Brooks on Books: Movie Comedy Teams

Leonard Maltin did the world a great service when he wrote this book, if only because he included chapters on The Ritz Brothers and Wheeler and Woosley, two screen comedy teams who have become cult favorites in my circle (albeit a small one consisting of myself and my dad). There isn't exactly a Lincoln-size selection of biographical material on them, you know.

But Maltin, noted film lover, historian, and PC-message-deliverer on potentially offensive DVDs, did in fact give them some pub, and though that's the main reason I got "Movie Comedy Teams," there's a lot more to it than that. I may have already read a lot about The Marx Brothers, for example, but the great still photos and Maltin's entertaining writing make their chapter worthwhile.

My particular copy of the book has a pedigree, in fact, coming from the prestigious Rancho Yesteryear collection, and since Ivan was kind enough to give me a tip of the hat when I bought the volume, let me return the favor. (Happy belated birthday, by the way!)
I have the revised and updated 1985 version, and as far as I know it hasn't been redone since. In a way, I'm thankful because I fear today Maltin would feel obligated to do a spotlight on, say, David Spade and Chris Farley.

"Movie Comedy Teams" has a simple format. In each chapter, Maltin picks a team, writes a brief biographical sketch, discusses most of their output (generally in chronological order) with a critical eye, closes off their "story," and then includes a filmography. At the end of the volume is a catch-all section with "Other Teams," spotlighting acts like Brown and Carney who apparently don't warrant a full chapter of their own. Hey, I've seen a few of their movies, and while I could leave out the word "apparently" in the preceding sentence, I sure wouldn't have minded reading more about 'em.

What really distinguishes the book, to my eye, is the analysis of what made the teams funny and why their films worked or didn't work. Maltin certainly doesn't fawn over his subjects. He's not even all that impressed by some of them, and even his favorites, like Laurel and Hardy, receive criticism for their weaker efforts (or at least the producers responsible do).

His plot summaries are not so useful, especially for classic movies we've seen multiple times by now, but you have to keep in mind he wrote this originally in the 1970s, and even by 1985 it wasn't easy to dig up these old films and watch them on demand. Besides, I actually did enjoy some of the plot summaries of lesser-known titles.

There is an infectious enthusiasm for the subject matter throughout, and Maltin does a fine job of getting to the heart of each team's act and what their appeal was. The chapters are insightful but also fun to read. In other words, the dissection of the comedy is not dry and academic, but rather well-reasoned and accessible. But, hey, it's Maltin we're talking about here, not...
uh, some really dense academic film critic. Are there any of those out there anymore?

The writing is not always perfect, and some of the chapters feel a bit rushed--or maybe he just couldn't motivate himself to write more about Wheeler and Woosley. Also, he seems to make a pretty big error in describing the participants of the mirror scene in "Duck Soup," and that makes me wonder about some of the other info in the book. Still, it's a great read and a handy reference, loaded with info and pictures. If you can track down a copy, grab it.