Norma claypool earned notoriety for welcoming 15 hardtoadopt children into her baltimore home. It brought back a resurgence of interest in charlie chaplin, in silent films, and to this day agees piece is referenced whenever any of those guys come up. It appeared in life magazine in 1949, at a time when buster keaton, harold lloyd and harry langdonnot to mention folks like ben turpin and mack swainwere in danger of being completely forgotten by the general public. If we remember the era as an era at all, it is because of james agee s masterly tribute to silent comedy, published as comedys greatest era in the september 5, 1949 issue of life magazine. Critic james agees 1949 essay for life magazine comedys greatest era includes langdon as one of the four greatest silent comedians, along with chaplin, lloyd, and buster keaton. Harold lloyd, harry langdon, buster keaton and charlie chaplin. Throughout the 1950s and 60s, as movie fans and critics. Comedys greatest era on film comedys silent beginnings. The film writing of james agee 19091955 to me represents along with a select few including manny farber and jonathan rosenbaum the. James agee wrote a piece for life magazine called comedy s greatest era which appeared on september 3, 1949.
Buster keaton started work at the age of 312 with his parents in one of the roughest acts in vaudeville the three keatons. The surprising element was the reaction from people who could have seen few, if any, of the silent comedies, simply because they were too young. Comedy s greatest era on film comedys silent beginnings. The essay is a revisionist look at james agees famous article comedys greatest era keying on buster keaton and charlie. It was agee s tribute to the masters of silent films the charlie chaplins, the buster keatons, and more. Comedys greatest era, four of the main grades of laugh are the titter, the. If we remember the era as an era at all, it is because of james agees masterly tribute to silent comedy, published as comedys greatest era in. Situated somewhere between journalistic inquest and poetic extolment, it offers a portrait of four masters of silent comedy. Comedys greatest era by james agee scraps from the loft.
The appearance of comedys greatest era in life magazine, september 3, 1949, received one of the greatest responses in the magazines history. Since college, maybe before, my absolute favorite piece of criticism of any kind has been james agee s comedy s greatest era. The appearance of comedys greatest era in life magazine, september 3, 1949, received one of the greatest responses in the magazines. And one of the high points in his famous nostalgic essay comedys greatest era is a long descrip tion of the way in which buster keaton and the girl pursue and fi nally find each other in the navigator, to read it is almost as much fun as to watch the movie. Aug 01, 2005 the book starts with comedys greatest era, which was a massive article and apparently, it received one of the greatest responses in the history of life magazine. Comedies greatest era, by james agee originally published in life magazine september 5th 1949. The resulting pieces, comedys greatest era and undirectable director, are familiar to many readers. As a film critic, agee worked for a number of major us publications time, the nation, fortune, but his most famous piece was printed in life magazine in 1948, entitled comedys greatest era. If you are interested in silent films, if you love chaplin or keaton. Nov 01, 2012 comedys greatest era is available to read in full here thanks to the good people at mit. Harry langdon american actor and director britannica. In the language of screen comedians, says james agee in his famous essay. James agee wrote a piece for life magazine called comedys greatest era which appeared on september 3, 1949. Only some years after langdons death did his status as a major comedian once again flourish.