I was kind of surprised at how hysterical those guys were laughing. It can't possibly have been THAT funny even at that time. Is it exaggerated for effect or was that commonplace back then?
shareClassic Disney cartoons still get laughs today, likely more back then, but I'm sure without a doubt it was exaggerated.
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I don't think it is necessarily exaggerated. I think to watch something as light hearted as Disney cartoons amongst living in a mundane, humourless and oppressed life, one could quite possibly have this kind of reaction. It is their only escape from reality.
share Probably not; that's why the filmmakers originally wanted to use footage from
a Charlie Chaplin film, but didn't get approval from Chaplin for its use. Then
again, the audience watching the cartoon in the movie may not have gotten a
lot of opportunity to see much of anything, so even a mildly amusing cartoon would have been a treat.
I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!
The laughter begins as a chuckle (as Sullivan's did), but it grows to what you call "hysterical" because the release feels so good for these people who are living under so much stress with little to laugh about.
"Fortunately, I keep my feathers numbered for just such an emergency."
It does seem a bit forced, but there are two factors that might help. One is that many of these people live very unhappy lives, so that a chance for release is welcomed and perhaps exaggerated. The other is that cartoons would be quite a novelty for them, and they might be amused simply by the process - much as someone who's never seen a tv show might be delighted by seeing one.
"Lots of FAMOUS people can't read!"
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It was exaggerated not because it was a Disney cartoon but because the cartoon itself wasn't that funny ...
"Darth Vader is scary and I The Godfather"
The laughter was maniacal, and grossly exaggerated. The cartoon itself would never have elicited one-tenth that response. That scene was poorly done. It would have been far more effective to have shown the people laughing out loud in a normal way, black and white enjoying themselves together, just people.
I guess it's like looking at clouds. You see one thing and I see another. Peace.
I sadly have to agree. It's the most memorable scene in the movie and yet unnecessarily over the top. That's the shame with some of these screwball comedies and dramedies of the 1930s and '40s. The dialogue is unmatched, but when the tone switches from comedy to drama and back again, it doesn't always work. That's why I love It Happened One Night. It's so effortlessly simple and yet so funny and resonant.
shareDying is easy, comedy is hard. The movies are full of actors who simply can't laugh convincingly.
shareIt did seem a bit exaggerated, but this is the only time that these criminals can act out of line. If you can only laugh once, make it worthwhile
shareAre you kiddin' me? It's a very real depiction of how people use to laugh back in 1941. I remember my grandparents use to laugh like mad scientists laugh all the time. Whether they were watching a Disney cartoon or not.
I distinctly remember my grandfather taking me and my brother to see a re-release of "Bambi" for the first time, and laughing just like they did in Sullivan's Travel after Bambi's mother got shot. Then quoting Einstein's, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." immediately after he stopped laughing like a mad scientist, or something.
My grandfather was a big fan of Einstein, so it's only natural that he would say that.