Funny stuff, but arranged without much rhyme or reason, by compiler Robert Youngson. Obviously, the first limitation is that the clips are exclusively from one studio. Moreover, there is no real attempt to present the very best of what was available at MGM. "The Big Parade of Comedy" is neither a definitive look at MGM's comedy pictures, nor does it present a comprehensive look at any one comedian.Narrator Les Tremayne is helpful identifying performers who may not be familiar to modern audiences - along with top-billed stars Clark Gable and Greta Garbo, who co-sizzled for real in "Susan Lenox" (1931). Most haphazard is the tacking on, without explanation, of some Dave O'Brien comedy shorts. The material is good, but should only be considered a sample. Seeking the original works is imperative.***** The Big Parade of Comedy (9/23/64) Robert Youngson ~ Les Tremayne, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Dave O'Brien

Youngson must have been the last real movie ghoul, making a living by cutting up old films into virtual guitar picks. Good bad or indifferent, the only reason for inclusion in this compilation seems to be he could get his hands on a print and then chop chop chop, funny or not. It reminds me of Glenn L. Martin delivering a plane to the Army in WW2 (the B-26 aka The Widowmaker) which kept killing its crews. Martin explained that it met the contractual specifications. This film meets somebody's contractual specifications and made what's called a 'nice show business dollar', but it is a pile of junk whose stink is even more loathsome considering the talent which gets ripped off. Normally I would just leave this alone except for the fact that this film contains the most perfunctory and execrable film lyric of all time. In the song, which is introducing a segment on Robert Benchely, the lyric goes- "Robert Benchley was a funny man/ A funny man was he". Certainly a new low in the lack of imagination department. Robert Youngson was a cheap-son-of-a-bitch/ a cheap-son-of-a-bitch was he. Of course Youngson didn't hire a lyricist but wrote the 'lyrics' himself, just like he wrote (oh, that narration would be rejected by Hallmark as soporific drivel, and it just goes on and inanely on), produced., directed, did the visual effects and titles, himself. His wife did the research. This was just one in a series of compilation films he did coming from the short film assembly lines which died in the early 50s. Insteed of going in to TV he did this. Now, I believe Youngson has been completely superseded by the age of film preservation and the like of Turner Classics and various DVD distributors though I guess he'll have his product in 99¢ bins for a long time to come. And not a moment too soon.

MGM's Big Parade of Comedy is just a random compilation of comedy clips with no point that don't do their stars any justice. They've all appeared in funnier films at other studios. They serve up probably the worst clip from the worst Marx Bros. film (Go West). Couldn't they have used A Night At The Opera instead (that was an MGM film)? They just dredge out any comedy star who just happened to appear in an MGM film - they even dish up a silent Joan Crawford film (now there's a comedienne). The only moments of levity for me were when they showed a compilation of Pete Smith comedy shorts (with Dave O'Brien). It also ends abruptly. I'm thankful someone had the good judgement to put it out of its' misery.

Many clips from the silent era through MGM's heyday. The editing could have been tighter--some sequences went on too long and others way too short--but I suspect the filmmakers wanted to make sure they didn't leave out any of the stars. Nevertheless, this is overall a funny stroll down memory lane.