A-Z of Silent Film Comedy by Glenn Mitchell. B.T. Batsford, 1998. Simply the best reference on comedy in the silent era yet written. Mitchell's previous books, The Laurel & Hardy Encyclopedia, The Marx Brothers Encyclopedia and The Chaplin Encyclopedia set standards for scholarly research that are unparalleled.

Arbuckle and Keaton: Their 14 Film Collaborations by James Neibaur. McFarland, 2006.  This book length study of the Comique Film company is an insightful film-by-film analysis of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle at his peak and Buster Keaton at the very beginning of his film career. 

Behind the Three Stooges: The White Brothers conversations with David N. Bruskin.  Directors Guild of America, 1993.  Jack, Jules and Sam White made one and two-reel slapstick comedies from the earliest days at Keystone right up to the very end with the shuttering of the Columbia shorts unit.  This is an oral history with three men who were part of the entire golden age of comedy.  

Born to Star: The Lupino Lane Story by John Dillon White. William Heinemann, Ltd. 1957. Lane's authorized biography is a book length interview conducted near the end of the entertainer's life.

Clown Princes and Court Jesters: Some Great Comics of the Silent Screen by Kalton C. Lahue and Sam Gill. A.S. Barnes & Co., 1970. Over fifty mini-biographies of forgotten silent comedians. The Bible for fans.

The Columbia Comedy Shorts by Ted Okuda and Ed Watz. McFarland Classics, 1986/1998. An amazing number of silent comedians, gagmen and directors ended up at Columbia, from Charley Chase and Harry Langdon to Clyde Bruckman and Del Lord.  The authors pack an incredible amount of solid information into a slim volume.  

Comedy Films by John Montgomery. George Allen & Unwin, Ltd, 1954. Slapstick from a British perspective, but most of the minor American comedians are touched upon.

The Film Comedy Reader edited by Gregg Rickman.  Limelight Editions, 2001.  Only the first 100 pages are devoted to the silent era, but these eminently readable essays range from the one-reelers of Harold Lloyd to a novella-length appreciation of master gagman Al Boasberg.  

Ford Sterling: The Life and Films  by Wendy Warwick White.  McFarland Press, 2007.  The author's admiration for her subject is evident on every page.  Scholarly yet entertaining, this book is a must for all fans of this site.   

The Great Movie Shorts by Leonard Maltin. Bonanza Books, 1972. Covers only the sound era, but indispensable to any lover of classic comedy.

The Great Funnies by David Robinson. Studio Vista, 1969. Another broad survey of comedy from a British perspective, but Robinson clearly loves the silent clowns.

The Great Movie Comedians by Leonard Maltin. Crown Publishers, 1978. All the usual suspects are covered, but there are chapters on Mabel Normand, Roscoe Arbuckle, Charley Chase and Raymond Griffith.

Griffithiana is the international journal of silent film published by the folks who run the Pordenone Silent Film Festival. Past issues have included scholarly articles by Bo Berglund and Joe Adamson, a book-length silent comedy database by Karel Caslavsky, and a piece on Max Davidson by this webmeister.  

A History of the Hal Roach Studios by Richard Lewis Ward. Southern Illinois University Press, 2005.  Ward's book is a business rather than an artistic history of the Roach studio, but the book is a good read with approach rarely taken in the field of silent comedy studies.  

Kops and Custards: The Legend of Keystone Films by Kalton C. Lahue and Terry Brewer. University of Oklahoma Press, 1968. A history of the Keystone company, it's rise and fall.

Laurel or Hardy: The Solo Films of Stan Laurel and Oliver "Babe" Hardy by Rob Stone. Split Reel Books, 1996. A model of intrepid research, this book contains in-depth discussions of L&H collaborators such as Joe Rock, Larry Semon and Jimmy Aubrey.

Lloyd Hamilton: Poor Boy Comedian of Silent Cinema by Anthony Balducci. McFarland Press, 2009. We are eagerly awaiting publication of Ham's first full-length biography. 

Mack Sennett's Keystone: The Man, the Myth and the Comedies by Kalton C. Lahue. A.S. Barnes & Co., 1971. Covers much the same territory as "Kops and Kustards", but with a focus on the actual films and lots of stills.

Movie Comedy Teams by Leonard Maltin.  New American Library, 1985.  A great survey of the most famous teams of the sound era, including Clark & McCullough and Wheeler & Woolsey, with indispensable filmographies.  Look for the 1985 revised and updated version.

Past Humor, Present Laughter by Richard M. Roberts, filmographies by Joe Moore and your obedient servant. This series of in-depth articles on Lloyd Hamilton, Charley Chase, Educational Pictures, Lupino Lane, Our Gang imitators, Larry Semon and others were originally published in the venerable journal Classic Images.  Revised versions and new chapters on the lesser-known Hal Roach comedy series will soon be published in book form.  Our spies tell us that the tome will contain the ultimate Hal Roach filmography.  

Les Petits Maîtres du Burlesque Américain: 1909-1929 by Jean-Jacques Courderc (CNRS Editions, 2000).  Despite some unauthorized borrowing of filmographies published elsewhere (harumph!), this book is a comprehensive encyclopedia of the forgotten silent comics and comedy producers. No stills, but a wealth of information if you can translate the French.

Quinlan's Illustrated Directory of Film Comedy Actors by David Quinlan. Henry Holt & Co., 1992. The best encyclopedic reference on silent and sound comedy, with U.S. and British clowns getting equal screen time.

Ridolini by Camillo Moscati. Editoriale lo Vecchio, 1989. The story of Larry Semon in Italian, but loaded with graphics.

The Silent Clowns by Walter Kerr. Alfred A. Knopf, 1975. The spotlight is on Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd and Langdon, but the forgotten comics...especially Lloyd Hamilton, get their due (Kerr calls them "demiclowns").

Slapstick! is an annual pdf journal dedicated to the forgotten silent slapstickers from Looser Than Loose Publishing.  Where else will you find articles on Marcel Perez and Alice Howell, read Marie Mosquini's serialized memoirs and see Larry Semon's death certificate?  

Smile When the Raindrops Fall: The Story of Charley Chase by Brian Anthony and Andy Edmonds. Scarecrow Press, 1998. The first book-length biography of this neglected genius.

Wheeler & Woolsey: The Vaudeville Comic Duo and Their Films, 1929-1937 by Edward Watz. McFarland Classics, 2001. Whether or not you like W&W, Watz's book is a fascinating history of how RKO took a Broadway comedy team with one hit under their belts and fashioned them into one of the most successful acts of the pre-code era.  

World of Laughter: The Motion Picture Comedy Short. 1910-1930 by Kalton C. Lahue. University of Oklahoma Press, 1966. A fascinating studio-by-studio history of silent comedy short subjects.

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