"Actor: Mabel Normand"

• The Essential Charlie Chaplin Collection | DVD | (20/06/2005) from £27.92   |  Saving you £2.07 (7.41%)   |  RRP £29.99

  A ten volume DVD collection of some of the Little Tramp's finest films. Almost 15 hours of classic comedy entertainment. Titles include: the documentary Chaplin - His Life and Work plus Mabel's Married Life Laffing Gas Face On The Barroom Floor Recreation The Masquerader The Good-For-Nothing The Rounders Cruel Cruel Love The Landlady's Pet Twenty Minutes Of Love Caught In A Cabaret A Busy Day The Fatal Mallet The Knockout The New Janitor The Rival Mashers M

• The Keystone Comedies | DVD | (12/02/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  One of the early classic movie studios Keystone Pictures Studios was founded in 1912 by Mack Sennett and would find lasting fame with their brand of slapstick comedy especially the Keystone Cops. These four films which include The Bangville Police the first popular Keystone Cops film showcase their brand of slapstick to perfection. The Bangville Police: A young farmer's daughter spots some strangers hanging around in the barn and rushes off to call the police. But the police have a haphazard rush across country to get there in time. Her Painted Hero: An heiress decides to use her new found wealth financing her favourite star's new vaudeville show but on the understanding that a part is found for her. Love Speed And Thrills: An injured Walrus who has been shot is carried home by Ambrose but Walrus recovers enough to start flirting with Ambrose' wife! Wife And Auto Trouble: Bossed about at home by his wife and his mother-inlaw a meek husband finds comfort in the arms of his secretary. In gratitude he has bought her a car but unfortunately the wife spots it first.

• The Keystone Comedies | DVD | (12/02/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Fatty's Spooning Days Fatty's Suitless Days Little Billy's Truimph Wandering Willies A Muddy Romance That Little Band Of Gold Ambrose's Nasty Temper Ambrose's Sour Grapes When Ambrose Dared The Walrus Mabel's Wilful Way Mabel And Fatty's Married Life Ambrose's Lofty Perch Ambrose's Fury Those Bitter Sweets Wilful Romance

• Charlie Chaplin Marathon - The Rink, The Immigrant, Tillie's Punctured Romance, The Vagabond | DVD | (01/11/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  “The Rink”: Chaplin plays a waiter who spends his time at the skating rink where his skill and grace lead to possible romance and unfortunate mishaps. “The Immigrant”: En-route by boat immigrant Chaplin tries to make the best of the rough seas. He befriends a woman and appoints himself her protector. “Tillie’s Punctured Romance”: This is the first feature-length comedy ever made and features Chaplin as a con artist who talks Marie Dressler an innocent lass into taking her dad’s savings and running off to the city with him. “The Vagabond”: This is the story of The Little Tramp a pathetic fiddler that makes a scanty living and rescues damsels in distress. One of the first films directed by Charlie Chaplin.

• Comedy Greats | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A "two-plus-one" package from Siren, Comedy Greats features classics from the two greatest silent-screen comics, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, plus a rather dreary effort from Danny Kaye. Never the most scintillating of comedians, Kaye's personable talents are thinly spread in 1949's The Inspector General. Distantly(!) based on a short story by Russian satirist Nikolay Gogol, this tale of mistaken identity enables Kaye to indulge in obvious wisecracks and not-so-smart dialogue. Sylvia Fine's songs are mildly amusing, and Henry Koster draws capable support from Walter Slezak and Elsa Lanchester, but it's a long haul. When he made Tilli's Punctured Romance in 1914, Charles Chaplin had yet to perfect the "little man" routine which made him the most popular 1920s screen star. His loveable rogue is well displayed opposite Marie Dressler's formidable country maid, whose unexpected windfall becomes the real object of his desire. Mabel Normand contributes an attractively period chic, and if, in the hands of Mack Sennett, the humour tends to fall back on music-hall slapstick, the historical significance of the film is undoubted. Yet it's Buster Keaton's 1928 classic Steamboat Bill Jr which comes out on top here. Keaton is perfectly cast as the put upon student, whose bravery saves both his father and his steamboat-owning rival, and wins the hand of the latter's daughter. Solid support comes from Ernest Torrence and the winsome Marion Byron, with Charles Riesner getting maximum drama from the cyclone sequence, but it's Keaton's soulful expression and breathtaking stuntwork which are the most potent reminders of a talent only later to receive its due. On the DVD: Comedy Greats is acceptably remastered, with 1.33:1 aspect ratio and 12 chapter headings per film, and decently packaged, this is worth acquiring--even though Keaton's film is the only one you're likely return to often. --Richard Whitehouse