Merton launches silent comedy website

Paul Merton has launched an online guide to British silent film comedy.

The Have I Got News For You comic unveiled the new website at a launch on top of the BT Tower this morning.

It features a wealth of clips from  comedy  films from 1897 to 1917, all taken from the British Film Institute’s vast archive collection.

Merton acts as an on-screen guide through the bizarre world of four-year-old boxing champions, pantomime-horse races and giant possessed fish,

Martin Percy of BT, which helped develop the technology behind the interactive guide, said: ‘We wanted to present this material in a way that’s interesting for 16-year-olds brought up on MTV but isn’t superficial for the film buff.

‘So if you’re interested in a topic, Paul Merton shows you more detail, if not you skim through the sections.

‘As far as we are aware, this is the first time this has been done.’

Merton said: ‘It was great to be part of this as it gave me the chance to look at all these fantastic clips.

‘It’s odd to see these very early films. They’re very brutal, if you think comedy only became after The Young Ones – people get run over by cars and body parts go everywhere.’

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In the filmed introduction to the guide, he said:  ‘These films are mostly simple and short, but they laid the foundation for movies as we know them today, and they can be surprising and amusing in their own right.’

The guide is hosted on the BFI’s educational website Screenonline. Most the general archive material on the site is restricted to schools, colleges and libraries – but because the silent comedies are out of copyright, all visitors can view this section.

A spokesman for the BFI said: ‘Merton talks directly to visitors throughout the presentation. Those who do not share Meron’s enthusiasm for early silent comedy find themselves victims of his wit.

‘This approach gives a much more intimate, conversational feel for web visitors who feel as if he is talking directly to them.’

Visit the site at http://www.screenonline.org.uk/

Published: 5 Jul 2005