Chain of Fools is
one of the finest books ever written on silent film comedy. It is a guide to an art form and a
technological revolution, and a survey of popular history in a most exciting
era where the scientific wizardry of the film industry fed the demands—and put
on a pedestal—the desires of the common man as it never has since.
The author is Trav S.D. a theatre historian whose previous
book No Applause, Just Throw Money: The
Book That Made Vaudeville Famous—well, everything you need to say about that
is pretty much all in the title. Our
erstwhile guide—you may sometimes see him in an appropriate pith helmet as
would a proper guide wear—also writes an exceptional blog, “Travalanche.” He is also a performer and playwright, and has written for a number of publications,
and is also a public speaker and radio guest.
Chain of Fools is
notable not only for its extensive and impressive research, but that the
scholarly tone is frequently punctuated like a pie in the face with the
author’s humor, as well as his thoughtful reverence for this era of film. What is most pleasing is that this is, to
great extent, no longer a “lost” art form.
In his opening passages, Trav S. D. recounts his early interest in
silent comedy as a young man which, like for so many of us back in the day, was
an infrequent treat on a television that only got three channels. Then the deluge of the VCR, the DVD, the
Internet—and (as we bow our heads and genuflect) TCM. As Trav joyously puts it.
Silent comedy lives
more vigorously now than at any time since it passed out of favor over eighty
years ago. Ironically today’s film buffs
are in the enviable position of being far closer to the great silent comedians
than were the audiences in the immediate wake of silence’s demise in the late
1920s.
For those just learning to appreciate silent film comedy, Chain of Fools is a delightful and
fascinating compendium, and a valuable tool for film bloggers and those who are
more familiar with the history of silent film.
I especially like that he sets the films and their movie clowns in the
context of the era, explaining in a natural way how each influence the
other. Here you have the back stories on
Chaplin and Fairbanks, and the “Our Gang” kids.
Here you have the triumphs and a few tragedies of the lesser
knowns.
Referring to the ultimate demise of silent film as “The
Dialogue Diaspora” (I really like that), the author takes us past tired clichés
of the whys and wherefores, and brings us to a new and thoughtful understanding
of how these silent film veterans influenced comedians for decades to come,
through the early days of television and beyond.
I am impressed with Chain
of Fools, and enjoyed the rollicking prose that lures the reader into this
remarkable world of silent comedy, its roots, and its legacy.
Chain of Fools is available in paperback here from Amazon.
And from the publisher, Bear Manor Media here.
NOTE: This review was
written in exchange only for a review copy of the book provided by the author.
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