Mabel Normand, Charlie Chaplin, Oliver Hardy
Everyone knows Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, but where are the women in silent film comedy? The trailblazing Mabel Normand – who starred in 167 shorts and 23 features – gets her long-overdue moment in the spotlight in our Comedy Genius tour.
Mabel Normand was the irrepressible spirit of early Hollywood, an extraordinary performer from the anarchic days of Mack Sennett’s Keystone company to the refined comedies of the 1920s. The first lady of silent comedy, she directed her own films, ran her own production company and worked with the best – including Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle and a young Oliver Hardy. But make no mistake: Mabel was always the star.
The Marvellous Mabel Normand: Leading Lady of Film Comedy is a package of four short films from the BFI National Archive, including Mabel’s Blunder (1914), Mabel’s Dramatic Career (1913), His Trysting Place (1914) and Should Men Walk Home? (1927). The package features a newly commissioned score by The Meg Morley Trio.
The Marvellous Mabel Normand is available for bookings from 9 November when it will be re-released theatrically across the UK by the BFI.
Funding support is available from BFI FAN for UK venues taking part in Comedy Genius. Please email for more information or click here.
