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30-397: The film is noted for the first "running staircase" used in films which is used for a series of slapstick that climaxes with a frantic chase down an upward escalator and finding they are remaining in the same position on the steps no matter how fast they move. Edna Purviance plays a minor role as a secretary to the store manager. The store manager and the floorwalker are conspiring to rob

60-424: A "Van Beuren Vagabond" travelogue series, a series of novelty shorts narrated by the radio comedy team Easy Aces ( Goodman Ace and Jane Ace) and musical comedy shorts featuring Bert Lahr , Shemp Howard , among others. Van Beuren remained unsatisfied, and agreed to license the popular comic-strip character The Little King and the radio comedy act, Amos 'n' Andy to adapt into animated cartoons. Neither series

90-469: A "slap" when striking another actor, with little force needed to make a loud—and comical—sound. The physical slap stick remains a key component of the plot in the traditional and popular Punch and Judy puppet show. More contemporary examples of slapstick humor include The Three Stooges , The Naked Gun and Mr. Bean . The name "slapstick" originates from the Italian batacchio or bataccio —called

120-490: A form of sketch comedy without dialogue in the 1890s, and Chaplin and Laurel were among the young comedians who worked for him as part of "Fred Karno's Army". Chaplin's fifteen-year music hall career inspired the comedy in all his later film work, especially as pantomimicry. In a biography of Karno, Laurel stated: "Fred Karno didn't teach Charlie [Chaplin] and me all we know about comedy. He just taught us most of it". American film producer Hal Roach described Karno as "not only

150-564: A genius, he is the man who originated slapstick comedy. We in Hollywood owe much to him." Building on its later popularity in the 19th and early 20th-century ethnic routines of the American vaudeville house, the style was explored extensively during the "golden era" of black and white movies directed by Hal Roach and Mack Sennett that featured such notables as Charlie Chaplin , Mabel Normand , Abbott and Costello , Laurel and Hardy ,

180-438: A girl. The manager finds his female secretary with the bag and takes it. Trying to slip out he puts it down in the suitcase department and Charlie sells it to a customer. Back in the office he carries Charlie by the throat then they fight. He then sees Charlie with the bag and begins to chase him around the store. At one point the two men are running down an upward escalator without getting anywhere. Police become involved in

210-499: A heart attack in 1946. Roughly seven minutes from the start of the film, Chaplin and the store's floorwalker, Lloyd Bacon, stumble into opposite doors of an office and are intrigued by their likeness to each other. They mirror each other's movements to deft comic effect in a way that is believed to have inspired the "mirror scene" in Max Linder 's Seven Years Bad Luck (1921). In that comedy film, Max's servants accidentally break

240-641: A master of physical comedy". Comedy routines also featured heavily in British music hall theatre which became popular in the 1850s. In Punch and Judy shows, which first appeared in England on 9 May 1662, a large slapstick is wielded by Punch against the other characters. British comedians who honed their skills at pantomime and music hall sketches include Charlie Chaplin , Stan Laurel , George Formby and Dan Leno . The influential English music hall comedian and theatre impresario Fred Karno developed

270-409: A mirror and try to hide their mistake by having one of them dress just like their employer. Then, when Max looks into the non-existent glass, the disguised servant mimics his every action. Another possibility is that Chaplin was inspired by Linder, since Linder performed a similar mirror routine in his 1913 short Le duel de Max. Max Linder 's movie in turn inspired many similar scenes, most famously in

300-536: A mischievous little bear, resulted. In 1932, Van Beuren planned to release a series of wild-animal shorts featuring celebrity explorer Frank Buck . RKO executives were so impressed by these Van Beuren shorts that they decided to combine them into a feature film, Bring 'Em Back Alive . This was a very successful business move, but it left both Van Beuren and RKO with a void in their short-subject schedule. Van Beuren, forced to act quickly, found an existing series of two-reel comedies: Charlie Chaplin 's 12 productions for

330-571: A popular cartoon series, but RKO later entered into a deal to distribute new color cartoons produced by industry leader Walt Disney . RKO, no longer needing Van Beuren's cartoons, abandoned the Rainbow Parade shorts. Amedee J. Van Beuren fell ill during this time. In July 1938, he had a stroke that would eventually lead to his death on November 12 of the same year by heart attack. During his recovery from his stroke, Van Beuren closed his studio rather than accept unionization that had caused

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360-435: A reprise of this scene, dressed in his usual costume, with Lucille Ball also donning the fright wig and trench coat, in an episode of I Love Lucy . Additionally, an early episode of The Patty Duke Show contains a mirror scene in which the characters Patty and Cathy Lane (both played by Patty Duke ) act out a version similar to the one found in the film Duck Soup . Maxson F. Judell glowingly wrote of The Floorwalker in

390-470: Is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy . Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as saws and ladders. The term arises from a device developed for use in the broad, physical comedy style known as commedia dell'arte in 16th-century Italy. The " slap stick " consists of two thin slats of wood, which makes

420-410: Is about to exit, he encounters Charlie who looks very much like him. He persuades Charlie to act as his substitute. Nevertheless, the floorwalker is arrested, but Charlie ends up holding the bag. The manager thinks Charlie is the floorwalker who stole the money and throttles him. Charlie does not understand why he attacks him. Charlie waters the hats with flowers on then goes to the shoe department to help

450-616: The Keith-Albee organization formed Fables Pictures for the production of the Aesop's Film Fables cartoon series with Paul Terry , who himself owned 10 percent of the studio. Producer Amedee J. Van Beuren bought out the studio in 1928, retaining Terry and renaming the business after its new owner. Van Beuren released Terry's first sound cartoon Dinner Time (1928) (a month before Disney's Steamboat Willie ) through Pathé Exchange , which later became part of RKO Pictures . Terry ran

480-896: The Madison (WI) State Journal , "Performing in inimitable style on an escalator, or in common parlance, a moving stairway, injecting new 'business' such as he has not given the public in previous comedies, producing the film carefully with adequate settings and excellent photography, supported by a well-chosen cast, Charles Chaplin proves conclusively that he is without question of doubt the world's greatest comedian. Chaplin possesses that indefinable something which makes you laugh heartily and without restraint at what in others would be called commonplace actions." In 1932, Amedee Van Beuren of Van Beuren Studios, purchased Chaplin's Mutual comedies for $ 10,000 each, added music by Gene Rodemich and Winston Sharples and sound effects, and re-released them through RKO Radio Pictures . Slapstick Slapstick

510-751: The Marx Brothers film Duck Soup . Later renditions can be found in the Bugs Bunny cartoon Hare Tonic , the Mickey Mouse cartoon Lonesome Ghosts , the Tom and Jerry cartoon Cat and Dupli-cat and in the TV series Family Guy and The X-Files . A scene in The Pink Panther , with David Niven and Robert Wagner wearing identical gorilla costumes, mimics the mirror scene. Harpo Marx did

540-531: The Three Stooges , and Larry Semon . The "pie in the face" gag , in which one person hits another with a pie, became common in this era. Silent slapstick comedy was also popular in early French films and included films by Max Linder , Charles Prince , and Sarah Duhamel . Slapstick also became a common element in animated cartoons starting in the 1930; examples include Disney's Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck shorts, Walter Lantz 's Woody Woodpecker ,

570-514: The " slap stick " in English—a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in commedia dell'arte . When struck, the Batacchio produces a loud smacking noise, though it is only a little force that is transferred from the object to the person being struck. Actors may thus hit one another repeatedly with great audible effect while causing no damage and only very minor, if any, pain. Along with

600-730: The Beary Family, MGM's Tom and Jerry , the unrelated Tom and Jerry cartoons of Van Beuren Studios , Warner Bros. Looney Tunes / Merrie Melodies , MGM's Barney Bear , and Tex Avery's Screwy Squirrel . Slapstick was later used in Japanese Tokusatsu TV Kamen Rider Den O , Kamen Rider Gaim , Kamen Rider Drive , by Benny Hill in The Benny Hill Show in the UK, and in the US used in

630-852: The Mutual film company, produced in 1916-17. Van Beuren paid $ 10,000 each for the shorts, and assigned his animation department to create new music and sound effects for the silent films. Bandleader Gene Rodemich and Rodemich's assistant and successor Winston Sharples assembled new scores. RKO released the Van Beuren Chaplins in 1933–34. Chaplin did not own these films; author Michael J. Hayde discloses that Chaplin had declined several opportunities to purchase them. The Van Beuren Corporation acquired and produced live-action features such as Adventure Girl (1934) and two more Frank Buck safaris, Wild Cargo (1934) and Frank Buck's Fang and Claw (1935). Other Van Beuren live-action productions included

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660-462: The animation studio while Van Beuren focused on other parts of the business. In 1929, Terry quit to start his own Terrytoons studio and John Foster took over the animation department. Van Beuren released his films through RKO Radio Pictures . The early sound Van Beuren cartoons are almost identical to the late silent cartoons: highly visual, with little dialogue and occasional sound effects. Bandleaders Gene Rodemich and Winston Sharples supervised

690-685: The chase and the manager ends up with his head stuck in an elevator—while Charlie helps to keep it there. The Floorwalker was the first film Chaplin made for the Mutual Company. It also marked the first Chaplin comedy in which Eric Campbell played the huge, menacing villain. This film also marked Henry Bergman's first of numerous appearances in Chaplin films. Bergman would typically play an authority figure or an upper-crust society gentleman—the perfect comic foil for Charlie's Tramp character. Bergman would work closely with Chaplin until his death from

720-487: The extreme embarrassment of many women. The carnival spirit, for the most part tempered by high good humor, at times verged on rowdyism . Girls used a stick ripped with feathers to tickle the faces of young men, and they retaliated vigorously with the slapstick. An editorial in the Asbury Park Press, New Jersey, said in 1914: Slapsticks are the latest "fun-making" fad for masque fetes. . . Orders to stop

750-486: The inflatable bladder (of which the whoopee cushion is a modern variant), it was among the earliest special effects . Slapstick comedy's history is measured in centuries. Shakespeare incorporated many chase scenes and beatings into his comedies, such as in his play The Comedy of Errors . In early 19th-century England, pantomime acquired its present form which includes slapstick comedy: its most famous performer, Joseph Grimaldi —the father of modern clowning —"was

780-506: The music. The company's main cartoon characters were " Tom and Jerry ", a tall-and-short pair, usually vagrants who attempted various occupations. They share no relation to MGM 's more successful Tom and Jerry , a cat and mouse, and the older series has been renamed "Van Beuren's Tom and Jerry" and "Dick and Larry" in various future incarnations. Van Beuren was keenly aware that successful cartoons often featured animated "stars", and urged his staff to come up with new ideas for characters. Cubby,

810-485: The slapstick nuisance should be issued by the police and the Asbury Park carnival commissioners. Any device that cannot be operated or used without inflicting unmerited pain and injury should be excluded. . . Van Beuren Studios The Van Beuren Corporation was a New York City -based animation studio that produced theatrical cartoons as well as live-action short-subjects from the 1920s to 1936. In 1920,

840-410: The store's safe. Charlie enters the department store and annoys the staff with his antics, primarily taking a shave on the shaving product table. He has a fight with the floor manager. The store detective keeps a close eye on him. When the store manager and floorwalker finish putting the safe's contents into a bag, the floorwalker knocks out the manager and flees with the money. Just as the floorwalker

870-498: The three 1960s TV series, Gilligan's Island , Batman , The Flying Nun and I Love Lucy . Use of the slapstick in public places was a fad in the early 20th century. During the 1911 Veiled Prophet Parade in St. Louis, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The slapstick, so long indispensable to low comedy, found a new use among the crowds . . . they used the slapstick to

900-519: Was successful. Van Beuren then hired Walt Disney director Burt Gillett and animator Tom Palmer to create a new series of color cartoons. These "Rainbow Parade" cartoons featured established characters: Felix the Cat , Parrotville Parrots , Molly Moo-Cow , and the Toonerville Folks . These full-color Van Beuren efforts were well received, and Van Beuren had finally succeeded in sponsoring

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