Hokum! : the early sound slapstick short and Depression-era mass culture / Rob King.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

King, Rob, 1975- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Comedy films--History and criticism.

Comedy films.

Comedy films--United States--History--20th century.

History.

United States.

Genre:

History.

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xiii, 253 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2017]

Summary:

"Hokum! is the first book to take a comprehensive view of short-subject slapstick comedy in the early sound era. Challenging the received wisdom that sound destroyed the slapstick tradition, author Rob King explores the slapstick short's Depression-era development against a backdrop of changes in film industry practice, comedic tastes, and moviegoing culture. Each chapter is grounded in case studies of comedians and comic teams, including the Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, and Robert Benchley. The book also examines how the past legacy of silent-era slapstick was subsequently reimagined as part of a nostalgic mythology of Hollywood's youth"--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

"The cuckoo school of humor" : humor and metropolitan culture in 1920s America

"The stigma of slapstick" : the short-subject industry and its imagined public

"The spice of the program" : educational pictures and the small-town audience

"I want music everywhere" : music, operetta, and cultural hierarchy at the Hal Roach Studios

"From the archives of Keystone memory" : slapstick and re-membrance at Columbia Pictures' short-subjects department

Coda : when comedy was king.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 202-244) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: King, Rob, 1975- Hokum!

ISBN:

9780520288119

0520288114

OCLC:

961310959