Friday, April 12, 2013

Style on the page and off …

… Otis Ferguson: A Film and Jazz Critic Still Waiting for His Due | Sightings By Terry Teachout - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)


Mr. Ferguson sensed that most Hollywood filmmakers were better at comedy than tragedy, and saw no reason to "snoot" their preference for the former. This set him apart from the vast majority of film critics in the 1930s, who were suckers for pseudoserious movies and disdained pure comedy as a lesser species of art. "In spite of a definite genius for laughter, we…are really ashamed of falling for anything that is nothing but fine, free, and funny, that makes you laugh and makes you feel good but does not balance an ounce of open fun with a pound of betterment," he wrote. "We want to eat our cake and have it certified as oatmeal too." Mr. Ferguson never made that mistake.

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