Charlie Chaplin: A Bio-Bibliography (Popular Culture Bio-Bibliographies)

Humor & Entertainment

Gehring, Wes D.

Movies

Greenwood

All students of the Great Man's'career will have to rely on this work. . . . Perhaps Gehring's greatest contributio here is his discussion of 23 sketches that Fields copyrighted that are now in the Library of Congress. Choice

W. C. Fields: A Bio-Bibliography (Popular Culture Bio-Bibliographies)

Biographies & Memoirs

This bio-bibliography was designed to present a combined biographical, critical, and bibliographical portrait of the Marx Brothers. It examines their significance in film comedy in particular, and as popular culture figures in general. The book is divided into five sections, beginning with a biography which explores the public and private sides of the Marx Brothers. The second section is concerned with the influences of the Marx Brothers as icons of anti-establishment comedy, as contributors to developments in American comedy, as early examples of saturation comedy, and as a crucial link between silent films and the talkies. Three original articles, two by Groucho and one by Gummo, comprise part three. A bibliographical essay, which assesses key reference materials and research collections, is followed by two bibliographical checklists. Appendices containing a chronological biography with a timeline, a filmography, and a selected discography complete the work.

The Marx Brothers: A Bio-Bibliography (Popular Culture Bio-Bibliographies)

Format Hardcover Subject Comedy Films Publisher Greenwood Press

Screwball Comedy: A Genre of Madcap Romance (Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture)

Praeger

More genres, 19 in fact, are discussed than in other standard works. The 14 genres considered here by film scholar contributors other than Gehring include the adventure film, the western, the gangster film, film noir, the WW II combat film, the horror film, science fiction, fantasy, the musical, melodrama, the social problem film, the biographical film, and the art film. The discussion of fine comedy genres by Gehring himself is far more extensive than in other genre studies, embracing screwball comedy, populist comedy, parody, black humor, and clown comedy. . . . Recommended for both undergraduate and graduate collections. Choice
With the increased sophistication of film scholarship in recent decades, the traditional motion picture categories are often found too limited to provide a workable basis for exploring the medium. Addressing the need for an expanded conceptual framework, this new handbook offers eighteen informative genre essays by recognized film scholars, together with selected filmographies and bibliographies for each category discussed. Written in a straightforward, readable style, it is the most comprehensive and up-to-date film guide available.

Handbook of American Film Genres

This book presents a combined biographical, critical, and bibliographical estimate of Laurel &amp; Hardy's significance in film comedy, the arts in general, and as popular culture icons. Of the two, Laurel decidedly evolves as the central player in this duo biography. The reasons for this are several, but mainly stem from Laurel's role as team spokesman; his late life accessibility; media coverage given to his private life; and the fact that he outlived Hardy by eight years--from 1957 to 1965--a period in which the ever burgeoning public fascination with the team reached new proportions. Hardy's artistic input, however, is currently being given a revisionist upgrading, which Gehring addresses.
The book is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 is a biography of Laurel &amp; Hardy, exploring the public and private sides of their lives. Chapter 2 is a critique of four broad influences of Laurel &amp; Hardy--as special icons of comic frustrations; as developers of a change in film comedy pacing (which also eased their transition from silent to sound film); as movie pioneers in the innovative early use of comic sound; and, most importantly, as key participants in the evolution of the comic antihero into American mainstream humor. Chapter 3 is composed of two very early reprinted Laurel &amp; Hardy articles and a special Encore collection. Chapter 4 is a very ambitious Laurel &amp; Hardy bibliographical essay, assessing key reference materials and locating research collections open to the student and/or scholar. This involves many obscure, often early and/or untranslated articles drawn from research in Ulverston England--Laurel's birthplace--London and Paris. Chapter 5 is a bibliographical checklist of all sources recommended in Chapter 4. This volume should be of special interest to all Laurel &amp; Hardy aficionados, and students/scholars of comedy.

Laurel and Hardy: A Bio-Bibliography (Popular Culture Bio-Bibliographies)

With the cooperation of Benchley family members, and using diaries and correspondence and much archival material, Gehring has written a fresh and lively biography of humorist Robert Benchley. Known for his development of the comic anti-hero in essays, columns, film scripts, as a screen actor, and on stage and radio, Benchley emerges as a fascinating individual whose significance as a pivotal American humorist is fully documented.
Benchley's times and places--including New York's Algonquin Round-Table set of the 1920s and Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s--are colorfully depicted, and there are interesting glimpses of friends and colleagues such as Dorothy Parker, S. J. Perelman, Donald Ogdon Stewart, and Groucho Marx. The flavor of Benchley comes through not only in observations and anecdotes but in a section reprinting ten of his letters, six of his Life Drama columns, and a collage of his published comments on favorite comedians. Author Gehring also provides an annotated bibliography of Benchley's books and selected shorter works and a bibliography of books and articles about him, a chronology of events highlighting his life and career, an annotated filmography, and a selected discography. Illustrations include photographs spanning Benchley's career and reproductions of his own sketches and cartoons. Mindful of Benchley's warning not to get too serious over laughter, Gehring has produced a thorough critical and bibliographical examination of a comic persona, which is also a fond celebration of a great humorist.

"Mr. B" or Comforting Thoughts About the Bison: A Critical Biography of Robert Benchley (Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture)

Arts & Literature

From Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush to Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, Gehring presents a compelling theory of the black comedy film genre. Placing the movies he discusses in a historical and literary context, Gehring explores the genre's obession with death and the characters' failure to be shocked by it. Movies discussed include: Slaughterhouse Five, Catch-2, Clockwork Orange, Harold and Maude, Heathers, and Natural Born Killers.

American Dark Comedy: Beyond Satire (Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture)

Literature & Fiction

Humor & Satire

The success of clown comedy is dependent on the comic or comics who take center stage. These comics are usually identified with a specific comedic shtick, physical or visual humor, and their underdog status. This study by film scholar Wes Gehring presents a brief, historical overview of major figures in the genre, including W. C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, Bob Hope, and Woody Allen. The comedians discussed are drawn from four genre periods: the silent era, the depression era, the post-World War II period, and the modern era.

Personality Comedians as Genre: Selected Players (Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture)

Humor

Parody is the least appreciated of all film comedy genres and receives little serious attention, even among film fans. This study elevates parody to mainstream significance. A historical overview places the genre in context, and a number of basic parody components, which better define the genre and celebrate its value, are examined. Parody is differentiated from satire, and the two parody types, traditional and reaffirmation, are explained. Chapters study the most spoofed genre in American parody history, the Western; pantheon members of American Film Comedy such as The Marx Brothers, W. C. Fields, Mae West, and Laurel and Hardy; pivotal parody artists, Bob Hope and Woody Allen; Mel Brooks, whose name is often synonymous with parody; and finally, parody in the 1990s. Films discussed include Destry Rides Again (1939), The Road to Utopia (1945), My Favorite Brunette (1947), The Paleface (1948), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993) and Scream (1996).This examination of parody will appeal to scholars and students of American film and film comedy, as well as those interested in the specific comedians discussed and the Western genre. Gehring's work will also find a place in American pop culture studies and sociological studies of the period from the 1920s to the 1990s. The book is carefully documented and includes a selected bibliography and filmography.

Parody as Film Genre: Never Give a Saga an Even Break (Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture)

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