The Golden Age of Comedy, the first of two films included on this precious DVD, came out in 1957 when I was in grade 2 and played theatres everywhere including Winnipeg, my hometown. My Dad was a big fan of the old slapstick comics and this was the first time that anyone had done a compilation of the old time comics. He felt it was important enough to take me out one evening to see this delightful show and introduce me to all the comics he used to enjoy in his own youth. This was the perfect comedy entertainment for kids in the ’50s every bit as it was in the time of my Dad’s youth.
This was a real privilege for me as it turned out and I was magically introduced to Laurel and Hardy, Will Rogers, Ben Turpin, Harry Langdon, and the Keystone Cops. I had terrific time and subsequently became a Laurel and Hardy fan through my elementary school years. These guys were, indeed, The First Kings of Comedy.
Robert Youngson wrote and produced this classic plus his follow-up When Comedy Was King (included here) featuring Fatty Arbuckle, Charley Chaplin, Charley Chase, Buster Keaton, and Laurel and Hardy again. This DVD collection is expensive and hard-to-get, but worth every penny if you want to see broke people up everywhere at theatres of the 1920s and ’30s. A lost art preserved by Youngson and now, briefly available, on DVD for those viewers who’ve never seen the like or are looking for broad belly laughs that translate into any language. Highly recommended.