10-397: Nugget Nell is a 1919 American comedy silent film directed by Elmer Clifton and written by John R. Cornish. The film stars Dorothy Gish , David Butler , Raymond Cannon, Regina Sarle, Jim Farley, and Bob Fleming. The film was released on July 27, 1919, by Paramount Pictures . It is not known whether the film currently survives . As described in a film magazine , Nugget Nell (Gish)
20-723: A camp sensibility lay behind the successful Carry On films , while in America subversive independent film-maker John Waters made camp films for college audiences with his drag queen friends that eventually found a mainstream audience. The success of the American television show Saturday Night Live drove decades of cinema with racier content allowed on television drawing on the program's stars and characters, with bigger successes including Wayne's World , Mean Girls , Ghostbusters and Animal House . Parody and joke-based films continue to find audiences. While comedic films are among
30-418: A happy ending , with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the oldest genres in film, and it is derived from classical comedy in theatre . Some of the earliest silent films were slapstick comedies , which often relied on visual depictions, such as sight gags and pratfalls, so they could be enjoyed without requiring sound. To provide drama and excitement to silent movies, live music
40-466: Is the proprietress of a stage depot in the early west. to her hostelry comes the wealthy and well groomed City Chap (Cannon), who ignores her love prompted advances. She robs the ladies of the area of their fine clothes and adorns herself for his delectation, but with no results. When he leaves, she learns that the Wolf Gang is planning to hold up the stage and rob him. She in turn robs the gang and frees
50-595: The City Chap. They are run to cover in a deserted hut where she successfully fights off their pursuers. However, she has learned that City Chap is a coward, so she sends him on his way and goes back to Big Hearted Jim (Butler), her faithful admirer. This 1910s comedy film–related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor . These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have
60-515: The film industry due to their popularity. In The Screenwriters Taxonomy (2017), Eric R. Williams contends that film genres are fundamentally based upon a film's atmosphere, character, and story, and therefore, the labels "drama" and "comedy" are too broad to be considered a genre. Instead, his taxonomy argues that comedy is a type of film that contains at least a dozen different sub-types. A number of hybrid genres have emerged, such as action comedy and romantic comedy . The first comedy film
70-754: The most popular with audiences at the box office, there is an 'historical bias against a close and serious consideration of comedy' when it comes to critical reception and conferring of awards, such as at the Academy Awards . Film writer Cailian Savage observes "Comedies have won Oscars, although they’ve usually been comedy-dramas, involved very depressing scenes, or appealed to stone-hearted drama lovers in some other way, such as Shakespeare in Love ." According to Williams' taxonomy , all film descriptions should contain their type (comedy or drama) combined with one (or more) sub-genres. This combination does not create
80-512: The use of comedy film to make social statements by building their narratives around sensitive cultural, political or social issues. Such films include Dr Strangelove, or How I Learned to Love the Bomb , Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? and The Graduate . In America, the sexual revolution drove an appetite for comedies that celebrated and parodied changing social morals, including Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice and Fanny Hill . In Britain,
90-414: Was L'Arroseur Arrosé (1895), directed and produced by film pioneer Louis Lumière . Less than a minute long, it shows a boy playing a prank on a gardener. The most notable comedy actors of the silent film era (1895–1927) were Charlie Chaplin , Harold Lloyd , and Buster Keaton , though they were able to make the transition into “ talkies ” after the 1920s. Film-makers in the 1960s skillfully employed
100-417: Was played in sync with the action on the screen, on pianos, organs, and other instruments. When sound films became more prevalent during the 1920s, comedy films grew in popularity, as laughter could result from both burlesque situations but also from humorous dialogue . Comedy, compared with other film genres , places more focus on individual star actors, with many former stand-up comics transitioning to
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