Fun Factory: The Keystone Film Company and the Emergence of Mass Culture

From Its Founding In 1912, The Short-lived Keystone Film Company—home Of The Frantic, Bumbling Kops And Mack Sennett's Bathing Beauties—made An Indelible Mark On American Popular Culture With Its High-energy Comic Shorts. Even As Keystone Brought Lowbrow Comic Traditions To The Screen, The Studio Played A Key Role In Reformulating Those Traditions For A New, Cross-class Audience. In The Fun Factory, Rob King Explores The Dimensions Of That Process, Arguing For A New Understanding Of Working-class Cultural Practices Within Early Cinematic Mass Culture. He Shows How Keystone Fashioned A Style Of Film Comedy From The Roughhouse Humor Of Cheap Theater, Pioneering Modes Of Representation That Satirized Film Industry Attempts At Uplift. Interdisciplinary In Its Approach, The Fun Factory Offers A Unique Studio History That Views The Changing Politics Of Early Film Culture Through The Sociology Of Laughter.