Episode 17: Silent Era Slapstick, feat. Kristine Fisher

DUST OFF YOUR PORK PIE HATS, FLAPPER SKIRTS, AND ROUNDED GLASSES, YA DEWDROPPERS, AND SHUT YER YAP FOR A HOTSY-TOTSY TRIP THROUGH PRE-TALKIE ANTICS! Let us journey way back in time, before sync sound was easy to record and people still thought a pie in the face was the height of comedy with Gabe and today’s guest, his girlfriend Kristine. Kristine has the knowledge and Gabe has the will to learn as they look at a handful of classic films and shorts. Today’s sockdoglar includes Henry Lehrman’s Keystone Kops: The Bangville Police (1913), George Nichols’ Fatty Joins the Force (1913), Roscoe Arbuckle’s Fatty & Mabel Adrift (1916), Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush (1925), Buster Keaton’s Go West (1925), and Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor’s Harold Lloyd-starring hit, The Freshman (1925).

Please excuse the lower volume level on Kristine’s voice – I thought I had everything balanced when we tested, but she was still pretty quiet – as well as the murmur of a rainstorm outside.

00:00 – Introduction to slapstick

08:48 – What have we been watching to pass the time during the lockdown?

16:20 – Keystone, Keystone Kops, and Roscoe & Mabel

32:25 – The Gold Rush (and other Chaplin work)

51:27 – Go West (and other Keaton work)

1:09:10 – The Freshman (and other Lloyd work)

1:24:35 – Final thoughts and goodbyes