Die große Metro-Lachparade

Wow. This collection of clips was disjointed, not funny at all and edited extremely poorly.

Carole Lombard was only shown in one brief clip. She was an extremely talented comedienne and this film did not do her justice at all.

The Jean Harlow clips shown were adequate and they did show one of her funniest scenes (with Marie Dressler in Dinner At Eight).

Cary Grant was shown only briefly. The man was much funnier than the clips led us to believe.

I could go on and on, but my point would remain the same: don't waste your time on this movie. Not only is it poorly made, it is also insanely boring.

This picture is the prime example of how MGM ruined some of the greatest comedians in film. It had the best writers, best directors, best cinematographers, and they mistakenly thought dropping comedians like the Marx Brothers and, most lamentably, Keaton, into their studio films and expected superior results. They forgot, or refused to acknowlegde, that there was such a a thing as a Keaton comedy, or Laurel and Hardy routines. Look at the cast list here; how many real comedians are there? Very few. We get comic bits from mostly straight actors who had the chance to say or do something funny in an MGM movie. Are there laughs? Sure, and if you're looking for comedy you can find it here. If you're looking for a Big Parade of Comedians, you'd better go elsewhere.

A better title would have been "Our Big Stars and Some Special Effects "... Much of it is just film run backward and sight gags... ie the train scenes at the beginning... smoke going back into the stack, and when the handcart gets out of the way at the last second at the bottom of the mountainside, watch for the big puff of sand right BEFORE the cart moves.. not after. This review would probably be more interesting for those who haven't seen the specific films highlighted here. It's a whole bunch of short clips from their big films. Written, directed, produced by Robert Youngson, who even wrote the lyrics to a lot of the accompanying (bad) songs to the clips. Melodies by Bernard Green... must have taken them about eight minutes during the lunch hour to come up with those songs. Gotta mark this one down... you can skip it if you've seen most of the films involved.

Many clips from the silent era through MGM's heyday. The editing could have been tighter--some sequences went on too long and others way too short--but I suspect the filmmakers wanted to make sure they didn't leave out any of the stars. Nevertheless, this is overall a funny stroll down memory lane.

Funny stuff, but arranged without much rhyme or reason, by compiler Robert Youngson. Obviously, the first limitation is that the clips are exclusively from one studio. Moreover, there is no real attempt to present the very best of what was available at MGM. "The Big Parade of Comedy" is neither a definitive look at MGM's comedy pictures, nor does it present a comprehensive look at any one comedian.

Narrator Les Tremayne is helpful identifying performers who may not be familiar to modern audiences - along with top-billed stars Clark Gable and Greta Garbo, who co-sizzled for real in "Susan Lenox" (1931). Most haphazard is the tacking on, without explanation, of some Dave O'Brien comedy shorts. The material is good, but should only be considered a sample. Seeking the original works is imperative.

***** The Big Parade of Comedy (9/23/64) Robert Youngson ~ Les Tremayne, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Dave O'Brien