The Sad clowns

United States, 1960

Film
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Episode of Series “History of the Motion Picture”.
An examination of the different silent comedy styles of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harry Langdon. Excerpts from films show each actor on the threshold of their finest work. All three comedians give evidence of their ability to rise above the level of pure slapstick and develop a more personal style of comedy. Suitable for upper secondary level.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

director

Saul J. Turell

co-producer

Paul Killiam

Saul J. Turell

production company

Sterling Educational Films

Duration

00:26:12:00

Production places
United States
Production dates
1960

Appears in

History of the Motion Picture

Group of items

History of the Motion Picture

Explore

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

009351

Language

English

Subject categories

Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977

Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Keaton, Buster, 1895-1966

Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Langdon, Harry, 1884-1944

Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Motion picture actors and actresses

Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Motion pictures - Appreciation

Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Motion pictures - Excerpts

Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Motion pictures - History

Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Motion pictures - Study and teaching

Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Motion pictures - United States - History

Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Silent films - United States - History

Comedy

Comedy → Slapstick comedies

Documentary

Documentary → Documentary films - United States

Education, Instruction, Teaching & Schools → Motion pictures - Study and teaching

Music & Performing Arts → Comedians

Music & Performing Arts → Motion picture actors and actresses

People → Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977

People → Comedians

People → Keaton, Buster, 1895-1966

People → Langdon, Harry, 1884-1944

Short films

Short films → Short films - United States

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Black and White

Holdings

16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

16mm film; Preservation Print (Section 5)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/72415--the-sad-clowns/ |title=The Sad clowns |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=27 February 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}