Home Movies (1944)

HOME MOVIES Published in Hollywood APRIL 1944 A LN old time director of comedies once remarked: "A gag or situation is only as funny as the reaction to it." These are words of wisdom well worth considering by the movie amateur who would inject comedy gags or situations in his films. And every picture, even the most serious, should have its moments of humor. Comedy is universally understood. It enlivens even the dullest of subjects. And it goes a long way toward gaining audience sympathy and interest in a picture regardless of the topic. For this reason, there is rarely a picture shown on theatre screens that does not have comedy relief spotted at intervals throughout or a running gag interwoven in the action. Basically, comedy springs from three main elements affecting human emotions: distress, incongruity, and inferiority. A pie in the face, a skid on a banana peel, a hot foot, or a man walking into a closed door are the slapstick equivalents of the element catalogued as distress. This is the element used to make us laugh when, for example, we see Lou Costello rooted to the spot — unable to move or run — when unexpectedly confronted by a gorilla or a bear. His fright or mental distress is so great that it has affected his physical ability to move, to flee from danger. Any device therefore, which will cause our actor physical or mental distress will produce laughs. Why we laugh at the distress of others is difficult to explain, and while it may seem to some a cruel and atavistic impulse, still) since it is part and parcel of everyone's makeup, we, as creators of comedy are at liberty to make use of it. There is one restraining qualification to the use of distress as a comedy element, however. Should a distressful situation develop into serious hurt for the person involved, sympathy would be aroused instead of laughter. It is only the harmless aspect of this element that elicits laughter. • A keener appreciation for our films is assured where comedy situations and running gags are cleverly interpolated to produce surprise moments of humor. ACCENTING YOUR MOVIES WITH HUMOR Comedy Situations Intensify Interest In Pictures of Any Topic By A . E L L I 0 Mr. Milquetoast; the doleful clown at the circus; the little fellow who cows in terror before the stern gaze of a musclebound superior; all compel our laughter because they represent a condition of life often inferior to our own. For this reason most successful comedians of stage, screen and radio let themselves be 'pushed around' either in word or action. Their inability to cope with another person or a situation and their attempt to solve problems in an odd or ridiculous way, mark them as definitely inferior and as such, a target for our amusement. This tendency to laugh at things inferior is applicable to possessions also. Do you ever fail to smile when you see a man driving a 1920 Ford? And remember Jack Benny's Maxwell? That routine was good for a lot of laughs due not only to the inferiority of the vehicle itself, but because it projected Jack Benny into situations that were distressing as well. The dictionary defines incongruity — rhc third in our trinity of elements — as "the unsuitableness of one thing to M another." This suggests the spectacle of a giant and a midget keeping company; the sight of a small dog secured by a rope large enough to tie a ship to a dock; or a man on a mule trying to keep up with fast horses. And so on ad infinitum. We have touched sketchily upon the basic elements for creating comedy, but before we can use them to the best advantage there are other factors that must be taken into consideration. In the order of their importance these factors are: build-up, and reaction. Build-up simply means that the audience should, in some manner, be forewarned— put in a state of expectancy for a gag or comedy routine to follow. For example, merely to show someone walking down the street and skidding on a banana peel is to risk losing the comedy in this situation entirely. It is too quick — too unexpected. The audience is not prepared for such a development and may even miss the reason for the spill. Now, however, if a grouchy neighbor is pictured pursuing little • Continued on Page 164 141