MovieChat Forums > Fox Trot Finesse (1915) Discussion > Such a funny short!

Such a funny short!

posted 10 years ago by FranLovesBetteD
3 replies | jump to latest

I saw this a couple of days ago and, even though the guy was supposed to be the star, it was the leading lady -his wife also in real life, according to the information on the DVD- who totally stole the show! She was very pretty, with a noticeable resemblance to Theda Bara, and I loved the energy of hers once she felt like dancing Fox Trot, which happens all the time. It's a true shame she was mentioned only as Mrs. Sidney Drew. Such a brilliant artist should have been known for her real name.

Animal crackers in my soup
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop

[–] marc-bijlsma 9 years ago

I watched this just now, and it's indeed very funny. Especially the small, visual jokes. Like the newspaper he's reading at breakfast, which has a whole in it, so he can put his food through it. And the way he wipes the mouth of his mother in law, when she insists he kisses her goodbye.

In general, I'm not a fan of silent comedy (besides Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd), but this is one of the exceptions.

[–] FranLovesBetteD 9 years ago

Hi again, Marc! I must confess that I'm a brand new fan of silents in general. I used to like the usual (Lillian Gish, Lon Chaney, Garbo, Harold Lloyd, Chaplin, etc.), but recently have been exploring some more "obscure" stuff, then decided to purchase the American Slapstick Collection boxed-set, and am loving nearly everyting on it so far!

I realized that I really like these kinds of sketches that involve mother-in-laws, since they're usually played in a very over-the-top, cranky, suspicious way! And the wife was really, really funny, when she just starts to frantically dance out of the blue! And I agree that the kiss scene was truly hilarious!

Animal crackers in my soup
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop

[–] marc-bijlsma 9 years ago

I've embraced the silents long ago, and have watched many over the years. I'm not really into slapstick, like Chaplin, but I like "regular" comedies, like the Foxtrot-short. However, I do prefer drama.

The Hollywood silents from approximately before 1920 I try to avoid, because they are ussually a bit too naive. After 1920/21 it all became a lot better. I also like the German and Scandinavian silents (e.g. Dreyer, Lang, Murnau), and those I like also from before 1920. European silent cinema was in the early days often better than the movies made in Hollywood.