Bob Hope got his start in show business when he was in his twenties, remained active past the age of 90, and lived to be 100. His longevity was remarkable, especially when one considers that he was active in vaudeville, radio, motion pictures and television. He excelled in each of these popular forms of entertainment, but his films are the most genuine testaments to his timeless comedy. His smart quips, fast pace, and breezy manner were perfect ingredients for the brand of comedy that was popular during World War II and the years immediately following the war. This book begins with a discussion of Bob Hope’s early career and the short films that he starred in, and then covers each of the Hope films beginning with The Big Broadcast of 1938. The Hope films, the author says, do not have deep subtexts or clever cinematic innovations, but provide clever, uplifting entertainment that continues to inspire laughter and offer solid examples of the humor that made Americans smile during and after World War II. Cast and credit information is provided for each film.

The Bob Hope Films

Neibaur, James L.

Reference

McFarland

The RKO Features: A Complete Filmography of the Feature Films Released or Produced by RKO Radio Pictures, 1929-1960

Noted for its “B” westerns, RKO also produced several movie classics; two were Citizen Kane and Gunga Din. Comprehensive filmographic data are included here for all of the studio’s features: title, year of release, production credits, cast, genre, running time, alternate titles, availability on videocassette, and plot synopsis. Many entries give background information on the film’s production and stars.

Humor & Entertainment

Movies

McFarland Company

From 1917 to 1919, Joseph Schenck produced a series of Comique comedies starring master movie comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and featuring an apprentice, Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton. These films were initially deemed significant by modern archivists for representing the first movie appearances of Keaton, widely considered one of the most important figures in motion picture history. But the Comique films also remain the most important of Arbuckle's career because they feature him at the height of his cinematic genius and powers. The 14 short comedies starring Arbuckle and Keaton are incredibly important to the history of cinema and are analyzed in this book. After two chapters of biographical introductions, the rest of the book discusses their collaborative efforts and reveals the way in which the films evolved from Arbuckle's wild slapstick to feature more of the subtlety and cleverness of Keaton. Closing sections discuss what became of Arbuckle and Keaton afterward, commenting significantly on the scandal that undermined Arbuckle's career.

Arbuckle And Keaton: Their 14 Film Collaborations

When Charlie Chaplin left Keystone Studios for more money and greater creative control at Essanay Film Manufacturing Company, he added more depth to his character, more thought to his direction, and more substance to his humor: at Essanay, he grew from a comedian to a true cinematic artist. This work carefully examines all sixteen Chaplin comedies produced at Essanay, showing Chaplin as an artist in transition from the knockabout Keystone farces to more refined, sometimes brilliant Mutual productions. From His New Job (1915) to Triple Trouble (1918), the book covers each film with key details, a history of its production, and valuable commentary that places the picture in context within Chaplin's canon.

Chaplin at Essanay: A Film Artist in Transition, 1915-1916

Using interviews with Jerry Lewis and many of his co-stars, this book analyzes his collaborative efforts with Dean Martin, his subsequent solo work, his writing and directorial careers, and later movies such as Hardly Working (1979) and The King of Comedy (1982). Comprehensive data are provided for each of the films, with cast and production credits, studio, release date, and running time. Lewis's own reflections on his work are included for many of the entries.

The Jerry Lewis Films: An Analytical Filmography of the Innovative Comic

Okuda, Ted

Biographies & Memoirs

Charlie Chaplin produced some of the greatest films of all time, including The Gold Rush, The Circus, City Lights, Modern Times, and The Great Dictator. Before making a name for himself as an undisputed master of cinema, however, Chaplin first developed his acting, writing, and directing skills at Keystone Studios. Mack Sennett, who attended one of Chaplin’s music hall shows, thought the entertainer would be a good fit at his newly established studio, where they specialized in the roughhouse slapstick Chaplin performed on stage. Intrigued with the idea of preserving comedy on film, Chaplin began work for Sennett in 1913. While some of the first efforts were crudely filmed, they allowed Chaplin to understand the rudiments of performing for the camera. As he became more interested in directing his own films, Chaplin learned techniques that set his work apart from other comedies. The films Chaplin made at Keystone were the catalyst for a significant motion picture career, and a character that he would create and develop at the studio would become among the most iconic images in the history of entertainment. In Early Charlie Chaplin: The Artist as Apprentice at Keystone Studios, James Neibaur examines each of these films, assessing the important early work of a comedian who became a timeless icon. From his debut as a fast talking con man in Making a Living to his role in the six-reel Marie Dressler vehicle, Tillie’s Punctured Romance, Chaplin displays many of the characteristics that would endear him to audiences around the world. The majority of these films have been made available on DVD, allowing the reader to appreciate the background behind these works. Early Charlie Chaplin is a must, not only for fans of silent cinema and Chaplin, but for anyone who appreciates film history.

Early Charlie Chaplin: The Artist as Apprentice at Keystone Studios

Arts & Literature

Scarecrow Press

Harry Langdon was a silent screen comedian unlike any other. Slower in pace, more studied in movement, and quirkier in nature, Langdon challenged the comic norm by offering comedies that were frequently edgy and often surreal. After a successful run of short comedies with Mack Sennett, Langdon became his own producer at First National Pictures, making such features as Tramp Tramp Tramp, The Strong Man, and Long Pants before becoming his own director for Three's a Crowd, The Chaser, and Heart Trouble. In The Silent Films of Harry Langdon (1923-1928), film historian James Neibaur examines Langdon's strange, fascinating work during the silent era, when he made landmark films that were often ahead of their time. Extensively reviewing the comedian's silent screen work film by film, Neibaur makes the case that Langdon should be accorded the same lofty status as his contemporaries: Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. With fascinating insights into the work of an under-appreciated artist, this book will be of interest to both fans and scholars of silent cinema.

The Silent Films of Harry Langdon (1923-1928)

By the mid-1920s, Buster Keaton had established himself as one of the geniuses of cinema with such films as Sherlock, Jr., The Navigator, and his 1927 work The General, which was the highest ranked silent on the American Film Institute's survey of the 100 greatest films. Before Keaton ventured into longer works, however, he had honed his skills as an actor, writer, and director of short films produced in the early 1920s. In Buster Keaton’s Silent Shorts: 1920-1923, James L. Neibaur and Terri Niemi provide a film-by-film assessment of these brilliant two-reelers. The authors discuss the significance of each short—The High Sign, One Week, Convict 13, The Scarecrow, Neighbors, The Haunted House, Hard Luck, The Goat, The Playhouse, The Boat, The Paleface, Cops, My Wife’s Relations, The Blacksmith, Frozen North, Daydreams, The Electric House, The Balloonatic, and The Love Nest—to the Keaton filmography, as well as each film’s importance to cinema. Offering a clear and in-depth perspective on these 19 films, the authors explain what makes these shorts effective and why they’re funny. Buster Keaton’s Silent Shorts will enlighten both scholars and casual fans alike about the early work produced by one of cinema's most gifted comedians and filmmakers.

Buster Keaton's Silent Shorts: 1920-1923

Niemi, Terri

Charley Chase began his film career in early 1913 working as a comedian, writer, and director at the Al Christie studios under his real name, Charles Parrott. Chase then joined Mack Sennett's Keystone studio in 1914, costarring in early films of Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, as well as directing the frenetic Keystone Cops. By 1924 he was starring in a series of one-reel comedies at Hal Roach studios, graduating to two-reel films the following year. In 1929, he made the transition to sound films. Along with the continuing popularity of his own short comedies, Chase often directed the films of others, including several popular Three Stooges efforts. In The Charley Chase Talkies: 1929-1940, James L. Neibaur examines, film-by-film, the comedian's seventy-nine short subjects at Roach and Columbia studios. The first book to examine any portion of Chase’s filmography, this volume discusses the various methods Chase employed in his earliest sound films, his variations on common themes, his use of music, and the modification of his character as he reached the age of forty. Neibaur also acknowledges the handful of feature film appearances Chase made during this period. A filmmaker whom Time magazine once declared was receiving the most fan mail of any comedian in movies, Charley Chase remains quite popular among classic film buffs, as well as historians and scholars. A detailed look into the work of an artist whose career straddled the silent and sound eras, The Charley Chase Talkies will be appreciated by those interested in film comedy of the 1920s and 30s.

The Charley Chase Talkies: 1929-1940

Humor

A history of film comedy focuses on comedians from Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to Jerry Lewis, Steve Martin, and Woody Allen, and provides information on their careers and film appearances

Movie Comedians: The Complete Guide

Arts & Photography

Performing Arts

McFarland Publishing

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Books by Neibaur, James L.