Steve Massa

Ben Model & Steve Massa, co-curators at MoMA, joins us to talk about the exhibit, “Cruel and Unusual Comedy: Astonishing Shorts from the Slapstick Era.”

Silent film accompanist Ben Model and film historian Steve Massa discuss “The Mishaps of Musty Suffer,” a forgotten series of silent slapstick comedies, which have been unavailable to the public for 97 years. “Musty Suffer” was wildly popular during its release, but the series has been oddly overlooked and neglected ever since. Fortunately the Library of Congress preserved the 24 surviving films from the Musty Suffer series. Model did the score and produced the new DVD, co-curated by Massa.

Elif Rongen-Kaynakci, an archivist from the Eye Film Institute, and film historian Steve Massa discuss "Cruel and Unusual Comedy Part 3: Selections from the Eye Institute, The Netherlands," a two-week program at MoMA featuring the Euro-clown comedies that were incredibly popular between 1908 and 1914.

Film historian Steve Massa and film historian/accompanist Ben Model on their series at the Museum of Modern Art, "Cruel and Unusual Comedy: Social Commentary in the American Slapstick Film." The series runs from May 20 through June 1 at MoMA. More information and screening schedule here. Visit the ...