From the time he was the hind part of a horse in the Bowery theater burlesque Mack Sennett studies humor as one would a science. Under his direction, exaggeration and pandemonium on the silver screen became a new art form, low slapstick. And with Mabel Normand, a feminine counterpart of Charlie Chaplin, Fred Mace, Marie Dressler, cross-eyed Ben Turpin, Fatty Arbuckle, Slim Summerville, and Polly Moran--later, Gloria Swanson, Wallace Beery, Marie Prevost, and Bebe Daniels joined the group--the zany comedies of careening cars and cops and custards taught what could be done with a camera.
 
Thus screen comedy was lifted from a rather drab existence by one man and one company, Mack Sennett's Keystone, to give us such classics as Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life and Mabel's Awful Mistake.
 
Utilizing the memories of individuals who took part in the making of the Keystone comedies and the data found in various private collections, the authors present an accurate appraisal of the Keystone comedies and their creator. A complete listing of the comedies is appended, together with production information not previously published.
 
A nostalgic glimpse of the past for readers old enough to remember Keystone on-screen antics, Kops and Custards is valuable for film historians and all who produce or enjoy motion picture comedy.
 
Written by Kalton C. Lahue and Terry Brewer and published in 1968 by the University of Oklahoma Press, this stated First Edition hardcover book includes the original price-clipped dust jacket which is mylar protected, 213 pages, 32 plates, appendix, bib., indexes. In fine+/fine condition with a prior owner's name written on the frontispiece.
 
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