Reviews

Review: The Silent Clowns

Editorial Review - Kirkus Reviews

Walter Kerr comes full circle. Before the legitimate theater captured his affections in the '30's, the diminutive Kerr was a movie maniac. Not just an undiscriminating buff, mind you, but a faithful fanatic of that lost art which more critics than Kerr have rated above its mindlessly loquacious successor, the silent comedy. The silents were knocked out of the screen in the late '20's and many film strips decomposed in the archives. But now that the theater has become the twin sister to the Vast Wasteland, KerFs made a project of going home again. Luckily there will be hundreds of pictures to accompany this text, which consists of scores of plot summaries chock-a-block. Since most of these are unavailable to general moviegoers, KerFs book will be a reference for the serious student. Beginning his history with the crass antics of Mack Sennett, Kerr proceeds chronologically to pay high tribute to a medium killed in fullest flower by market-minded studio chiefs. Only Laurel and Hardy and W. C. Fields made the transition to talkies since their comedy was as verbal as it was visual. Kerr reserves the full force of his analytical nostalgia for the greats--Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Harry Langdon--and a comedian-director named Raymond Griffith whose genius was more short-lived. The critical approach is to dissect and rate the gags, interpolating data on the production and detailing the gradual self-definition of these purveyors of illusions. Kerr is an uneconomical writer and tedious to read. Nevertheless all the world loves these stardusted clowns just as much as Walter Kerr does. Given the 400 stills and the 9 x 12 format, a sure-fire popular number.

User reviews

Review: The Silent Clowns

User Review - James - Goodreads

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 ... Read full review

Review: The Silent Clowns

User Review - Rick - Goodreads

One of the first "grown-up books" I ever owned. Read full review

Review: The Silent Clowns

User Review - Surreysmum - Goodreads

[These notes were made in 1990:]. Bought as a coffee-table book (and it is certainly well-illustrated), this turns out to be an extremely intelligent piece of film criticism, with the glossy paper and ... Read full review

Review: The Silent Clowns

User Review - Robert - Goodreads

Walter Kerr was primarily a theater critic, but he loved movies--and especially silent comedies. I met him and had a chance to chat with him at Cinecon 12 in NYC in 1976 [more about cinecon at http ... Read full review