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  • Marcel Perez: The International Mirth-Maker

Marcel Perez: The International Mirth-Maker Paperback – December 24, 2014

by Steve Massa (Author)
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Marcel Perez: The International Mirth-Maker examines the life and career of perhaps the best silent film comedian whom no one's ever heard of.

One of the founding fathers of film comedy whose career spanned the silent era as a comic, director, and writer, Marcel Perez is a missing link between the early European and American cinemas, and in the book author Steve Massa follows his work, and also explores the very beginnings of film comedy. Tracking Perez's career through industry trade journals and film fragments from archives all over the world, Massa also includes a detailed filmography and lavishly illustrates with more that 50 rare photographs.

Be sure to look for The Marcel Perez Collection DVD from Undercrank Productions, available on Amazon.com. The DVD contains 10 rare Perez comedies – 5 made in Italy (preserved by EYE Filmmuseum, Netherlands) and 5 made in the USA (preserved by the Library of Congress), seen in new digital transfers with new musical scores by Ben Model.

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  1. Print length
    104 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    December 24, 2014
  4. Dimensions
    6 x 0.24 x 9 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1503038912
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1503038912
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The Amazon Book Review
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

STEVE MASSA is the author of "Lame Brains and Lunatics: The Good, The Bad, and The Forgotten of Silent Comedy", and has organized comedy film programs for the Museum of Modern Art, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Pordenone Silent Film Festival. In addition to consulting with the EYE Filmmuseum, Netherlands and other archives, and writing for journals such as Griffithiana, he is a founding member of Silent Cinema Presentations which produces NYC's Silent Clowns Film Series. Steve has also contributed articles and commentary tracks to many DVD collections such as "The Forgotten Films of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle", "Harry Langdon: Lost and Found", and Kino Lorber's "Buster Keaton: The Short Films Collection", and Undercrank Productions' "The Mishaps of Musty Suffer".

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
16 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

  • dan mollise
    5.0 out of 5 stars Silent film comedy fans must have
    Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2023
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Steve Massa’s writing is so full of detail and he’s genuinely entertaining. The perfect companion to the Undercrank DVDs
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  • Films Collar
    5.0 out of 5 stars Silent Comedy's International Man of Mystery
    Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2015
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    In this welcome stand-alone companion piece to the recently released Marcel Perez DVD collection,
    performer/historian Massa "examines the life and career of perhaps the best silent film comedian whom no one's ever heard of."
    This handsomely produced book- which includes a filmography and over 50 photos- is a must buy for fans and scholars of silent film,
    and for those seeking to learn more about one of comedy's great mystery men.
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  • James N Snaden
    3.0 out of 5 stars really like to see these Marcel Perez films
    Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2015
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    The films selected for the collection were okay and the ones chosen were probably due to what has survived. However, I would really, really like to see these Marcel Perez films: Tweedledum Torpedoed by Cupid, He's Some Hero, Near-Sighted Auto Pedist, Somewhere in Mexico, and You're Next (all except the last one were produced by Eagle Films).
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  • silvio alovisio
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2015
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Beautiful
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  • Charles Morrow
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Story of Tweedledum (alias Robinet), a forgotten clown
    Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2015
    Format: Paperback
    Two years ago I read and enjoyed Steve Massa's book `Lame Brains and Lunatics: the Good, the Bad, and the Forgotten of Silent Comedy.' I was especially intrigued by his chapter on Marcel Perez, a comedian so obscure that even lifelong, hardcore film buffs knew little or nothing about him. Perez was a European stage and circus clown who began his film career around 1900, starred in dozens of short comedies, then moved to America in 1915 and appeared in dozens of additional shorts, until his career as an actor abruptly ended in 1922. He was a gifted and energetic performer, and one might expect he'd have left a lasting impression on posterity, but there are several reasons he did not. Throughout his career Perez repeatedly changed the name of his screen character, and was variously called Robinet, Tweedledum, Twede-Dan, Tweedy, and Bungles, while behind the scenes he was known as Marcel Fabre, Fernandez Perez, Marcel Perez, etc. (It almost seems as if he was trying to make the job of future film historians as difficult as possible.) Moreover, most of the companies for which he worked were smaller concerns. These organizations had a bad tendency to go bankrupt, either while Perez was on the payroll or soon after he left, and their assets--including prints of his films--were scattered. On top of all that, in the prime of his career Perez was forced to curtail his work before the cameras due to health issues, and he eventually died, still young, in 1929. His comedies were largely out of circulation when talkies arrived, which assured his obscurity.

    Until now, that is. Fast forward to the 21st century: Mr. Massa (working with his colleague, silent film accompanist Ben Model) has in recent years arranged a number of screenings of Marcel Perez comedies at the Museum of Modern Art and elsewhere, while the Perez chapter in `Lame Brains' sparked new interest. This slim but informative book is an expanded and updated version of that chapter, which incorporates information unavailable just two years ago. Its publication coincides with the release of a new DVD of Perez comedies (a Model & Massa collaboration), but this is more than a booklet of liner notes. Here you will find a Perez biography, a filmography (which the author warns is incomplete, pending further research discoveries), and a wealth of fascinating photos, reproductions of lobby cards, and vintage ads. The pictures derive from both the European and American phases of Perez's career, and are a treasure trove for buffs. Silent comedy fans owe a debt to Mr. Massa for releasing Marcel Perez from the limbo of obscurity. Once you see the films, you'll want to read the book; and once you read the book, you'll want to see the films.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Crystal
    5.0 out of 5 stars Marcel Perez: The Forgotten Clown, Re-Discovered
    Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2015
    Format: Paperback
    I don't know that I can write as eloquent a review as others on this site, however I will try. I am, admittedly, somewhat biased towards this collection being the Grandson of Marcel Perez. However, I went through my whole life knowing only that my Grandfather was a silent film actor, writer and director but never having seen any of his films. My Father, Marcel E. Perez, spent his whole life wondering what his Father's films looked like. He had been told all his life that all of the films had long since been lost or destroyed. All he had of his Father was the bust of Marcel which was used in the film "Robinet is Jealous", an old b&w photo and a few of the old lobby cards. Unfortunately, my Father died without ever having the chance to enjoy the films and research accomplished by Ben Model and Steve Massa. I feel blessed as does my younger Sister Juanita, that these gentleman spent so much time, effort and yes love in putting together such a wonderful collection. Steve Massa's book, Marcel Perez: The International Mirth-Maker is a wonderful, and I might say necessary, companion to the DVD: The Marcel Perez Collection. And even though I do not stand to get any financial gain from the sale of either of these pieces, I would strongly urge any fans of the Silent Film Era to buy and enjoy the book and the DVD as I have and will continue to do. I and my family will always feel indebted and grateful to Ben and Steve for this fantastic work and for bringing the works of Marcel Perez back into the public eye once more. Please, enjoy reading this book, and consider looking into Lame Brains and Lunatics as well.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Paul F. Etcheverry
    5.0 out of 5 stars Marcel Perez Is Silent Film Comedy's "Mystery Man" No More
    Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2015
    Format: Paperback
    Sometimes there are artists in silent films who could be described as deservedly overlooked; they had talent, but their work did not meet the test of time. Others had the bad luck to see the overwhelming majority of their careers go up in smoke (usually a vault fire) AND, worse yet, die young. Marcel Perez, who passed in 1929, is in the latter "most undeservedly overlooked" category. Since Perez worked for small companies, both in Europe and America, rather than the Mack Sennett or Hal Roach studios, and starred in his last film in 1923, he was not represented in the Robert Youngson compilation features or such television shows as "The Funny Manns" and "Silents Please" that introduced many to silent comedy. It turns out that Perez, (a.k.a. Robinet, Tweedy, Tweedledum, Twede-Dan, etc.) was, along with Andre Deed and Max Linder, one of the very first movie comedians and already active in the first years of the 20th century. With this booklet, author Steve Massa has gone a long way to set the historical record straight on this comedian/director/writer of grace, skill, insouciance and a wild imagination. Numerous rare photos and lobby cards from the collections of historians Sam Gill, Robert Birchard and Cole Johnson are an added plus.
    2 people found this helpful
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