The art of pantomime is nearly lost in most films and TV (Great Britain’s late Benny Hill was the last great TV practioner). And here is a rarity: Harpo Marx, who never spoke in his role in the classic Marx Brothers vaudelle and movies comedy team…appearing in a 1959 episode of the Kraft Music Hall. It’s videotape so it looks more “live.” If you’re a younger TMV you can see what made Harpo so endearing and — for serious students of the art of comedy — enduring. He appears here with Milton Berle (who I met as a San Diego Union reporter when I did the story about the Three Stooges getting a star on Hollywood Boulevard. Berle was VERY nice to me and gave me a great quote for the story). It’s classic vaudeville-style schtick that’s still fun to watch. If you’re a comedy student keep a close eye on Harpo’s persona and stage business:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azOzOSRqe8I&feature=PlayList&p=FB485D8838887466&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=57
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.