Laughter And Life (1928-1960)

Laughter and Life - Presented by Sidney James. CHECK COPYRIGHT FOR FEATURE FILM MATERIAL. Reel 1 M/S of Sid James as he sits at a table and writes in a book. He speaks to camera: “Hang on, I’m just rewriting a diabolical gag.“ He does his trademark laugh. He smiles and quotes: “Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.“ He then begins to speculate on the power of laughter. He introduces a sequence of film clips by pointing out that there is a lot of violence and cruelty in much that is funny. Extract from a British silent comedy film. Nightclub setting, two women start a cat fight and their partners chase each other over and under dining tables. One of the men climbs up onto a balcony. Other men in the nightclub join in the proceedings. A stunt woman dangles from the balcony when part of it is pulled down. One woman pulls the other’s skirt off. Slapstick antics. Sid informs us that one of the stars was Syd Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin’s half-brother. This is possibly an extrac