The lives of Stan Laurel (1890-1965) and Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), on the screen and behind the curtain. The joy and the sadness, the success and the failure. The story of one of the best comic duos of all time: a lesson on how to make people laugh.
An extension of the Benign Violation theory of comedy developed by Tom Veatch and A. Peter McGraw and Caleb Warren. Source: The Cure (1917) Dir. Charles Chaplin and Edward Brewer
A joyful insight into the creative world of Barry and Joan Grantham, two British eccentrics who have kept the skills of vaudeville alive for over seventy years. Since becoming stage-struck lovers in 1948, Barry and Joan have taught, danced and acted alongside the greats of British film and theatre. They are the last of the golden generation of vaudeville, eager to pass their legacy on to future generations.
A compilation featuring comedic stars of the silent era including Fatty Arbuckle, Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Charley Chase, and Laurel and Hardy.
Escaping is not as easy as you'd think.
A compilation that highlights works from the Three Stooges. It includes the shorts Brideless Groom, Sing a Song of Six Pants, and Malice in the Palace, also Ed Wynn's live TV Camel Comedy Caravan starring Shemp, Larry, and Moe.
Billy Bevan and Andy Clyde are hobos who happen upon a train and are hired as cooks.
When timid bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss discovers a magical mask containing the spirit of the Norse god Loki, his entire life changes. While wearing the mask, Ipkiss becomes a supernatural playboy exuding charm and confidence which allows him to catch the eye of local nightclub singer Tina Carlyle. Unfortunately, under the mask's influence, Ipkiss also robs a bank, which angers junior crime lord Dorian Tyrell, whose goons get blamed for the heist.
Eight-year-old Kevin McCallister makes the most of the situation after his family unwittingly leaves him behind when they go on Christmas vacation. But when a pair of bungling burglars set their sights on Kevin's house, the plucky kid stands ready to defend his territory. By planting booby traps galore, adorably mischievous Kevin stands his ground as his frantic mother attempts to race home before Christmas Day.
Instead of flying to Florida with his folks, Kevin ends up alone in New York, where he gets a hotel room with his dad's credit card—despite problems from a clerk and meddling bellboy. But when Kevin runs into his old nemeses, the Wet Bandits, he's determined to foil their plans to rob a toy store on Christmas Eve.
The trademark of The Phantom, a renowned jewel thief, is a glove left at the scene of the crime. Inspector Clouseau, an expert on The Phantom's exploits, feels sure that he knows where The Phantom will strike next and leaves Paris for the Tyrolean Alps, where the famous Lugashi jewel 'The Pink Panther' is going to be. However, he does not know who The Phantom really is, or for that matter who anyone else really is...
Alex the lion is the king of the urban jungle, the main attraction at New York's Central Park Zoo. He and his best friends—Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo—have spent their whole lives in blissful captivity before an admiring public and with regular meals provided for them. Not content to leave well enough alone, Marty lets his curiosity get the better of him and makes his escape—with the help of some prodigious penguins—to explore the world.
John Brown is a bumbling but well-intentioned security guard who is badly injured in an explosion planned by an evil mastermind. He is taken to a laboratory, where Brenda, a leading robotics surgeon, replaces his damaged limbs with state-of-the-art gadgets and tools. Named "Inspector Gadget" by the press, John -- along with his niece, Penny, and her trusty dog, Brain -- uses his new powers to discover who was behind the explosion.
A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time..
He's Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Jim Carrey is on the case to find the Miami Dolphins' missing mascot and quarterback Dan Marino. He goes eyeball to eyeball with a man-eating shark, stakes out the Miami Dolphins and woos and wows the ladies. Whether he's undercover, under fire or underwater, he always gets his man… or beast!
Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale.
A 25 minute sales film featuring Buster Keaton as a prospective home owner in Maryvale, a suburb of Phoenix. A Realtor takes Buster on a tour of some model tract homes and extols their virtues while Buster is constantly pursuing a sexy-looking blonde. After buying a home, Buster proceeds to wreak havoc in the community. He falls into another resident's pool with a shopping cart full of purchases from S. S. Kresge's, knocks over an unassuming waiter with a bowling ball at the local lanes and tries his hand at being a waiter a ritzy restaurant. The construction of the new hospital and golf course are then discussed, and the films ends with a panoramic view of the model tract homes.
A short silent (with narration), parodying science fiction films. The USA misfires a rocket which crash lands on Tartarus (or Hades), where Buster Keaton, as Diabolus, is enraged and seeks revenge.
Detective Dick is a 1940's private investigator who is frozen by a mysterious stranger for sixty-nine years. He defrosts in the modern world where he has to solve the case that put him on ice.
Alex and his girlfriend Anna have a problem: Anna couldn't be more pregnant, and neither can find an affordable flat. The only one who can help is Anna's father, Commander Reiker, a sweet but screwy military man who owns an empty house. Reiker, however, to whom the Swiss Army means everything, has problems of his own: how can Switzerland, nation of fabled warriors that even exports its troops to protect the Pope, maintain its fear-inspiring reputation with all the cost-cutting measures? The Army is being forced to save, to restructure, and to take itself seriously. To prevent his ramshackle troops from being axed, Reiker urgently needs help. And just about anyone will do. Like his future son-in-law Alex, the least capable man one could imagine. As a yoga teacher, house-husband and pacifist, Alex has what it takes to be discharged, not put in charge. The pact he concludes with Reiker will not only shake up the Swiss Army, but also Alex's relationship with Anna...