NEW WAY IN COMEDY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21280, 25 February 1939, Page 16

NEW WAY IN COMEDY

MODERN FUNNY MEN DO NOT LOOK FUNNY A definite new trend in film comedians is daily becoming more evident, and it might aptly be described as “the rise and fall of the prop.” The prop, any item like a cigar or a hat that a comedian habitually affects, enjoyed many flourishing years, but it is now disappearing. In the so-called good old days, an actor simply could not be a comedian unless you had a prop. It was the way people identified him. Ed. Wynn has his hats, Bill Fields had his juggling equipment, Al Jolson his blackface make-up, Charlie Chaplin his cane and baggy trousers, and Harold Lloyd his glasses. Some of the old guard are still there, but there isn’t a prop among the whole collection of rising comedians.

Jack Benny smokes a cigar incessantly, and once in a while comes on the screen with one, but he does not “lean” on the cigar, or wave it round. Bob Hope doesn’t even smoke, seldom wears a hat, and never owned a cane in his life. Ken Murray and Milton Berle are just themselves, and have no false whiskers, wigs or other impediments. The rise of talking pictures is responsible in part for this trend. Now that comedians can talk, they are using words and phrases to identify themselves instead of using props, but, more than that, all the younger generation of comedians never did depend on props.

Jack Benny started life as a violinist, and then commenced to intersperse his numbers with some “talk.” The audience seemed to like this, so Benny gradually increased his talk and decreased his playing. Finally, he talked altogether, but for a long time he took his violin on the stage with him. It gave him confidence, inspiring a feeling that, if by some chance the talk should fall flat, he could always play. How he Became a radio luminary and then a film star at Paramount, where he has just completed “Stranded in Paris,” is quite simple. One night he made up his mind to walk out there without his violin. It took courage. He went through his act all right and has not used a prop since. Another, and possibly even more important point about new style of comedians is that they don’t look funny. This is in line with the trend toward subtlety which typifies all modem humour. Hope could be a leading man if looks were all that mattered. So could most of the others. Benny makes love to Joan Bennett in “Stranded in Paris” and wins the girl. In former days the< comedian was easily identifiable before he made a move or uttered a word. He was often outlandishly dressed, but, moreover, he had a funny face, and added to this by effecting a silly grin or grimace. When a comedian makes his entrance in this

modern he takes the audience unawares. A “straight” man comes on and suddenly begins delivering humorous lines, in a more easy-going manner. They don’t seem to be struggling, or working themselves into a furore trying to transmit their enthusiasm to the audience. On the whole, it is proving much more effective, for comedy never enjoyed so favourable a spot as it floes to-day.