Feeling better by the dozen.

• Author: Gehring, Wes D.
• Position: REEL WORLD - Film comedians

I RECENTLY FINISHED WRITING A TEXT on film comedians from the Depression decade of the 1930s. The study filters its analysis through 12 pivotal pictures. Each represents a mini-microcosm of the comic world of its focus funny person or persons. The classic dozen are "City Lights" (1931, Charlie Chaplin), "The Kid From Spain" (1932, Eddie Cantor), "She Done Him Wrong" (1933, Mae West), "Duck Soup" (1933, Marx Brothers), "Sons of the Desert" (1933, Laurel and Hardy), "Judge Priest" (1934, Will Rogers), "It's a Gift" (1934, W.C. Fields), "Alibi Ike" (1934, Joe E. Brown), "A Night at the Opera" (1935, Marx Brothers), "Modern Times" (1936, Charlie Chaplin), "Way Out West" (1937, Laurel and Hardy), and "The Cat and the Canary" (1939, Bob Hope).

Though the personality comedian component constitutes the main thrust of the individual chapters, this is not to suggest that all clown films exist independent of other comedy genres. Indeed, there are few pure examples of any phenomenon. Personality comedians often have an affinity for thematic comedies. Such ties actually are born out of the clown personae itself. For example, the comic absurdity of the Marxes sometimes lends itself to dark comedy, such as the war-related scenes of "Duck Soup." The folksy crackerbarrel axioms of Rogers celebrates feel-good populism, especially in "Judge Priest." Hope's flip-flops between comic antihero and egotistical wise guy are nicely attuned to spoofing, such as the horror film reaffirmation parody nature of "The Cat and the Canary." Reaffirmation is an edgier, more subtle approach to parody, and West also explores this genre as it relates to melodrama in "She Done Him Wrong." Finally, Laurel and Hardy embrace the more traditional broad-based type of parody in "Way Out West," which comically derails the Western.

While this text keys upon the comedy stars of these pantheon pictures, "success," as the old axiom goes, "often has many parents." Thus, in three cases, a now-celebrated director undoubtedly helped elevate a vehicle to memorable movie status. Leo McCarey directed "The Kid From Spain" and "Duck Soup." When one factors in that McCarey also teamed and molded Laurel and Hardy in the late 1920s, with "Sons of the Desert" closely following a McCarey scenario (though he was not tied directly to the picture), one feels as if Leo should receive special billing with the comedians. After all, McCarey is the only director ever to put a personal stamp on a Marx Brothers...