Comedians and Comics: The Second Life of the Interwar Film Stars
Wojciech Świdziński
woyciesz@gmail.comThe Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6840-4069
Abstract
In the comic strips published in the Polish press of the interwar period, a distinct current was represented by humorous stories about film comedians. This article discusses “cartoons” – as the press comic strips were called at the time – devoted to Charlie Chaplin, Pat and Patachon, and comic incarnations of the cinema and cabaret stars Kazimierz “Lopek” Krukowski and Adolf “Dodek” Dymsza. Most of the works discussed here emphasize Eulenspiegel qualities of the on-screen comedians, which, especially in the case of Chaplin, was a return to his cinematic origins. There are also reminiscences of specific films in some of these cartoons, as well as – especially in the case of Dodek – attempts to adapt the specific language used by his character. It is difficult to determine to what extent this second life that the stars of the screen found in the press matched the reception of their movies. However, it certainly enhanced their popularity by minimizing the barriers between the inaccessible cinema idols and the public, who imaginatively transposed their adventures into the familiar Polish realities.
Keywords:
comics, interwar period, Charlie Chaplin, Adolf Dymsza, Kazimierz Krukowski, Pat and PatachonReferences
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Authors
Wojciech Świdzińskiwoyciesz@gmail.com
The Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6840-4069
PhD in Humanities; theatre and film scholar. Lecturer at the Theatre Academy in Warsaw, member of the Polish Society for Film and Media Studies. He published the book Co było grane? Film zagraniczny w Polsce w latach 1918-1929 na przykładzie Warszawy [What Was on Screens? Foreign Movies in Poland 1918-1929. A Case Study of Warsaw] (2015). He is also the author of an academic study of Andrzej Włast’s collection of movie columns. He published scientific and popular science articles in Kwartalnik Filmowy, Ekrany, Pleograf, and Stolica.
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