I recommend Paul Merton's Silent Clowns, currently being shown on BBC2.
The first hour-long programme was about Buster Keaton and left me agog for more of him.
This week it's Chaplin (never been a fan, but perhaps Merton can convert me) and next week specifically the silent work of Laurel and Hardy.
The series concludes with Harold Lloyd (above).
A troubling fact thrown up by the show: there are no known copies of nearly 80% of the silent films ever made. But Merton draws heavily on the work of present-day restorers who're bringing nearly-lost movies back from the brink.
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Irritating footnote: here in Scotland the series began last week and is shown on Wednesdays, but I get the impression that in England it's screened on Saturdays, four days ahead of us. If so, readers in England have already missed the Chaplin programme. Sorry, chaps.Paul Merton's Silent Clowns, BBC2 Scotland, early Wednesday evenings.
The first hour-long programme was about Buster Keaton and left me agog for more of him.
This week it's Chaplin (never been a fan, but perhaps Merton can convert me) and next week specifically the silent work of Laurel and Hardy.
The series concludes with Harold Lloyd (above).
A troubling fact thrown up by the show: there are no known copies of nearly 80% of the silent films ever made. But Merton draws heavily on the work of present-day restorers who're bringing nearly-lost movies back from the brink.
Irritating footnote: here in Scotland the series began last week and is shown on Wednesdays, but I get the impression that in England it's screened on Saturdays, four days ahead of us. If so, readers in England have already missed the Chaplin programme. Sorry, chaps.Paul Merton's Silent Clowns, BBC2 Scotland, early Wednesday evenings.
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