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Bobby-G
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
904 Posts |
 Posted - 09/06/2005 : 03:04:49 AM
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The comments about ottoman tripping in the Threes Company thread made me wonder -- who is the comic actor who is the WORST at slapstick/pratfalls/physical humor?
For me, it's got to be CHEVY CHASE. I growned everytime I saw those telegraphed, clumsy pratfalls on SNL -- Is it an oxymoron to be clumsy at being clutzy? Maybe Chase is not really the worst, but the fact that he gets credited at being good at it (and helped build a career with it)is what puts him at the top for me.
Rob |
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twitterpate
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Canada
1026 Posts |
Posted - 09/06/2005 : 07:38:05 AM
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I don't even think there's any GOOD slapstick comedians nowadays. Probably because of the decline of vaudeville, where the actors learned through immediate stimulus/response what worked, and what didn't. And if it didn't work, they didn't the next night. Also, audiences became familiar with an act, so they had to struggle to keep things fresh.
Today, I think one of the main reasons that movies tend to be aimed at early teens is because anyone older than that has seen most movies' physical gags a hundred times over. |
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AnnGora
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
252 Posts |
Posted - 09/06/2005 : 1:58:59 PM
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No offense to his "Kids," but Jerry Lewis is not only the all time worst slapstick comic, but he ranks highly as the worst comic, ever. Period. What makes him so repulsive is when he goes off on a deep, self-absorbed rant about "the craft of comedy" and what an artiste he is.
She was bred in old Kentucky, but she's just a crumb up here. |
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John Nowak
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1017 Posts |
Posted - 09/06/2005 : 3:36:49 PM
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Speaking off topic about a rare misstep from the brilliant Buster Keaton...
In "College", Buster plays his usual nebbishy character, awkwardly trying to perform in collegiate athletics despite his complete lack of co-ordination or talent.
The problem was his costume. He wore shorts and a sleeveless shirt which showed pretty clearly that he was more buff than any of the "competent athletes" who were showing him up...
We've always been united in stupidity. That's why there is no hope. But, then again, when has that ever stopped us?
-- hbrennan |
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jedimom
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1239 Posts |
Posted - 09/06/2005 : 9:31:38 PM
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I agree totally about Jerry Lewis. Ew.
And yes, much as it pains me to diss my man Buster, that costume was a major error. My God, what a stuntman that guy was. I saw the "drop the facade of the house on him" stunt again recently--it never fails to give me chills.
"Oh, that is so lame! You will pay for your use of inappropriate dialogue!" --Mojo Jojo, "Power Prof" |
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MikeC
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
749 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 09:39:03 AM
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Jim Carey. All technique, no heart.
He's a decent actor, though.
MikeC |
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Greenhornet
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1791 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 3:30:36 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by jedimom
I agree totally about Jerry Lewis. Ew.
In defence of Lewis, if he doesn't try TOO hard, he's good. In one movie he played a magician with the USO and he visited a man in Japan. When he walked into the room, there was NO DIALOG, just Jerry doing a FUNNY silent routine with slideing doors that go into the walls and a vase that he kept knocking over and catching. (JL told the prop man to make it BREAKABLE so he would be FORCED to catch it!)
quote:
And yes, much as it pains me to diss my man Buster, that costume was a major error. My God, what a stuntman that guy was. I saw the "drop the facade of the house on him" stunt again recently--it never fails to give me chills.
Ever see "Shelock Junior"? Man, that was GOLDEN! Did you know that when he fell onto the railroad track in one scene he fractured his neck? Buster didn't know about it untill he had a medical exam years later!
Saw him yesterday in "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World". The only way I recognised him was from his walk and "bewildered" act.
"The Queen is testing poisons." CLEOPATRA, 1935 |
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jedimom
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1239 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 4:07:39 PM
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Yes, I read a biography of him with the broken neck story. "Sherlock Jr." is indeed golden but "The Navigator" is my favorite. Especially the "fixing breakfast" scene.
"Oh, that is so lame! You will pay for your use of inappropriate dialogue!" --Mojo Jojo, "Power Prof" |
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jedimom
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1239 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 4:09:45 PM
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OT by now, but Henry Jenkins (the media/culture guy at MIT) wrote an interesting scholarly essay about Keaton:
http://web.mit.edu/21fms/www/faculty/henry3/keaton.html
"Oh, that is so lame! You will pay for your use of inappropriate dialogue!" --Mojo Jojo, "Power Prof" |
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John Nowak
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1017 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 7:31:41 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by jedimom
And yes, much as it pains me to diss my man Buster, that costume was a major error. My God, what a stuntman that guy was.
Buster ... words just fail me whenever I try to talk about him. "The Railrodder..."
And in his prime as a physical comic -- just mind-bending. I saw a collection of Keaton and Arbuckle shorts that had me shaking my head. Short of a Jackie Chan, I don't think anyone's moved that perfectly.
We've always been united in stupidity. That's why there is no hope. But, then again, when has that ever stopped us?
-- hbrennan |
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Bobby-G
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
904 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2005 : 03:13:59 AM
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I believe I have that Arbuckle/Keaton collection (don't know if there is more than one) -- bought it four years ago, and have yet to get to it! I've really got to make it a point to pop that thing in the machine (as the DVDs pile up...)
Rob |
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Greenhornet
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1791 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2005 : 8:28:06 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by jedimom
Yes, I read a biography of him with the broken neck story. "Sherlock Jr." is indeed golden but "The Navigator" is my favorite. Especially the "fixing breakfast" scene.
At the risk of turning this discussion into "ILoveBuster.com":
I have a tape of three "boat" themed Keaton movies that has The Navigator on it. Great! My favorite on this tape is "Spite Marrage". I imagine Buster's yatch as the Primrose in Quest of The Missing Map.
"The Queen is testing poisons." CLEOPATRA, 1935 |
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John Nowak
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1017 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2005 : 11:49:15 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Bobby-G
I believe I have that Arbuckle/Keaton collection (don't know if there is more than one)...
Think there's at least two volumes in the set...
We've always been united in stupidity. That's why there is no hope. But, then again, when has that ever stopped us?
-- hbrennan |
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RVHorror
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
532 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2005 : 3:42:09 PM
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| One actor who was really good at slapstick was Jacques Tati. He was one of the relatively few decent things to come out of France. |
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John Nowak
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1017 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2005 : 4:28:25 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by RVHorror
One actor who was really good at slapstick was Jacques Tati. He was one of the relatively few decent things to come out of France.
"Mr. Hulot's Vacation" is golden. It's essentially a silent film -- almost all the dialog (except for the single word "Hulot") is extraneous.
There's a killer bit at a train station.
We've always been united in stupidity. That's why there is no hope. But, then again, when has that ever stopped us?
-- hbrennan |
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Hinda
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Israel
229 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2005 : 11:41:01 AM
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| The only Buster Keaton film that ever disappointed me was SPEAK EASILY. It just went on too long and the joke of the sleazeball vaudevillians and the unworldly professor just stopped being funny. |
Edited by - Hinda on 09/11/2005 11:41:53 AM |
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