The Golden Age of Comedy

1957
Approved
1h 19m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Oliver Hardy, Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard, Harry Langdon, Stan Laurel, Will Rogers, and Ben Turpin in The Golden Age of Comedy (1957)

Parody Sketch Comedy Slapstick Comedy Documentary

A compilation of scenes featuring some of the best-known comics from the silent era in their best films.A compilation of scenes featuring some of the best-known comics from the silent era in their best films.A compilation of scenes featuring some of the best-known comics from the silent era in their best films.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

509

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos8

Top cast27

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Stan Laurel

Stan
(archive footage)
(as Laurel)

Oliver Hardy

Ollie
(archive footage)
(as Hardy)

Rodney St. Clair
(archive footage)

Andy
(archive footage)

Charles Murray

Harry Gribbon

Dwight Weist

Narrator

Ward Wilson

Self - Narrator
(voice)

Edgar Dearing

Policeman at Car Fight
(archive footage)

Madalynne Field

Fat Girl Track Competitor
(archive footage)

Bess Flowers

Laurel and Hardy clip

Director
- Robert Youngson
Writers
- Robert Youngson
- René Clair
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Goofs
The narrator cites a clip of Laurel and Hardy as coming from "We Slip Up." Laurel and Hardy never made a movie with that title. The actual movie referenced is We Faw Down (1928).

Quotes
Narrator: Movie fans still fondly remember such daring innovations as the Mack Sennett bathing beauties, in whose ranks, many a star was born and who did so much to liberate the American woman from the Mother Hubbard bathing suit.

Alternate versions
There is an Italian edition of this film on DVD, distributed by DNA Srl: "CAVALCATA DELLA RISATA (1957) + LA BOMBA COMICA (Ça c'est du cinéma, 1951)" (2 Films on a single DVD, with "Ça c'est du cinéma" in double version, with alternative cut titled "I terribili antenati di James Bond"), re-edited with the contribution of film historian Riccardo Cusin. This version is also available for streaming on some platforms.

Connections
Edited from The Dare-Devil (1923)

User reviews10

Review

Featured review

6/10

what's there is really good,...what ISN'T there is amazing!

This film was a lot of fun to watch--with some wonderful clips of Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chase and others. What a lot of fun stuff! However, there is a BIG, BIG problem with the film. Nowhere in it do you see clips of Chaplin, Keaton or Lloyd--the three biggest film comedians of the 1920s. This is akin to a documentary about the 1960s without mentioning Vietnam or The Beatles! It's obvious that Robert Youngson just didn't have access to these other clips or he simply slapped them together without considering this. In his next film, WHEN COMEDY WAS KING, you DO get to see clips of Chaplin and Keaton--but, unbelievably, there is no Harold Lloyd! Well, if you JUST watch the film for its entertainment value, it's great. If you watch it for a historical overview, it is sadly incomplete and gives a false impression of the era.