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Comedy films from the 1910s
The best 100 of 247
- 1
The Doll
The misadventures of an effete young man who must get married in order to inherit a fortune. He opts to purchase a remarkably lifelike doll and marry it instead, not realizing that the doll is actually the dollmaker’s flesh-and-blood daughter in disguise.
- 2
The Oyster Princess
A pampered American oyster tycoon decides to buy a husband for his daughter, but things don’t go quite as planned. Along the way there are mishaps, misunderstandings and a foxtrot sequence that must be seen to be believed.
- 3
When the Clouds Roll By
Daniel Boone Brown is a pleasure-seeking playboy carousing around New York City without a care in the world -- that is, until he becomes the unwitting subject of a series of experiments at the hands of a sadistic psychiatrist.
- 4
A Trip to the Moon
Based on the Happy Hooligan comic strip, by Frederick Burr Opper. Happy speaks with someone in the park and takes a trip to the moon on a rocket that looks like the front half of a current racing car, where he is made king of the moon. A ballerina does a shimmy and Our Hero winds up back in the park being accosted by a cop. The inference is that he has fallen asleep and dreamed the entire trip.
- 5
Tweedledum as Aviator
Robinet, the lead in this Italian slapstick comedy, wants to be an aviator in the worst way, and this being an Italian slapstick, that's how he does it. Italian slapstick in this period was absolutely bone-breaking, so much so that it makes Keystone slapstick look like drawing-room comedy by contrast.
- 6
Mickey
Mickey, an orphan who has been brought up in a mining settlement, is sent to New York to live with her aunt.
- 7
The Romance of Max
The story is simple: Max and a pretty young lady, whom he has never met before, arrive at the same time at a luxury hotel on the Riviera, each for a little vacation by themselves. They are placed in adjoining hotel suites. Both Max and the pretty lady place their shoes outside their hotel room doors to be cleaned by staff, and the shoes fall in love.
- 8
Max Makes a Touch
Max and Mick, two brothers, have prepared for a merry spree and are actually stepping into their cab when it occurs to them they are penniless. Lots are drawn to see who shall beard stern father and make the necessary touch. The choice falls on Max who is far from successful in his mission, and he communicates the bad news to his brother Mick, who after thinking announces that he has an idea.
- 9
The Clown's Pup
Max Fleischer draws a clown, who comes alive on the page. The clown doesn't like the way he is drawn and demonstrates his own artistic abilities.
- 10
Brains Repaired
Depicts a doctor looking into his patient's brain and seeing a collection of hideous and grotesque figures.
- 11
New Desk
Karl Valentin gets a new desk which absolutely does not fit his needs. He tries to solve the problem in some really strange ways.
- 12
Robinet boxeur
Robinet gets punched by a boxer in the ring and decides to challenge him for a match. To win, he needs to train as much as he can.
- 13
Over the Fence
Snitch steals Ginger's (stolen) baseball tickets and takes Ginger's girl to the game. Finding himself without tickets, Ginger dresses as a baseball player and wins the game. A possible debut of the "Glasses" or "Boy" character.
- 14
The Faithful Furniture
A man who no longer can afford his rent is forced to sell his beloved furniture. The furniture can not bear to be parted from their owner and decides to return home. Often confused with Bosetti's film Le Garde meuble automatique (1912).
- 15
Johanna Enlists
A young girl, stifling on her father's backwoods farm, is reinvigorated by the arrival of an army regiment, come to train in the area.
- 16
Max Skiing
In a snowy Alpine district Max takes his first lessons in the art of skiing. He leaves the hotel with his skis fixed to his shoes, and his efforts and contortions to get through the door of his room are absurdly ludicrous. Finally he manages to get out and we see him making frantic efforts to maintain his equilibrium on the fairly gentle slope.
- 17
Max's Hat
Max has been invited to meet with his in-laws and must dress formally, but each hat he attempts to wear for the occasion gets destroyed.
- 18
I Want a Baby
Max and his wife of three years are happy in most regards but one: they still don't have a child. When Max reads of a new method of "spontaneous generation" in the paper, it seems his fondest wish may have come true. However, the young couple may get more than they bargained for.
- 19
Artheme Swallows His Clarinet
Arthème loves playing the clarinet. He plays it in the streets, in the park, in the streetcar (at least when he does not miss it!). When he unfortunately walks under a piano clumsy removers are hauling, the heavy instrument falls down on him and he swallows his clarinet. A lot of people try to extirpate the protruding instrument but they all fail. Three farriers finally succeed in making him return to his former self.
- 20
A Little Hero
Mabel has a canary bird, a tiny pet dog and a cat. She goes out, and the cat goes after the canary. Doggie hears the racket and takes in the situation. Knowing he is no match for Tabbie he runs as fast as his little legs will carry him to a kennel where he tells his troubles to three big collies, who run back with him. They secure entrance to the house through a basement window, and arrive in time to save the bird's life. Tabby runs away, and an exciting chase follows. When Mabel comes home and sees the overturned bird cage and the canary's tall feathers palled out she thinks her little doggie has chased the cat away, and hugs her hero.
- 21
Tilly the Tomboy Visits the Poor
Funny how we think of the loutish behaviour of some of today's teens as a modern-day phenomenon. Here, in a short film more than one hundred years old, we see two tearaways terrorising a bed-ridden old lady, sabotaging a number of honest workmen as they go about their daily work, vandalising a bakery and taking a vehicle without consent - all in the space of six frenetic minutes.
- 22
How Men Propose
Three men in succession propose marriage to Grace Darling; she accepts all! Since they are roommates, the three discover their problem in short order; when they return for an explanation, they're in for a surprise.
- 23
Pedestrian Love
The story of the meeting and falling in love of a man and a woman. The story is told by showing the characters from below the knees only. A man in smart shoes prepares to go out. His maid gives him his coat, he dusts off his shoes and leaves. As he leaves the building an elegant woman drops her purse. He returns it to her and follows her home.
- 24
Krazy Kat and Ignatz Mouse at the Circus
Krazy Kat and Ignatz Mouse go to the circus and have some fun at the expense of a spectator.
- 25
How Bumptious Papered the Parlor
Mr. Bumptious insists on wallpapering the parlor himself, in order to save money.
- 26
For the Children
The artist awakens. His maid brings him a letter from the Gaumont Studio. After a quick glance to it, he hastens to get dressed and runs to the studio followed by his wife, his maid and his son, Bout-de-Zan who want a part in the movie.
- 27
- 28
Krazy Kat, Bugologist
Krazy Kat and Ignatz set out for the wilds on Krazy's bike; Krazy's promises to teach Ignatz about bugology. After crashing the bike into a tree, they come upon a bee (Krazy says it's sleeping, Ignatz says it's dead) and an elephant. Krazy works his magic on one of them, Ignatz on the other.
- 29
Rudi's Philanderings
A comedy short with a guy getting chased around the beach which creates a few funny scenes.
- 30
Exemplo Regenerador
A man leaves his wife alone every evening to gamble and enjoy the nightlife. But one night, when he arrives home, he finds her drinking and smoking languorously next to the butler.
- 31
The Waiter's Dream
Four customers are having a peaceful game of cards in a quiet café. The atmosphere being heavy, the waiter falls asleep and has an unsettling dream about the ills of alcohol, among other things.
- 32
Shanghaied
A shipowner intends to scuttle his ship on its last voyage to get the insurance money. Charlie, a tramp in love with the owner's daughter, is grabbed by the captain and promises to help him shanghai some seamen. The daughter stows away to follow Charlie. Charlie assists in the galley and attempts to serve food during a gale.
- 33
A Burlesque on Carmen
A gypsy seductress is sent to sway a goofy officer to allow a smuggling run.
- 34
A Busy Day
A jealous wife is chasing her unfaithful husband during a parade, after he starts to flirt with a pretty woman.
- 35
Jack's Joke
A comic sketch that features two players who think each one is deaf, causing them to shout. Part of the Edison Kinetophone Collection. The Kinetophone was a fairly complex mechanical means of creating talking pictures. Unlike previous systems, in which actors would be required to lip sync to preexisting recordings on camera, the Kinetophone was one of the earliest film technologies to record sound at the same time as the image.
- 36
- 37
The Automatic Moving Company
Hired to move house for a patron, furniture, appliances and cutlery pack up and move on their own, headed up by a team of baskets. Often confused with Cohl's film Le Mobilier fidèle (1910).
- 38
Follow the Crowd
A clueless man finds a bomb on the street and keeps throwing it to the crowd around him. The sketch then moves with the clueless nerd getting involved in all sorts of troubles until he accidentally gets into a hideout from a terrorist group that will complicate things for him more than he ever hoped.
- 39
- 40
Dud Leaves Home
Dud's girlfriend Mamie wants an ice cream cone, but Dud is broke. He rushes home and steals a coin bank then chops it open with an ax, only to find that he's also split in half the one coin inside. Dud's mother sees this and spanks him...
- 41
An Even Break
Claire Curtis, Jimmie Strong and Mary have spent their childhood together in the country. Upon reaching adulthood, Claire goes to New York and becomes a success on stage. Jimmie, who has always dreamed of becoming an inventor, goes to New York to sell the machine he invented, and there he renews his acquaintance with Claire. Soon their old friendship ripens into love. Meanwhile, back in the country, Ralph and David Harding, who are making Jimmie's machine, plan to steal the right to it. Back in New York, Mary appears and informs Claire that she loves Jimmie, and the actress resolves to give her a chance to win him. When it appears that the Hardings' scheme to steal Jimmie's machine will succeed, however, Mary's ardor turns cold. Claire and Jimmie then rush back to the country in time to avert the takeover and save his firm from bankruptcy.
- 42
Keeping Up with the Joneses: Men’s Styles
A domestic comedy about the McGinis family—husband Aloysius, wife Clarice, daughter Julie, and housemaid Belladonna. The simple story lines often parody society's concern with material goods as an indicator of social standing, but the series was not as narrowly focused as the title implies. The Joneses were the McGinis's neighbors, but were not depicted. They were referred to as objects of envy, with whom the McGinis family was "trying to keep up." In this film, Pa McGinis decides to buy a new hat.
- 43
Prehistoric Poultry
A caveman falls victim to a prehistoric prankster, but he is avenged by his pet chicken.
- 44
Colonel Heeza Liar Foils the Enemy
Despite the bombs which he suffers from at the war front, war correspondent, Col. Heeza Liar succeeds to foil the enemy lines.
- 45
At Coney Island
Mack takes Mabel to Coney Island, only to have her stolen by slick Ford, who is temporarily out of sight of a watchful wife and children.
- 46
The Clown and His Donkey
A pioneering effort in bringing shadow puppetry to the cinema.
- 47
Betty Takes a Hand
Discovering that her father, Peter Marshall, had been defrauded by a business partner named James Bartlett, Betty goes to Los Angeles to visit her aunt, Mrs. Hamilton Haines, whose late husband had a hand in ruining Peter. Tom, Bartlett's son, has arranged a yachting trip for Mrs. Haines and her daughter Ida, and Ida, deciding that her cousin is too pretty to come along, persuades Betty to stay behind. Tom, on the way to the yacht after a quarrel with his father, passes the Haines mansion and, noticing a sign advertising room and board, stops. Meeting Betty who is posing as Miss Haines, Tom moves in and falls in love with his landlady. When Betty accidentally meets Tom's father, the old man is so captivated that he offers her $5,000 to marry his son. After Tom and Betty are married, when both fathers discover their in-laws' true identities they are first indignant but later are reconcile
- 48
On the Jump
On the Jump is a 1918 American short comedy film featuring Harold Lloyd.
- 49
Move On
Our hero is a police officer who gets involved in a crap game, flirting with a nurse and other amusements.
- 50
Léontine’s Battery
Léontine lights up our lives with an electric battery, electrocuting everyone in her path. Her victims include two old ladies (played by men in drag), dancers at a café, workers on a construction site, a group of lackluster conscripts, and the local police force. To add insult to injury, she douses everyone with buckets of water.
- 51
Broadway Arizona
While on vacation in New York, millionaire cattle rancher John Keyes falls in love with musical comedy star Fritzi Carlyle. Recognizing the opportunity for a great story, Fritzi's press agent encourages her to accept the Westerner's proposal of marriage, only to deny it the next day in a wave of newspaper publicity. Disheartened, Keyes returns to Arizona and Fritzi continues performing until she suffers a nervous breakdown. Reading of Fritzi's misfortune, Keyes returns East, kidnaps Fritzi and takes her to Arizona. There, the change of climate performs wonders and she recovers quickly. Meanwhile, her stage manager sends detectives after her, and when they arrive in Arizona ready to arrest Keyes for kidnapping, Fritzi explains that the whole adventure was an elaborate publicity stunt and announces that she and her Arizona cowboy are going to be married.
- 52
Baldy is Invited to Dinner
One of the series about the adventures of Baldy, played by French comedian Rober Reynols, who had moved to Russia, was a raving success with illiterate audiences before the revolution. Universal gags plus expressive gesticulation - and the credits were no longer needed.
- 53
A Peace of Coal
A British trick film with stop-motion animation by an unknown film maker.
- 54
Vengeance of the Spirits
Grotesque animated spirits punish a disbeliever who scorns his wife’s interest in the occult.
- 55
Colonel Heeza Liar on the Jump
Colonel Heeza Liar is a character a bit like Baron Munchausen. Many wild things occur to him in the cartoons and they are meant to be silly entertainment. Here, he gets into a fight with a kangaroo. On the verge of death, he's saved by a quack doctor--who gives him a transfusion of donkey blood! And, as a result, there is a funny lingering after-effect.
- 56
Puffy Buys Shoes
Out of the three-part burlesque, the only surviving one is the one called Pufi would buy a pair of shoes, with Hungarian inserts. The film is shot on a real-life location, in a Budapest shoe shop, and it portrays the mutual efforts of a puny sales assistant and Pufi, the bladder-of-lard customer, to find him a suitable pair of shoes. The content of the other two parts is not known.
- 57
Fatty's Day Off
Fatty's Day Off is a 1913 movie starring Roscoe Arbuckle and Charles Avery.
- 58
Bobby Bumps and the Detective Story
Pa buys a detective novel, but Bobby and Fido keep stealing it to read before he has a chance to.
- 59
A Smash-Up In China
"Smash-Up in China" is a very early animated film. The story consists of the Hooligan telling the little hooligans about his supposed adventures in China. He saves the life of the Prime Minister, meets the Emperor and nearly gets himself blown up!
- 60
When Tilly's Uncle Flirted
Tomboys play tricks on their uncle when he flirts with a maid.
- 61
Professor Bonehead Is Shipwrecked
Professor Bonehead gets shipwrecked, strands on a tropical island and meets cannibals.
- 62
Are We Down-Hearted?
Cecil Hepworth’s Vivaphone film features Hay Plumb singing George Robins’ optimistic 1906 ditty concerning the mischievous responses of a poor family to regular visits from the bailiffs.
- 63
The Speed Demon
An ambitious race driver who is not allowed to compete decides to outwit his competitors.
- 64
Skinny Gets a Goat
A courtship results in animals running away and being kidnapped by a tramp on a train. Don't worry, fat Skinny is coming to the rescue!
- 65
Bobby Bumps Helps Out a Book Agent
Bobby Bumps is up to his usual mischief, trying skates to his sleeping father's shoes and then tipping off a humble book agent to ring the doorbell.
- 66
Max Gets Stuck Up
The film begins with Max being invited to dinner with his fiancée and future in-laws. To be polite, he stops on the way at a bakery to bring along a small gift for the in-laws. Unfortunately, he steps on some flypaper and has a devil of a time getting it off himself. When he arrives at the dinner, he's quite sticky and this causes LOTS of problems--which would have all been alleviated had he told them of his flypaper predicament. The title of the print gives the wrong date and title. Although there may well have been an earlier version with a similar plot (a number of films, which Max Linder made between 1905 and 1908, are still unidentified) it is quite clear that this particular one was made in 1910.
- 67
Charlie's White Elephant
A cartoon based on Charlie Chaplin's "Little Tramp", with Chaplin himself supplying some gags.
- 68
Mother's Baby Boy
Percival is a spoiled mama's boy. When two toughs make time with his girlfriend he sends a telegram to his mother for help.
- 69
The Lady Doctor
Charles Prince is married to Mistinguett, but she's too busy being a doctor to tend to her wifely duties, so he seeks entertainment elsewhere in this short from Pathe Freres.
- 70
Farmer Al Falfa's Revenge
Sir Henry Bonehead is poaching Farmer Alfalfa's "game preserve", stunning animals with the scent of his pipe tobacco and shooting at what he imagines to be goats but which turn out to be Alfalfa himself. That's the standard of humor in this early Paul Terry cartoon for the Bray studio.
- 71
Half & Half
Eddie Lyons and Lee Moran and their wives share a house. After a disagreement they decide to split the house by drawing a line down the middle
- 72
- 73
The Rembrandt in Rue Lepic
A couple buy what is advertised as a Rembrandt painting, but a wild slapstick chase ensues after a woman sits on it.
- 74
- 75
Censorship and Its Absurdities
A satirical short produced to highlight the unreasonable extremes of local film censorship—a film so heavily censored that only the title cards remain!
- 76
Bunny's Suicide
A tragicomedy in which the suicide attempt of the character Bunny is seen by a neighbour, who quickly calls for help.
- 77
The Grand Duke's Tour
Parody of slum tours the posh Parisian circles. A troupe of actors serving the entertainment needs with genuine Apaches'.
- 78
Léontine’s Pranks
Yet again, Léontine ignores the well-meaning advice of her mother. She attempts to hang her downstairs neighbor (played by a man in drag) with a rope, which she then uses to attach a bookseller’s kiosk to a moving vehicle. A vengeful mob and the police gather, as they do, but she entraps them on a scaffolding by removing the rope ladder.
- 79
Léontine Becomes an Errand Girl
The oldest surviving film in the Léontine series, this incomplete escapade features everyone’s favorite “mistress of mayhem” doing what she does best: wreaking total havoc and defying repressive authority. Léontine runs errands for a milliner, whereupon she steals the ludicrously oversized chapeau she was tasked with delivering to a valued customer. She adds insult to injury by leading her property-owning victims down a royal road of utter humiliation.
- 80
- 81
Rigadin and the Magic Wand
Whiffles. the noted comedian, is married to a shrew, who proves more than his match in their many conflicts. A discolored eye is the last straw and Whiffles decides to tame his wife's aggressiveness. He buys the magic wand of Professor Jinks and marches bravely home. He arrives late for dinner and his wife aims a blow at him. He touches her with the magic wand, but, alas, with the wrong end, producing two wives instead of making one disappear. The wives combine forces, take the magic wand away and pound the unfortunate Whiffles until he apologizes.
- 82
Gavroche at Luna Park
Funnicus has made a futile endeavor all day to be cheerful, but conditions will not permit. Seeking forgetfulness, he took his despondent way towards Luna Park, and started to "do" the place thoroughly. An overplump dame was giving tense ear to the whispered warnings of a Gypsy sooth-sayer. An opportunity. Funnicus crossed the swarthy female's palm with much silver, and promptly slipped into her wrappings and place. The overplump dame was then regaled with a series of disclosures concerning her future affairs of the heart which brought Funnicus an unexpected clump on the ear. Funnicus, to mete out counterpunishment to the saucy lady, proceeded to chase her over the zig-gag stairways, windy passages, electric railways, sea wave track, automobile armchairs, etc. At last, to escape retaliation, he borrowed an attendant's costume and the Tzigane bandmaster's baton, one, two, three. The synco
- 83
The Burning Towel or A Household Quarrel
A couple’s fight over dinner leads to spiralling domestic abuse that spreads all over town. (MoMA)
- 84
The Rollicking Rajah
Filmed using Vivaphone sound system. This was invented by Cecil M. Hepworth, and performers mimed to a 10" record. In this particular case, the singer and performer are not the same: Harry Buss is lip-syncing to singer Harry Fay (believed to be an alias of Stanley Kirkby).
- 85
Tweedledum on His First Bicycle
Tweedledum's attempts to master the bicycle lead him into situations both thrilling and comical, and the ride proves most adventurous. He barely escapes with his life, and causes a mad scramble on the part of pedestrians who cross his path.
- 86
Rigadin au téléphone
Charles Prince is anxious to meet with Andree Pascal, the pretty and charming woman who works at an office. He speaks with her on the phone, but she passes the call to plump Gabrielle Lange.
- 87
Robinet’s White Suit
In this play on the symmetry of black and white, Robinet leaves home in his bright new suit for a stroll through a blackening industrial landscape. (MoMA)
- 88
Tontolini e l'asino
Jenkins goes to a public park where a procession is in progress. There, he takes a fancy to a donkey and determines to possess it. Cautiously mounting the beast, he rides away when the owner is not looking. Riding through the country, he meets a peddler with a quantity of toy balloons.
- 89
- 90
Mr. Crack
In the course of various unfeasible adventures, Monsieur de Crac finds himself comfortably installed in Mount Etna, smoking a pipe, when he is confronted by the Monster of the Volcano, who throws him down into the bowels of the earth and out into an ocean on the other side of the world
- 91
- 92
A Short-Sighted Duellist
Astigmatic, Max apologizes to lampposts, kisses the wrong lady, and is challenged to a duel.
- 93
The Awful Adventures of an Aviator
Amateur aviator Harold McNutt's hopes of taking flight result in an escalating series of high jinks.
- 94
At the Cinema Show
A cinema becomes the site of sexual intrigue when a man looking for romance in the dark follows a woman into the movies and finds himself molesting her husband instead.
- 95
The Missing Link
Widow makes son pose as boy to appear younger to professor, but he is to wed professor's daughter.
- 96
- 97
The Jester's Joke
A cheeky female jester uses the smoke of her cigarette to make things appear and disappear. After showing her talents by playing with a chair or a dog, she lets clowns appear; one female, and two male. The male clowns fight each other over the girl who gets changed over and over again by the jester.
- 98
Athlete Rudi
The clumsy Rudi is trying his skills in a number of different sports: as a horseman, cyclist, footballer, hurdler, tennis player and water sports enthusiast. This he does all for the woman who finally gives him the sweetest of kisses.
- 99
Patouillard fait du Sandow
Paul Berthos' doctor tells him he needs to get some exercise, and hands him some of those rubbery strings with handles. We had them around the house when I was a kid, sold by Jack Lalane and other exercise gurus. You could pull them apart, or attach them to a wall and get your whole body involved. As you might expect, Bertho attaches them to things that he should not.
- 100
Le furberie di Robinet
Tweedledum wears his sister's new slit-skirt, and with a handsome wig and beautiful hat, causes a stir on the boulevard. His many admirers follow him around from place to place and even invade his parlor when he gets home. His sister puts them to rout with a stout broom and she and Tweedledum enjoy a hearty laugh over the joke.