Charles Chaplin's First Slapstick Film

Films containing mainly physical comedy is often called slapstick. The phrase comes from a prop, the slapstick, which was invented in the 16th century, but physical comedy has probably been a liked topic. In ancient Greece, festivals of parades with masked characters, and endings with a comedy often happened. In these comedies, characters wearing lots of padding would get laughs by performing larger-than-life mock violence. Even today, movies and television continue the tradition of silliness.
The first known comedy film was called “Watering the Gardener” by the Lumière brothers in 1895. We watched this one in class and it was pretty good. It was about a gardener who was watering his plants when a boy jumped on the hose, stopping the water.
The gardener got mad and gave the boy spankings. Charles Chaplin was Born on the 16th April 18895 and transformed the slapstick genre by self directing and creating his comedy films, as well as being in them.
Chaplin’s first slapstick comedy film was called “Making A Living”, which was made in 1914. The film was about a thief who stole a picture and said it was his, the rest of the film consists of the thief being chased, and even getting caught in a girls bedroom. “Buster” Keaton, born in the same era as Chaplin, was extremely successful for his silent, slapstick comedy films. Except his approach and trademark style was physical comedy. He liked to use his body to portray humour for example walking into walls or falling over. This style of comedy is quite similar to entertainment aimed at young children. Keaton always has an expressionless face in his films, which added to the comedic effect . He was given the nickname “The Great Stone Face” for his subtle face. Buster’s approach to comedy is simple, and was quite effective. Harold lloyd, born on April 20, 1893, is another legendary slapstick director. Not only was he a director, he also acted in his films and did all of his own stunts, including hanging off of super tall buildings! We watched one of his films, Safety last, in class, and i am quite a fan of his
work.

Slapstick Motion pictures provided great opportunities for visual gags, and comedians Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Keaton introduced such classic routines as the mad chase scene and pie throwing, often made doubly hilarious by speeding up the camera action. Their example was followed in sound films by people such the Three Stooges, whose stage careers predated their films and whose films were frequently revived beginning in the 1960s and were affectionately imitated by modern comedy directors. The best of the slapstick comedians may be said to have turned low humour into high art.
The slapstick that most people know today comes from 1920s 1950s movies starring the names of, Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, and The 3 stooges. This brand of slapstick is filled with Pratt falls, pies in the face, and exaggerated situations that are used for humor's sake.