I watched it recently for the first time, and I really don’t get why it’s so loved. IMDB rates it as the second-best movie of all time, but it seems far worse than that to me. I like most old movies and see their hype, but The Godfather didn’t do it for me. What am I missing?

    • Pons_Aelius@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      True but it is the same effect as a laugh track. The actors have to pause their delivery to let the audience react so that they are not talking over or getting drowned out by the laughter. There are a few scenes where you can see Jerry and the others almost break character while they are waiting for the audience to finish laughing.

      • dustyData@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You’re missing the point. Back then audiences weren’t told when to laugh (that became a thing a bit later). But were more like a live barometer of the script’s quality. The recordings of Jerry doing a standup on a bar stage were filmed the same day. They would test material, improvise jokes, actions and lines on the spot and look at the audience reaction, not because they expected a laugh, but because they were getting a laugh. This allowed them to fine tune the show, then during edit make it as hilarious as possible. It was a thing they actually struggled with the sections filmed out of studio, but they showed them to the audience so they got the context for the set comedies. It was a whole art, and the actors were part of the writer’s room. An entirely different vibe from this decade’s sitcoms.