ABSTRACT
As a genre, Hollywood comedian comedy differed from mainstream fiction films in one important respect: 1 comedian-centered films were not organized simply in accordance with the narrative-based aesthetic of classical cinema. 2 They exhibit, instead, a combination of fiction-making and performative entertainment spectacle. In these films, aspects of the classical representational paradigm coexist with a presentational mode of attraction that has its roots in such variety forms as vaudeville and burlesque. 3 My main concern here is with a distinct period in the history of the genre: the late 1930s to the early 1960s. In the comedian films of this period, the twin demands of representation and presentation are articulated and contained within a stable and predictable formal mode. This formal mode suited and was generated by the demand of the Hollywood film industry for product standardization, following the destabilizing effects of the introduction of sound. Compared to other genres, the standardization of the comedian comedy came comparatively late. (It is a curious fact that comedian comedy has always been slower than other genres to fall in line with industrial practices of standardization.)
