The Beau Brummels (1928)
In the National Film Registry
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8m 30s
Dapper vaudeville duo croon & crack wise, poking fun at love & life in early talkie gem.
The Beau Brummels (1928), a short film featuring the vaudeville duo of Al Shaw and Sam Lee, presents a unique blend of humor and form.
The film appears to be a straightforward comedy act. Shaw and Lee deliver deadpan jokes and a nonsensical parody of a popular song. Yet, the film's subversion lies in its construction. The duo's delivery is perfectly timed, their expressions unchanging, creating an air of absurdity. The camerawork is static, with long takes focusing solely on the performers, amplifying the deadpan humor and highlighting the theatricality of the act.
The film's true experimentation lies in its use of sound. The Vitaphone technology, allowing for synchronized sound with moving images, was still quite new. The Beau Brummels takes advantage of this novelty. The unexpected shift from English to Yiddish throws the audience off balance, further blurring the lines between reality and performance.
The Beau Brummels' innovative use of form, deadpan humor, and sound technology make it a significant piece of early cinema history. It demonstrates the potential of film to challenge conventions and explore the comedic possibilities of the new sound technology.
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