About this title: This book is both a scholarly study of silent comedy movies, and an illustrated guide to the major comedians for the general reader. It covers such characters as Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Laurel and Hardy. The author is one of America's foremost film and theatre critics. He treats the subject of film comedians with much affection, and includes many anecdotes and stories. He is also a lucid theorist, attempting to explain how and why we laugh.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date published: 1979
ISBN-13:9780394734507ISBN:0394734505
Description: Acceptable. 1979-Paperback----Used-Acceptable-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date published: 1975
ISBN-13:9780394469072ISBN:0394469070
Description: Good. No dust jacket. Ex-library. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. No dust jacket, but otherwise in very good condition. Ex-library markings and card jacket, but with minimal wear and tear. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Date published: 1975
ISBN-13:9780394469072ISBN:0394469070
Description: Very Good. No Jacket. Used 373 pages, b/w photos. Text is clean, black cloth on spine has few faint smudges. Contents include: The Pickford Paradox and the Choice of Silence; The Fact in the Fantasy; Music and the Dancing Image; The Disadvantages of Silence; Comedy in Search of Freedom; Sennett; Chaplin; Harold Lloyd; The Roach Lot; An Inquisitive Keaton and a Generous Arbuckle; Keaton-Exploring the Gap Between Life and Lens; Chaplin Breakthrough; Lloyd-Architect of Sympathy; Two Epics; Who Was ... read more
Edition: First Edition / First Printing
Binding: Gray Boards
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York
Date published: 1975
ISBN-13:9780394469072ISBN:0394469070
Description: Good. No Jacket. Ex-Library. Folio-over 12"-15" tall. Minor edge and corner wear, no dj, corners are bumped and rubbed, front hinge is a little weak, lightly scuffed and scratched, some shelf wear, ex-library with the usual library markings, overall a nice used first edition (stated)! Gray boards quarterbound by black cloth with gilt lettering on the front board and spine. 373 historical pages nicely enhanced by black and white movie stills and photographs! "In casting about for a summary or a ... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Date published: 1990-04
ISBN-13:9780306803871ISBN:0306803879
Description: Good. Da Capo Press [NOTE: Published date: 1980]. Soft cover, 373 pp. Reprint of 1975 original. Good+/ NO dust jacket. Glossy pictorial soft covers have light bumping to edges and corners with peeling to the corner tips. Light overall rubbing and scratching. Original price stickers on back cover. Binding tight. Pages clean and unmarked with a few dog-eared pages. Great b&w photos throughout. NOT Ex-library. NO remainder marks. read more
Edition: First edition. 2nd prtg. Illustrated. Unabridged.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date published: 1975
ISBN-13:9780394469072ISBN:0394469070
Description: New. No dust jacket. Shipping upgrade! ! Order processed within minutes of your purchase! In business since 1975. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: Illustrated. Second Printing.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date published: 1975
ISBN-13:9780394469072ISBN:0394469070
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. 373 p. Sewn binding. Cloth/paper over boards. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. Thoroughly illustrated with hundreds of photgraphs. read more
Edition: First edition. 2nd Printing.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date published: 1975
ISBN-13:9780394469072ISBN:0394469070
Description: Like new in very good dust jacket. Book is clean, tight and square. No markings. DJ has chipping on edges. Digital Photos available upon request. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: A. Knopf,
Date published: 1975.
ISBN-13:9780394469072ISBN:0394469070
Description: Inked name/date on free front endpaper, else very good plus condition with text clean & binding tight / closed tears, chipped & worn dust jacket. 9.25" x 12.25", 372 pp. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date published: 1979
ISBN-13:9780394734507ISBN:0394734505
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. Vg large softcover wi good cover. Some shelf wear & corners of covers slightly curled. Otherwise book is VG, tight. Great cover wi Harold Lloyd dangling from the famous clock. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date published: 1975
ISBN-13:9780394469072ISBN:0394469070
Description: Very Good + in Good + jacket. Tight spine, clean copy. Bookseller stamp on ffep. Oversize gray boards with black spine, gilt lettering, corners slightly bumped. DJ-edges rubbed and some creases along bottom edge. 373 Pgs. read more
Edition: 12/75 2nd ptg
Binding: hard
Publisher: Knopf, New York
Date published: c1975
ISBN-13:9780394469072ISBN:0394469070
Description: b/w photos. good++, fair price-clipped worn dj, black cloth w/ gray bds. 373 pgs, ISBN 0-394-46907-0. Oversized. Author's signed presentation front fly. World of Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, et al. read more
Edition: First
Binding: hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York
Date published: 1975
ISBN-13:9780394469072ISBN:0394469070
Description: First edition. Quarto. Illustrated with more than four hundred black and white photographs. Remainder mark, else near fine in very good lightly scuffed dustwrapper. read more
Edition: F
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: NY, ALFRED A. KNOPF, 1975
Date published: 1975
ISBN-13:9780394469072ISBN:0394469070
Description: Dust Jacket Included. Signed by Author(s) DUST JACKET (UNCLIPPED); SIGNED AND INSCRIBED TO ACTRESS STEFFI SIDNEY (SKOLSKY) IN AN UNKNOWN HAND; STEFFI WAS CO STAR WITH JAMES DEAN IN THE MOVIE "REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE" FIRST EDITION VERY GOOD. read more
Description: Good. Book has been noticeably read/used, yet remains in clean condition. Average wear to cover, pages, and/or binding. Spine shows signs of wear. Cover/pages intact; may have highlights/ underlining which do not obscure text. Trinity City Books ships from the. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A Knopf, NY
Date published: 1975
Description: Very Good in Good jacket. 4to-over 9¾"-12" tall. Black cloth spine paper over boards, HC, second ptg, 373 pgs, b&w photos illus, corner lite bump, no marks or underlining, DJ chips small repaired tears interior tight and clean vg/g. read more
"Walter Kerr's "Silent Clowns" is a good overview and starting point into the genre of silent film comedy. His thesis is more analytically-driven than history driven, although Kerr does offer solid historical information about the careers of several comedians.
He also offers thought-provoking insights and theories into the careers and screen personas of the likes of Chaplin, Lloyd, Keaton, and Langdon.
Kerr's piece isn't flawless. He's rather centric in his praise of the major four comedians(Chaplin, Lloyd, Keaton, Langdon)and most of his writing concerns these four clowns. Lesser known comedians or comedians that inhabit the territory of lighter film comedy such as Charley Chase, Johnny Hines, Reginald Denny, etc are more or less dismissed as being of lesser importance. And Kerr doesn't seem to agree with the idea of female comedians. Suggesting that the prettiness of stars such as Constance Talmadge, Marion Davies, Colleen Moore, etc. works against them and prevents them from fitting in with Kerr's arbitrary definition of a silent film comedian.
All in all whether you agree with everything Kerr says, it's an impressive and intelligent essay. Some of the book's most priceless moments occur when Kerr fondly recalls his days as a young boy in the 20's as an avid film watcher."
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