Punch and Judy: Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy

Synopsis

A cultural history of Punch and Judy and a documentary on Giovanni Piccini. Piccini’s ‘Tragical Comedy and Comical Tragedy’ of Punch and Judy was first recorded in 1827 by J Payne Collier and illustrated by George Cruickshank. The film questions the reasons for the transformation of this malicious figure into the colourful clown of today’s seaside shows. Percy Press Jnr recreates an historical interview with a punchman drawn from Henry Mayhew’s ‘London Labour and the London Poor’. In 1968 Harrison Birtwhistle composed ‘Punch and Judy’; excerpts from this opera close the film.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Film; Video; Film. 16mm. sd. col. 48 min. Videocassette. VHS. col. 48 min.

Technical information

Black-and-white / Sound

Year of production

1980

Availability

Hire
Sale

Uses

Introductory courses in 19th-century popular entertainment; introductory research on popular entertainments.*

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

Piccini, Giovanni; Punch & Judy; puppet theatre

Credits

Director

Keith Griffiths; Stephen Quaij; Timothy Quaij

Producer

Keith Griffiths

Writer

Keith Griffiths; Stephen Pruslin; Stephen Quaij; Timothy Quaij

Contributor

Graham Nichols; Harrison Birtwhistle

Cast

Joe Melia

Distribution Formats

Type

Film

Format

16mm

Production Company

Name

Koninck Studios

Sponsor

Name

Arts Council of Great Britain

Phone

020 7973 6455

Fax

020 7973 6581

Address

London
SW1P 3NG

Distributor

Name

Arts on Film Archive, University of Westminster

Notes

Arts on Film Archive offers on-line access to a large range of films on art produced in the United Kingdom since the 1950s, and is a unique record of British and international post-war art, as well as of documentary film-making in the UK. In its first phase, the archive offers a complete database and an on-line video streaming of all 450 films made by the film department of Arts Council England between 1953 and 1998 and several films produced till 2003 by the dance Department of ACE. The collection is only available streamed to ac.uk domain addresses.