Monday, 22 February 2016

Which is the first parody film?

Definition: parody
a musical, literary, or other composition that mimics the style of another composer, author, etc, in a humorous or satirical way.



I would nominate the Laurel and Hardy movies as parodies of the originals. Movies were still in their infancy when Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy created shorts and full length feature films in the 1920s with monsters to comedic effect. I'm sure I'd do better if I knew my early 20th century film, but this is my first recognizeable case in point (from IMDB):



Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde in 1925, parodies Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with John Barrymore (Grandfather of Drew Barrymore) in the lead roles of Jekyll and Hyde in 1920.

Abbott and Costello took up the idea in the 40's with Frankenstein, The Wolfman, and Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1953.

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