modern-day movie -- even a comedy -- I walk in the theater hesitantly, and prepare myself to cringe over indelicate language and situations.

It seems there are no more restraints about any type of vulgarity offered by today's Hollywood. So, quite often I pop in a good ol' movie from Hollywood's golden era and rejoice. And, if I really want to laugh, I'll pop in a silent movie!

That's right. Silent movie! There are reasons why silent comedians Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd are still icons of comedy today. And if you don't know who any of these are -- you need to experience for yourself how great they are.


Take for instance, Buster Keaton. KINO has released a new DVD set of Buster Keaton's 1927 classic film THE GENERAL. Consistently ranked as one of the greatest movies ever made, this is an eye-opening film to introduce modern audiences to silent films. While this particular movie is not geared toward laugh-a-minute hysterics (as many of Keaton's other films), there is so much compelling thrills and action in this film that it'll grip and hold you as if you were watching a modern-day Indiana Jones action movie -- you'll get so lost in this that you'll forget that you are watching an 81 year-old silent, black and white film.

The print is gorgeous, having been struck from the original negative; the music is enthralling, having been composed by Carl Davis; and the movie is Keaton's own personal favorite.

For a more complete description of the film, see Gary Giddins review here. But, in short, Keaton took a page from Civil War history and built his film around an incident in which Union spies stole a Confederate locomotive, the General. It's a thrilling chase film from beginning to end.

Film legend Orson Welles calls this film a masterpiece, as it embodies the civil war in a way that even surpasses Gone With The Wind for its authenticity.

You'll be glad you've checked out this film. In a day and age when you can't watch a movie with your kids, for fear of what vulgarity will come out, there is a resource in these silent films. And there's no greater movie entertainment than to relive Hollywood's greatest era with Hollywood's greatest stars.

Here's another clip of Buster risking life and limb during a chase sequence.