ABSTRACT
The Bioscope trade paper reported in January 1922 that ‘Nothing funnier can be imagined than Buster Keaton’s Bertie.’ Keaton was essentially a visual comedian, an acrobatic clown, ideally suited to silent pictures. The son of a magician, young Larry had shown considerable talent as a child, and was sent to art school to become a cartoonist on the New York Sun. The comedies consisted of Blinkeyes and Somebody’s Darling (Betty Balfour), and a series of two-reelers by Eliot Stannard with the radio comedian John Henry, Mabel Poulton, and Mary Brough, entitled John Henry Calling. One of the features of silent comedy films was the use of the explanatory sub-title. Most of the best films still came from Hollywood, which was now producing eighty-five per cent of the world’s motion pictures.
