Keystone: The Life and Clowns of Mack Sennett

From the author of Stan and Ollie--a funny, fresh, and compelling look at Hollywood's Original King of Comedy. From his early aspirations to sing opera, to his time under the tutelage of D. W. Griffith, to the fortune and notoriety that his uncanny eye for talent deservedly brought him, Mack Sennett stood behind his belief in individuality and originality. Now, more than eighty years after Sennett rose to heights that epitomized the American dream, the acclaimed biographer of Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, and W. C. Fields offers a compelling account of comedy's transformation at the hands of a true master. Regarded as the father of American slapstick, Sennett--iron-worker, boilermaker, actor, director, producer, writer, and creator of the infamous Keystone Kops--held audiences in thrall to a world where chaos was order and banana peels, car crashes, and leaps from tall buildings were a matter of course. As the cameras rolled and vaudeville gags morphed into celluloid wonders, the rising stars of Charlie Chaplin, Mabel Normand, and Gloria Swanson were born. Behind it all was the King of Comedy, governing from his office bathtub. In this irresistible journey into early Hollywood at its peak, Simon Louvish crafts a fascinating portrait of the enigmatic entrepreneur. Through film scripts, telegrams, even liquor bills, Sennett's world is skillfully re-created, offering a rare and humorous glance into the infancy and innocence of moving pictures.

Review :
"Highly readable . . . Louvish brings Sennett's era to life in these pages, and Keystone fans and novices alike will learn much from the great anarchist's successes--and failures." --Gregory McNamee, "The Hollywood Reporter" "Silent movie impresario, Mack Sennett, brought to the screen many celebrated clowns, from Chaplin and Arbuckle to Keaton, Ben Turpin, Harry Langdon, W.C. Fields, and the troubled, madcap Mabel Normand. In "Keystone: The Life and Clowns of Mack Sennett," Simon Louvish blends wit, scholarship and insight in a delectable narrative that ends with a sigh, but remains utterly true to the pratfall-loving spirit of the 'master of fun.'" --Emily W. Leider, author of "Becoming Mae West" and "Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino" "No one investigates the roots of American film comedy with a livelier spirit than Simon Louvish. "Keystone," a close examination of that sad and funny genius of the silent movies, Mack Sennett, is his latest, and, to my mind, his most delightful." --Stefan Kanfer, author of "Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball" "At last Mack Sennett--a seminal figure in American and world film history--has been rescued from the historical limbo that has been his since about 1933. It's always the pioneers who lay the groundwork for those who follow, and fans of every Laugh Factory from Looney Tunes to "Saturday Night Live" owe Sennett an enormous debt, for which Simon Louvish has generously provided the down payment." --Joe Adamson, author of "Bugs Bunny: Fifty Years and Only One Grey Hare" Praise for . . . "Stan and Ollie" "An in depth look at the movie industry from the silents to the talkies and Laurel& Hardy's place among the true comic icons of the 20th Century." --Bill Ervolino, The Bergen County Record "Written with style [and] insight." --David R. Richards, The Indianapolis Star . . . "Monkey Business" "[A] zippy group portrait . . . which ferrets out the facts behind the [Marx] brothers' often murky accounts of their lives with a care that never interferes with the fun." --Elle "A well-researched and playful version of this hysterical history." --The Orlando Sentinel