Title: A fascinating look at a sadly lost art form.
Product review: This book is absolutely fascinating, enriching, absorbing, and rewarding on any number of levels. Nobody I have read has ever explained any art form with more clarity and intelligence than Mr. Kerr in THE SILENT CLOWNS. It combines a heartfelt love of the form with meticulous research and a tough minded analysis of what exactly made people laugh at silent comedy then and what in those films could translate to modern audiences. The book is accessible, written in plain language but so astute on what makes people laugh AND what makes some laughs better than others that it sometimes seems it should be required reading for all writers, filmmakers, storytellers, et al.I was not a silent film fan before reading Walter Kerr's masterful dissection of silent comedy, but, as a blurb on the back of the book stated, it had me laughing at routines I had never seen and made me want to track down every single Buster Keaton film I could get my hands on.
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