BACK TO MUG SHOTS HOME PAGE or leap to our other comedians...This section is devoted to various lists of the top short comedy films of the classic era. It began when Charley Chase-meister Yair Solan created his list and Rick Levinson passed it on to a group of comedy film buffs. The rules for inclusion are fast-and-loose, but generally we are looking at live action short comedies (no cartoons) made between the birth of motion pictures and the television era.
We hope that visitors to this site will be inspired to submit their own lists, but more importantly, to seek out and see the films themselves and judge for yourself whether they are worthy of inclusion in our Hall of Fame.
To submit your list, e-mail
1. THE ADVENTURER (Chaplin)
2. HOT SPORTS (Monty Collins and Vernon Dent)
3. SPOT CASH (Snub Pollard)
4. IT'S A GIFT (Snub Pollard)
5. ORANGES AND LEMONS (Stan Laurel)
6. A PAIR OF TIGHTS (Edgar Kennedy and Stu Erwin)
7. KILL OR CURE (Stan Laurel)
8. BIG BUSINESS (Laurel and Hardy)
9. COPS (Keaton)
10. THE HIGH SIGN (Keaton)
11. ONE WEEK (Keaton)
12. MOVE ALONG (Lloyd Hamilton)
13. MOVIE NIGHT (Charley Chase)
14. THE IMMIGRANT (Chaplin)
15. BIG MOMENTS FROM LITTLE PICTURES (Will Rogers)
16. SAPPY SERVICE (Bobby Vernon)
My own favorite shorts are as follows (and yes, I know that many of them
are "standard" selections):
FATTY AND MABEL ADRIFT (1915) Arbuckle, Normand
EASY STREET (1917) Chaplin
THE CURE (1917) Chaplin
THE BUTCHER BOY (1917) Arbuckle, Keaton, St. John
GET OUT AND GET UNDER (1919) Lloyd
ONE WEEK (1920) Keaton
THE GOAT (1921) Keaton
THE SAWMILL (1922) Semon, Hardy
MAN ABOUT TOWN (1923) Laurel
IT'S A GIFT (1923) Pollard
THE DAREDEVIL (1924) Turpin
SUNDOWN LIMITED (1924) Our Gang
WANDERING WILLIES (1925) Bevan, Clyde
THE CARETAKER'S DAUGHTER (1925) Chase
MIGHTY LAK A MOOSE (1925) Chase
SOLDIER MAN (1926) Langdon
DOG HEAVEN (a guilty pleasure!) (1927) Our Gang
PUTTING PANTS ON PHILIP (1927) Laurel and Hardy
LIMOUSINE LOVE (1928) Chase
THE FINISHING TOUCH (1928) Laurel and Hardy
TWO TARS (1928) Laurel and Hardy
WRONG AGAIN (1929) Laurel and Hardy
BIG BUSINESS (1929) Laurel and Hardy
MEN O WAR (1929) Laurel and Hardy
PERFECT DAY (1929) Laurel and Hardy
THE ELIGIBLE MR. BANGS (1929) Edward Everett Horton
WHISPERING WHOOPEE (1930) Chase
HOG WILD (1930) Laurel and Hardy
AIR TIGHT (1930) Boy Friends
TEACHER'S PET (1930) Our Gang
LAUGHING GRAVY (1931) Laurel and Hardy
CATCH AS CATCH CAN(1931) Todd/Pitts
PIP FROM PITTSBURG (1931) Chase
FLY MY KITE (1931) Our Gang
TAXI TANGLES (1931) Jack Benny
HELP-MATES (1932) Laurel and Hardy
FREE WHEELING (1932) Our Gang
THE DENTIST (1932) Fields
WRONG DIRECTION (1932) Edgar Kennedy
TOWED IN A HOLE (1932) Laurel and Hardy
YOU'RE TELLING ME (1932) Boy Friends
WHAT PRICE TAXI? (loved it as a kid, still enjoy the final chase)(1932)
Taxi Boys
FATAL GLASS OF BEER (1933) Fields
KID FROM BORNEO (1933) Our Gang
BUZZIN' AROUND (1933) Arbuckle
BUSY BODIES (1933) Laurel and Hardy
NATURE IN THE WRONG (1933) Chase
RUFUS JONES FOR PRESIDENT (politically incorrect, but...) (1933) Sammy
Davis Jr
Ethel Waters
GOING BYE BYE (1934) Laurel and Hardy
FATE'S FATHEAD (1934) Chase
MIKE FRIGHT (1934) Our Gang
DORA'S DUNKIN' DONUTS (1934) Andy Clyde, Shirley Temple
HOTEL ANCHOVY (1934) Ritz Bros.
TIT FOR TAT (1935) Laurel and Hardy
HONEYMOON BRIDGE (1935) Leon Errol
DIZZY AND DAFFY (1935) Dizzy & Daffy Dean, Shemp Howard
ONE RUN ELMER (1935) Keaton
OLD SAWBONES (1935) Andy Clyde
THREE LITTLE BEERS (1935) 3 Stooges
TOP FLAT (1935) Todd/Kelly
KEYSTONE HOTEL (No classic, but what a confluence of talent!) 1935 All-star.
LIFE HESITATES AT 40 (1936) Chase
DISORDER IN THE COURT (1936) 3 Stooges
MIDNIGHT BLUNDERS (1936) Monty Collins/Tom Kennedy
PEPPERY SALT (1936) Andy Clyde
ARBOR DAY (1936) Our Gang
GRAND SLAM OPERA (1936) Keaton
GRACIE AT THE BAT (1937) Andy Clyde
DIZZY DOCTORS (1937) Three Stooges
BIG SQUIRT (1937) Chase
OUR GANG FOLLIES OF 1938 (1937)
VIOLENT IS THE WORD FOR CURLY (1938)
A DOGGONE MIXUP (1938) Langdon
WE WANT OUR MUMMY (1939) 3 Stooges
CALLING ALL CURS (1939) 3 Stooges
SEEIN' RED (1939) Red Skelton, A. Robin
RATTLING ROMEO (1939) Chase
ANDY CLYDE GETS SPRING CHICKEN (1939) Clyde
PEST FROM THE WEST (1939) Keaton
PARDON MY BERTH MARKS (1940) Keaton
THE HECKLER (1940) Chase
NUTTY BUT NICE (1940) 3 Stooges
A BUNDLE OF BLISS (1940) Clyde
DUTIFUL BUT DUMB (1941) 3 Stooges
AN ACHE IN EVERY STAKE (1941) 3 Stooges
HALF SHOT AT SUNRISE (1941) Roscoe Karns
LOVE AT FIRST FRIGHT (1941) El Brendel
SOCK-A-BYE BABY (1942) 3 Stooges
ALL WORK AND NO PAY (1942) Clyde
GEM OF A JAM (1943) 3 Stooges
GENTS WITHOUT CENTS (1944) 3 Stooges
DOCTOR FEEL MY PULSE (1944) Vera Vague
IDIOTS DELUXE (1945) 3 Stooges
MICRO PHONIES (1945) 3 Stooges
WIFE DECOY (1945) Hugh Herbert
HOT WATER (1946) Gus Schilling/Dick Lane
GET ALONG LITTLE ZOMBIE (1946) Hugh Herbert
THREE LITTLE PIRATES (1946) 3 Stooges
OUT WEST (1947) 3 Stooges
BRIDELESS GROOM (1947) 3 Stooges
WIFE TO SPARE (1947) Clyde
MEET MR. MISCHIEF (1947) Harry von Zell
CUPID GOES NUTS (1947) Vera Vague
WEDDING BELLE (1947) Schilling and Lane
TALL DARK AND GRUESOME (1948) Hugh Herbert
EIGHT BALL ANDY (1948) Clyde
SQUAREHEADS OF THE ROUND TABLE (1948) 3 Stooges
CRIME ON THEIR HANDS (1948) 3 Stooges
BILLIE GETS HER MAN (1948) Billie Burke
FLAT FEAT (1948) Sterling Holloway
TWO NUTS IN A RUT (1948) Schilling and Lane
WHO DONE IT? (1949) 3 Stooges
PUNCHY COWPUNCHERS (1950) 3 Stooges
DOPEY DICKS (1950) 3 Stooges
SCRAMBLED BRAINS (1951) 3 Stooges
A FOOL AND HIS HONEY (1952) Wally Vernon/Eddie Quillan
LISTEN, JUDGE (1952) 3 Stooges
FLYING SAUCER DAFFY (1957)(yes, it's a "Joe", so sue me!) 3 Stooges
I also have a soft spot for Billy West and The Three Jolly Fat Men...but I
never warmed up to Joe McDoakes....
Wow, compiling this list was harder than I thought. It's like picking your
favoroite children.
The sequence is purely random, although of course e.g. TWO TARS or THE
IMMIGRANT is superior to anything the Stooges, eg, ever did.
1. Two Tars
2. The Immigrant
3. Pay Day
4. The Paleface (Keaton)
5. Fatty and Mabel Adrift
6. Der Firmling (Karl Valentin)
7. It's a Gift
8. Super Hooper Dyne Lizzies (sp?)
9. L'Ecole de Facteurs (Tati)
10. Never Weaken
11. A Pair of Tights
12. Easy Street
13. The Railrodder (I would count the post 1940 Keaton among the most
underrated comedians!)
14. The Cat's Meow (Langdon)
15. [reserved for a nice French Max Linder short]
16. Brats
17. The Music Box
18. Mabel's Married Life
19. Out West (Arbuckle - Keaton - St John)
20. Orchesterprobe (Karl Valentin)
21. His Day Out (yes, I like Billy West's Tramp, and like to be a little
provocative.)
22. The Barber Shop (Fields)
23. [reserved for a Curly Stooges short -- what's the on the recycles the
oyster gag from No.8?]
24. [reserved for a Shemp Stooges short]
25. Do Detectives think (my favourite Noah Young and a good Finlayson
too!)
26. Fluttering Hearts (Chase-Hardy)
27. Blotto
28. The Tramp
29. Les Carottiers (for the sake of "Je fait 'bum'!" alone)
30. PSYCHO Trailer (starring Hitchcock)
1. FATTY AND MABEL ADRIFT (Normand &Arbuckle) - lovely chemistry between Mabel
and Roscoe; gorgeous seaside cinematography; proof that Roscoe was a brilliant comedy director
2. NEVER WEAKEN (Lloyd) - the best of Harold Lloyd's 'high and dizzy' shorts; the second
reel, with the complicated suicide attempts and the steel girder sequence, is one of the greatest
sequences in all of silent short comedy.
3. THE PLAYHOUSE (Keaton) - the purest of the Keaton short films. The dancing Keatons
alone makes it one of the best shorts ever. Absolute genius.
4. THE IMMIGRANT (Chaplin) - the most soulful of the Chaplin 'teens shorts and an anticipation
of his great '20s work
5. THE PAWNSHOP (Chaplin) - may be the most consistently hilarious of Chaplin's short films
6. THERE IT IS (Bowers) - wild comic invention on a level with Keaton, animators Bob Clampett
and Tex Avery, and cartoonist/animator Winsor McCay; a magnificent technical mastery of
stop-motion animation; Bowers is the great unsung genius of American silent comedy
7. BATTLE OF THE CENTURY (L&H) - even though the complete film doesn't survive, it still
ranks as one of the greatest of all time; Anita Garvin's slow take alone is a master class in comedy
timing
8. ODOR IN THE COURT (Clark & McCullough ~ talkie) - the funniest courtroom sequence
I've ever seen; Bobby Clark had Groucho/Fields calibre stuff and, like Bowers, deserves
recognition and respect as a neglected comic genius
9. MOVE ALONG (Lloyd Hamilton) - Lloyd Hamilton eating a flower with his girl may or may
not be a parody of Chaplin's THE GOLD RUSH 'boiled shoe' scene; it is the highlight of what is
one of the finest short silents Hamilton ever made.
10. THE FATAL GLASS OF BEER (Fields ~ talkie) - 'and it ain't a fit night for man nor beast':
Fields' burlesque of 19th melodrama has a self-consciousness about its cheap fx which makes it
strangely modern; Fields at his most weird and wonderful.
OTHER SHORT COMEDIES THAT MAY NOT BE IN MY 'TOP TEN' BUT THAT I GOT
A KICK OUT OF:
*MR. WIDGET (Joe Cook) - Cook was a big vaudeville comic; see the chapter on stage comics
in Gilbert Seldes' '20s book THE SEVEN LIVELY ARTS. Cook was famous for his
non-sequitors. He would ask someone in the audience to cut a deck of cards and then go on with
his act........never, ever referring again to the guy who cut the cards. He was the Andy Kaufman of
his day. MR. WIDGET, a talkie, captures for posterity some great cartoon/surreal gags and
Cook's 'reading a book' bit.
*BIG BOY (Charley Chase) - Chase had his share of great short comedies ~ 'Limousine Love',
'The Pip >From Pittsburgh', etc. ~ but BIG BOY, his first two-reeler, has some really inspired
moments. Best of all, Chase gets to perform a nifty eccentric dance routine with Martha Sleeper.
Sleeper was yet another unjustly neglected comedy actress on the Roach lot.
GREATEST SHORT FILMS I'VE NEVER SEEN:
*Stoopnagle & Budd, live action shorts and Fleischer Bros. cartoon 'Stoopnocracy is Peachy' -
anyone who's seen INTERNATIONAL HOUSE ('34), the feature with Fields, Burns & Allen,
Cab Calloway, Rudy Vallee, Franklin Pangborn, Peggy Hopkins Joyce and Stu Erwin, sees a few
precious seconds of one of the gentlest and wacky comedy teams of the '30s. Who are those
guys? Why, they're so much like Bob and Ray! Yep, they were ~~ they were Stoopnagle & Budd.
Man oh man, were they good. More of them in circulation, please.
*that in-joke silent short with Carter de Haven doing a quick change impersonation routine.
Chaplin, Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Doug Fairbanks are actually in it ~ together. I don't care
whether it's funny or not ~~ I WANT this film in my collection. [Editor's note: It's called Carter
DeHaven's Character Studies. Alas, the only known copy resides at the Library of Congress.
Perhaps if we all chipped in for a print...]
As with all lists, there are a few problems with mine. Harold Lloyd is not as well represented here as I think he should be, though this is mainly because I haven't seen many of his short films. Judging from its reputation, "Never Weaken", if I would have seen it, would be on this list. Harry Langdon is only represented by "Saturday Afternoon", an excellent comedy, and the only Langdon short I've seen. I haven't heard that his shorts are incredible, so I don't know if I would include any more of his films had I seen them. W.C. Fields is one of my favorite comedians, but in my opinion, his shorts aren't his best work, so only one of his films is on this list -- the bizarre "The Fatal Glass of Beer." The following are not in strict order of quality, but the ones near the top are better than the ones near the bottom.
1. "One Week" (Buster Keaton)
2. "Big Business" (Laurel & Hardy)
3. "The Rink" (Charles Chaplin)
4. "The Boat" (Buster Keaton)
5 "Helpmates" (Laurel & Hardy)
6. "Mighty Like a Moose" (Charley Chase)
7. "Easy Street" (Charles Chaplin)
8. "Towed In a Hole" (Laurel & Hardy)
9. "The Heckler" (Charley Chase)
10."The Playhouse" (Buster Keaton)
11."Limousine Love" (Charley Chase)
12."A Dog's Life" (Charles Chaplin)
13."The Pip From Pittsburgh" (Charley Chase)
14."The Immigrant" (Charles Chaplin)
15."Get Out and Get Under" (Harold Lloyd)
16."The Fatal Glass of Beer" (W.C. Fields)
17."Shoulder Arms" (Charles Chaplin)
18."The Music Box" (Laurel & Hardy)
19."Saturday Afternoon" (Harry Langdon)
20."Move Along" (Lloyd Hamilton)
21."Cops" (Buster Keaton)
22."Them Thar Hills" (Laurel & Hardy)
23."Fallen Arches" (Charley Chase)
24."How To Sleep" (Robert Benchley)
25."Hog Wild" (Laurel & Hardy)
26."Liberty" (Laurel & Hardy)
27."The Goat" (Buster Keaton)
28."Manhattan Monkey Business" (Charley Chase)
29."Number Please!" (Harold Lloyd)
30."Innocent Husbands" (Charley Chase)
Since many of the lists that have been posted here before me are very thorough and have included many of the films I would have chosen, I won't be redundant and repeat them (although I *am* impressed by how many people have mentioned "Mighty Like a Moose," which I have not seen).
I would mention two silent shorts that have *not* been mentioned here.
1) "Those Awful Hats!" by D.W. Griffith (Great and *very* short proto- Surrealist comedy, with Mack Sennett. A one-gag short, perhaps -- but it's a great gag, and totally unexpected coming from Griffith.)
2) "Au Secours!" by Abel Gance (Gance's only collaboration with Max Linder)
In addition, I would add a short comedy by Leon Erroll and one by Edgar Kennedy (haven't seen them for so long it would be difficult to pick a specific short), as well as a Pete Smith Specialty from the 30s or 40s.
BRENT WALKER'S 30 favorite comedy shorts:
FATTY AND MABEL ADRIFT (Arbuckle-Normand; Keystone)
THE PAWNSHOP (Chaplin)
WHY PICK ON ME? (Lloyd)
NEVER WEAKEN (Lloyd)
BE REASONABLE (Billy Bevan; Sennett)
THE GOAT (Keaton)
THE BOAT (Keaton)
WEAK BUT WILLING (Walter Hiers; Christie)
CINDERELLA CINDERS (Alice Howell; Reelcraft)
PRIVATE-KEEP OFF (Carter DeHaven)
FAST AND FURIOUS (Lige Conley; Mermaid)
FAMILY LIFE (Mark Jones; Mermaid)
IT'S A GIFT (Snub Pollard; Roach)
SOLD AT AUCTION (Snub Pollard; Roach)
GIDDAP (Billy Bevan; Sennett)
THE BEST MAN (Billy Bevan; Sennett)
SMITH'S PONY (Smith Family; Sennett)
HIS MARRIAGE WOW (Harry Langdon)
MOVE ALONG (Lloyd Hamilton)
LIMOUSINE LOVE (Charley Chase)
A PAIR OF TIGHTS (Garvin-Kennedy-Byron-Erwin; Roach)
MAID IN MOROCCO (Lupino Lane)
TWO TARS (L&H)
HOG WILD (L&H)
WRONG DIRECTION (Edgar Kennedy)
THE FATAL GLASS OF BEER (W.C. Fields)
MIKE FRIGHT (Our Gang)
ODOR IN THE COURT (Clark and McCullough)
THREE LITTLE BEERS (Three Stooges)
MUSHROOMS (Harry Gribbon; Vitaphone)
Also, my one least favorite:
OH, MAMA (Jack Miller; Cameo Comedy directed by Jules White)
RICHARD M. ROBERTS' LIST OF GREATEST SILENT SHORT COMEDIES:
1. The Immigrant (Chaplin)
2. One Week (Keaton)
3. Big Business (Laurel & Hardy)
4. Saturday Afternoon (Langdon)
5. The Cure (Chaplin)
6. The Boat (Keaton)
7. Limousine Love (Chase)
8. Get Out and Get Under (Lloyd)
9. Move Along (Hamilton)
10. Don't Tell Everything (Davidson)
11. A Dog's Life (Chaplin)
12. Boobs in the Woods (Langdon)
13. Cops (Keaton)
14. Two Tars (Laurel & Hardy)
15. Easy Street (Chaplin)
16. Mighty Like a Moose (Chase)
17. Fatty and Mabel Adrift (Arbuckle/Normand)
18. Pass the Gravy (Davidson)
19. The Goat (Keaton)
20. The Pawnshop (Chaplin)
21. That's My Wife (Laurel & Hardy)
22. Movie Night (Chase)
23. The Big Show (Our Gang)
24. Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde (Stan Laurel)
25. The Daredevil (Ben Turpin)
26. The Sawmill (Larry Semon)
27. The Rink (Chaplin)
28. All Night Long (Langdon)
29. Neighbors (Keaton)
30. Hobokan to Hollywood (Bevan/Sennett)
31. It's a Gift (Snub Pollard)
32. Shoulder Arms (Chaplin)
33. The Paleface (Keaton)
34. Jewish Prudence (Davidson)
35. Super-Hooper-Dyne-Lizzies (Sennett)
36. The Spanking Age (Our Gang)
37. Monty of the Mounted (Lupino Lane)
38. The Playhouse (Keaton)
39. Remember When? (Langdon)
40. Hello, Sailor (Lupino Lane)
41. Sold At Auction (Snub Pollard)
42. Putting Pants on Phillip (Laurel & Hardy)
RICHARD M. ROBERTS' LIST OF GREATEST SOUND SHORT COMEDIES:
1. Busy Bodies (Laurel & Hardy)
2. The Fatal Glass of Beer (Fields)
3. The Pip From Pittsburgh (Chase)
4. The Pest from the West (Keaton)
5. Towed in a Hole (Laurel & Hardy)
6. An Ache in Every Stake (Stooges)
7. The Heckler (Chase)
8. Grand Slam Opera (Keaton)
9. Hog Wild (Laurel and Hardy)
10. The Big Flash (Langdon)
11. Our Gang Follies of 1938 (Our Gang)
12. The Dentist (Fields)
13. The Treasurer's Report (Benchley)
14. Fit to be Tied (Burns & Allen)
15. A Perfect Day (Laurel & Hardy)
16. Dollar Dizzy (Chase)
17. Microphonies (Stooges)
18. Free Wheeling (Our Gang)
19. Hooks and Jabs (Langdon)
20. How to Sleep (Benchley)
21. Odor in the Court (Clark & McCullough)
22. Their First Mistake (Laurel & Hardy)
23. The Pharmacist (Fields)
24. Divot Diggers (Our Gang)
25. Tit for Tat (Laurel & Hardy)
26. Courtship of the Newt (Benchley)
27. The Gold Ghost (Keaton)
28. Dogs is Dogs (Our Gang)
1. Oh Oh Cleopatra- Wheeler and Woolsey- masquers comedy- RKO
2. Small Timers- Vitaphone short- Bert Wheeler
3. The Awful Sleuth- Bert Wheeler
4.Signing 'Em Up-NRA short- RKO - Wheeler and Woolsey
5.Stolen Jools-with appearance by Wheeler and Woolsey
6. Hollywood on Parade- 1934- with Wheeler and Woolsey(traffic cop gives Woolsey a speeding ticket)
7.Voice of Hollywood- 1929 - Bert Wheeler host
8. Voice of Hollywood-1930- Robert Woolsey hosts station STAR
9.Grand Hotel Premiere-1932- Wheeler and Woolsey do a comedy bit
10.Pennywise- Joe Cook
11.Mr. Widget-Joe Cook
12. Great White Hope-- Joe Cook
13.A Nose For News-- Joe Cook
Well that's it for my list - a lucky 13 i would take in the lifeboat with me (and my husband too as long as he was holding a copy of Oh Oh Cleopatra)---as to the other comedians shorts i have seen -chaplin, laurel and hardy, keaton,fields,lloyd,chase, arbuckle and the others- let the other passengers on the boat scramble to take their shorts with them in the lifeboat after they have brought their favorite jim carey movie first which i know they would. -those 13 above are my essentials and have given me a lot more enjoyment than any big names most people list.
As a kid I was lucky enough to grow up on talkie shorts (thanks to tv) and silent shorts (thanks To Blackhawk) so the favorites I carry around with me are no doubt influenced more by a soft heart than a clear head (or maybe a soft head!) One thing certain is that these are the comedy shorts I love the best:
The Second Hundred Years (L & H)
Perfect Day (L & H)
The Hoose-Gow! (L & H)
Blotto (L & H)
Hog Wild (L & H)
The Goat (Keaton)
Cops (Keaton)
Allez Oop (as good as the Keaton Educationals get)
Grand Slam Opera (Keaton)
Pest From The West (Keaton)
General Nuisance (Keaton)
Brideless Groom (Stooges w/ Shemp)
A Snitch in Time (Stooges w/ Shemp)
Pest Mans Wins (Stooges w/ Shemp; for me, the last comedians to still do visual stuff right until Rowan Atkinson, Benny Hill & John Cleese)
Fiddlesticks (Langdon)
Hooks & Jabs (Langdon)
Cold Turkey (Langdon)
Crushed Lloyd (Hamilton)
Move Along (Hamilton)
Mighty Like A Moose (Charley Chase)
The Sting of Stings (Charley Chase)
Limousine Love (Charley Chase)
Pip From Pittsburgh (Charley Chase)
Girl Grief (Charley Chase)
Jewish Prudence (Max Davidson)
Pass The Gravy (Max Davidson)
A Pair of Tights (Anita Garvin/Edgar Kennedy)
Big Moments From Little Pictures (Will Rogers)
The Dentist (W. C. Fields)
High & Dizzy (Lloyd)
My list is based on the assumption that the entire thing could basically be L and H, Lloyd, Chaplin, and Keaton - so I'm going to keep these comedians titles to a maximum of three or four each. My list in no particular order....
1. Helpmates - L & H
2. Towed in a Hole - L & H
3. Blotto - L & H
4. Wrong Again - L & H
5. The Goat - Keaton
6. One Week - Keaton
7. The Frozen north - Keaton
8. Cops - Keaton
9. Ask Father - Lloyd
10. Bumping into Broadway - Lloyd
11. Captain Kidd's Kids - Lloyd
12. The Immigrant - Chaplin
13. The Vagabond - Chaplin
14. The Pawnshop - Chaplin
15. Police - Chaplin
16. Remember When - Langdon
17. Fiddlesticks - Langdon
18. Bromo and Juliet - Chase
19. Mighty Like a Moose - Chase
20. The Pip from Pittsburgh - Chase
21. Move Along - Hamilton
22. Frauds and Frenzies - Semon and Laurel
23. Oh, Doctor! - Arbuckle,Keaton, St.-John
24. It's a Gift - Pollard
25. What's the World Coming to? - Clyde Cook
26.Grand Slam Opera - Keaton (sound)
27.A Pair of Tights - E. Kennedy ]
28. Wandering Willies - B. Bevan
29.Fatty and Mabel Adrift - Arbuckle and Normand
30.Movie Night - Chase
The following are my favorite short films (three reels/30 minutes or less in length), although I hesitate to call them the "best" since, ultimately, this must be a matter of personal preference. These are in no particular order, although I have a very soft spot for Keaton and the appearance of many of his films near the beginning may be taken as a sign that his films are first in my affection. I guess this is as much a vote of favorite artists in order as it is favorite films. Despite my high regard for Lloyd I have seen few of his short subjects, including many that are held in high esteem by others such "Get Out and Get Under" and "High and Dizzy." These could very well be on my Top 30 if I had seen them, for when Lloyd is good, he's almost unbeatable. I have never much cared for Larry, Moe and Curly, although one of their shorts makes it because it downplays the violence and kicks the silliness into high gear. I have not yet seen many of the films of the "lesser" comics, and I have seen a "few" modern animated ones that I must place on the list despite their color and recent vintage. There's one ancient animated short subject as well. In my opinion, these are as as valid as films as are live-action vehicles.
Here are mine, the ones I would take to Alpha Centauri with me.
K = Keaton, C = Chaplin, L = Lloyd, L&H = Laurel and Hardy
1. One Week (K)
2. Cops (K)
3. The Goat (K)
4. The Love Nest (K)
5. The Boat (K)
6. The Playhouse (K)
7. Convict 13 (K)
8. Behind the Screen (C)
9. The Adventurer (C)
10. The Pawnshop (C)
11. Neighbors (K)
12. The Rink (C)
13. Easy Street (C)
14. Never Weaken (L)
15. Why Pick on Me? (L)
16. The Garage (Arbuckle/Keaton)
17. Fatty and Mabel Adrift (Sennett/Arbuckle/Normand)
18. Towed in a Hole (L&H)
19. Helpmates (L&H)
20. The Music Box (L&H)
21. Busybodies (L&H)
22. Hogwild (L&H)
23. Dirty Work (L&H)
24. Grand Slam Opera (K)
25. Laughing Gravy (L&H)
26. Popeye the Sailor meets Sinbad the Sailor (17 minutes, animated, by Fleischer)
27. The Wrong Trousers (28 minutes, clay-animated, modern, by Park)
28. A Close Shave (28 minutes, clay-animated, modern, by Park)
29. Disorder in the Court (Three Stooges)
30. Only one left? Then let's make it The Paleface (K).
I've seen most of the shorts that Chaplin, Keaton, and Laurel and Hardy made, so my list is probably biased towards them. I've only seen a handful of Lloyd's shorts (he did his best work in features anyway), and the few Charley Chase shorts that I've seen were not his best. My favorite comedian Raymond Griffith made many silent short comedies, but I've never had a chance to see them either. I don't have 30 yet, so I still have some research to do.
In no particular order...
One Week (Keaton)
Cops (Keaton)
The Goat (Keaton)
The Love Nest (Keaton)
Big Business (Laurel & Hardy)
From Soup to Nuts (Laurel & Hardy)
Two Tars (Laurel & Hardy)
A Dog's Life (Chaplin)
The Pawnshop (Chaplin)
Easy Street (Chaplin)
The Immigrant (Chaplin)
Haunted Spooks (Lloyd)
Saturday Afternoon (Langdon)
Pass the Gravy (Davidson)
The Garage (Arbuckle & Keaton)
As for sound shorts...
The Dentist (Fields)
The Pharmacist (Fields)
Helpmates (Laurel & Hardy)
Hog Wild (Laurel & Hardy)
The Music Box (Laurel & Hardy)
The Kid from Borneo (Our Gang)
JOHN V. BRENNAN, Co-Founder, Laurel and Hardy Central:
These are not necessarily the best or funniest short comedies, but merely a handful of my favorites.
Liberty - Laurel and Hardy
Hog Wild - Laurel and Hardy
Blotto - Laurel and Hardy
The Immigrant - Charlie Chaplin
The Vagabond - Charlie Chaplin
One Week - Buster Keaton
The Playhouse - Buster Keaton
Helping Grandma - Our Gang
High C's - Charley Chase
The Pharmacist - W.C. Fields
The Fatal Glass of Beer - W.C. Fields
These shorts are chronologically listed (some of them incorrectly, no doubt)
His Trysting Place (1914) Chaplin
The Tramp (1915) Chaplin
Fatty and Mabel Adrift (1916) Arbuckle-Normand
Easy Street (1917) Chaplin
Shoulder Arms (1918) Chaplin
One Week (1920) Keaton
Haunted Spooks (1920) Lloyd
The Haunted House (1921) Keaton
Never Weaken (1921) Lloyd
Cops (1922) Keaton
All Wet (1924) Chase
Mighty Like a Moose (1926) Chase
Leave Em Laughing (1928) Laurel & Hardy
The Finishing Touch (1928) Laurel & Hardy
Two Tars (1928) Laurel & Hardy
You're Darn Tootin (1928) Laurel & Hardy
Movie Night (1929) Charley Chase
Big Business (1929) Laurel & Hardy
Next Door Neighbor (1930) A Pathe short featuring Edgar Kennedy and Arthur Housman as the title characters, who can't get along. I think its one of the funniest two-reelers I have ever seen.
Hog Wild (1930) Laurel & Hardy
Helpmates (1931) Laurel & Hardy
The Music Box (1932) Laurel & Hardy
Girl Grief (1932) Charley Chase
Towed in a Hole (1933) Laurel & Hardy
Busy Bodies (1933) Laurel & Hardy
The Pharmacist (1933) Fields
Hoi Polloi (1935) Three Stooges
Public Ghost No. 1 (1935) Charley Chase
An Ache in Every Stake (1941) Three Stooges
I'll Build it Myself (1944?) Edgar Kennedy
DIZZY DOCTORS (3 Stooges) and the OUR GANG FOLLIES OF '38 make his list of greatest short films, talkie division.
Editor's note: The Toronto Trio of Rick Levinson, Chris Seguin and David Olson promise us a more complete list after the New Year.
I've included sound and silent shorts, and they are in no particular order. Having not seen as many of the more obscure comedians as some of the other folks on this list, it'll be geared more towards the famous comedy stars, but there'll be some surprises. Enjoy!! All the best,
Dennis' Top 30 Old Time Comedy Shorts (off the top of my head):
1. THE FATAL GLASS OF BEER (W.C. FIELDS)
2. THE DENTIST (W.C. FIELDS)
3. THE PLAYHOUSE (KEATON)
4. THE IMMIGRANT (CHAPLIN)
5. LIMOUSINE LOVE (CHASE)
6. RADIO RAMPAGE (EDGAR KENNEDY)
7. GET OUT AND GET UNDER (LLOYD)
8. ODOR IN THE COURT (CLARK AND MCCULLOUGH)
9. ONE WEEK (KEATON)
10. HOW TO SLEEP (ROBERT BENCHLEY)
11. HELPMATES (LAUREL AND HARDY)
12. BIG BUSINESS (LAUREL AND HARDY)
13. MIGHTY LIKE A MOOSE (CHASE)
14. HOI POLLOI (THREE STOOGES)
15. PUPS IS PUPS (OUR GANG)
16. FAMILY LIFE (MARK JONES)
17. THE ADVENTURER (CHAPLIN)
18. THREE LITTLE BEERS (THREE STOOGES)
19. HIGH AND DIZZY (LLOYD)
20. THE CURE (CHAPLIN)
21. DON'T PARK THERE (WILL ROGERS)
22. THE SCARECROW (KEATON)
23. THE CARETAKER'S DAUGHTER (CHASE)
24. HOG WILD (LAUREL AND HARDY)
25. THE BOAT (KEATON)
26. FATTY AND MABEL ADRIFT (NORMAND AND ARBUCKLE)
27. DR. PICKLE AND MR. PRIDE (STAN LAUREL)
28. LAUGHING GRAVY (LAUREL AND HARDY)
29. LIBERTY (LAUREL AND HARDY)
30. INNOCENT HUSBANDS (CHASE)
As a purist, I object to mixing talkie shorts with silent shorts. My list is strictly silent.
My list is also absurdly lopsided in favour in the Top Tier comedians: Laurel and Hardy (6), Chaplin (10), and to a lesser extent, Chase (3) and Keaton (4). That leaves only 7 slots for about 16,000 other silent clowns. However, as I'm sure you'll agree, it fairly reflects the fact that this handful of geniuses played in a league of their own.
(The top 30 silent short comedies *not* by Laurel and Hardy, Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, Langdon, and Chase... Now that would be a difficult but very intriguing challenge to compile.)
The most glaring omission from my list is Rick's raison d'etre, Harold Lloyd. I have "Haunted Spooks" on tape but have not yet played it, so I don't know if it deserves a spot. I have "Never Weaken" but have not watched it in eons and don't really remember much about it, which I take as a sign that it didn't strike me as anything special. The rest of Harold's shorts are not his best work; he was a features guy.
There's only one Langdon on the list, even though I'm absolutely fascinated by the fellow. The reason: aside from "Saturday Afternoon" and, to a lesser extent, "Remember When", his shorts are all failures.
David: Boy, have we ever got different tastes! "Soldier Man" is practically the only Langdon film that I still can't sit through for sheer tediousness (I've been able to sit through "Three's A Crowd" three times, so I'm pretty tolerant of the worst of Harry's schtick!) "Leaping Fish" is the worst silent Fairbanks made; ditto "The Paleface" for Keaton.
I haven't seen any Rascals silent shorts. Anybody want to enlighten me with a free tape? ;-)
I'm positive Chase's "Limousine Love" would make the list if only I could see more of it than the wonderful clip in a Youngson compilation, especially since the gorgeous Viola Ritchard is in it. I'm also sure Max Davidson's "Pass the Gravy" would make the list if I could only get a copy of it to watch. So I've reserved spots on the list for these two films.
Yair said his list was of the "best" comedies not the historically important ones. So there are no John Bunny, Keystone, Sennett, Arbuckle, or Normand films on the list because I just don't find them amusing except for the Arbuckle-Keaton-St.John ones that have been resurfacing lately. I did give serious consideration to Bunny's "Hearts and Diamonds".
There are a couple of one-reelers I might be tempted to add to the list, but I tried to confine myself to two-reelers. One-reelers are at a disadvantage anyway in that they usually only have enough time to set up = one really good gag sequence. Snub Pollard gets two sequences in "It's A Gift", and while I enjoy that film very much, it hardly ranks with the best of Chaplin, Keaton, and Laurel and Hardy now, does it?
Alright, enough of my puritanism and snobbery and pedantry. Here's my list. It's not in any order of preference, by the way.
1. Two Tars (L&H)
2. Their Purple Moment (L&H)
3. Leave 'em Laughing (L&H)
4. Double Whoopee (L&H)
5. Liberty (L&H)
6. Angora Love (L&H)
7. Post No Bills (Paul Parrott)
8. A Dog's Life (Chaplin)
9. Shoulder Arms (Chaplin)
10. Behind the Screen (Chaplin)
11. The Champion (Chaplin)
12. The Floorwalker (Chaplin)
13. One A.M. (Chaplin)
14. The Pawnshop (Chaplin)
15. The Cure (Chaplin)
16. The Rink (Chaplin)
17. The Immigrant (Chaplin)
18. Looking For Sally (Chase)
19. The Caretaker's Daughter (Chase)
20. Mighty Like A Moose (Chase)
21. Move Along (Hamilton)
22. The Three Ages (Keaton)
23. Seven Chances (Keaton)
24. Cops (Keaton)
25. The Boat (Keaton)
26. Saturday Afternoon (Langdon)
27. A Movie Star (Swain)
28. Don't Park There (Rogers)
29. (reserved for Limousine Love)
30. (reserved for Pass the Gravy)
I guess there are only 3 films whose inclusion will surprise anyone. "Post No Bills" is a one-gag film, but Parrott strings out that one gag beautifully. Mack Swain is just an absolute delight in "Movie Star"; with anybody else in the lead, I doubt it would make my list. And Will Rogers "Don't Park There" is an underrated little gem.
David added a short list of favorites that he would add to Yair's original list:
Haunted Spooks (Harold Lloyd)
Mystery of the Leaping Fish (Douglas Fairbanks)
Moonshine (Roscoe Arbuckle)
Two Tars (Laurel & Hardy)
From Hand to Mouth (Harold Lloyd)
It's a Gift (Snub Pollard)
The Adventurer (Charles Chaplin)
The Kid from Borneo (Our Gang)
Soldier Man (Harry Langdon)
The Paleface (Buster Keaton)
DEBBIE BERKEY'S LIST:
Here is my list of favorite short films (I decided to stick with silents).
1. A JAZZED HONEYMOON (LLOYD)
2 why pick on me? (LLOYD)
3. NUMBER PLEASE? (LLOYD)
4. BUMPING INTO BROADWAY (LLOYD)
5. SPRING FEVER (LLOYD)
6. NEVER WEAKEN (LLOYD)
7.THATS MY WIFE (LAUREL & HARDY)
8. TWO TARS (LAUREL & HARDY)
9. PUTTING PANTS ON PHILLIP (LAUREL & HARDY)
10. THE GOAT (KEATON)
11. THE HIGH SIGN (KEATON)
12. ONE WEEK (KEATON)
My list is in no particular order. It is a little more weighted in favor of the unknown comedians, as you might expect from the webmeister of Mugshots: Home Page of the Forgotten Silent Comedians. But I would argue in favor of a broader spectrum of comedians based on the desert island theory. If I had thirty comedies to watch (and a good 16mm projector...and a loooong extension cord), I would want as much variety as possible. And for those who wonder what the hell Carter DeHaven's Character Studies is doing here, all I can say is any film with Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Fatty Arbuckle, Jackie Coogan, Douglas Fairbanks and Rudolph Valentino in the cast is entitled to some degree of immortality..
Cops (Buster Keaton)
Easy Street (Charlie Chaplin)
Big Business (Laurel & Hardy)
Pass the Gravy (Max Davidson)
Limousine Love (Charley Chase)
The Immigrant (Charlie Chaplin)
The Pip From Pittsburgh (Charley Chase)
Movie Night (Charley Chase)
The Cameraman (Billy Franey)
Maid in Morocco (Lupino Lane)
The Goat (Buster Keaton)
The Show (Larry Semon)
The Vagrant (Lloyd Hamilton)
Never Weaken (Harold Lloyd)
Yukon Jake (Ben Turpin)
The Phamacist (W.C. Fields)
The Music Box (Laurel & Hardy)
Character Studies (Carter DeHaven)
The Wild Roomer (Charley Bowers)
The Movies (Lloyd Hamilton)
It's a Gift (Snub Pollard)
Fatty and Mabel Adrift (Roscoe Arbuckle and Mabel Normand)
Feet of Mud (Harry Langdon)
Moonshine (Roscoe Arbuckle & Buster Keaton)
Curses! aka The Last Serial (Al St. John)
Two Tars (Laurel & Hardy)
One Week (Buster Keaton)
Should Second Husbands Come First? (Max Davidson)
Too Much Mustard (Max Linder)
A Pair of Tights (Anita Garvin, Marion Bryan, Edgar Kennedy, Stu Erwin)
The Pawnshop (Chaplin)
/ YAIR SOLAN / FEUILLADE / BRENT WALKER / RICHARD M. ROBERTS / LINDA / ED WATZ / DANNY MOLLISE / BRUCE JENSEN / BRUCE CALVERT / JOHN V. BRENNAN / JIM NEIBAUR / CHRIS SEGUIN / DENNIS J. CAMPA / JAMES ROOTS / DAVID B. PEARSON / ROB FARR /
To submit your list, e-mail
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