question about the makeup (in the silent film era)
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Roscoe Arbuckle
fartherdown747 — 14 years ago(July 12, 2011 02:33 AM)
All the stars in the silent movie era (most notably Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle ) seem to have really white skin painted on thick eyebrows painted on, and lipstick. I was wondering what the reason behind this was. My guess is only that it came off better on the cameras they were using? But I am not sure does anybody know the reason? I mean Arubuckle especially looks like he is wearing clown makeup!
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jtyroler — 14 years ago(November 19, 2011 09:59 PM)
It was to make their faces stand out. Some early film stocks, for example, couldn't show blue eyes very well - this was an issue for Stan Laurel, until a different type of film started being used. Also, lighting was a big issue during the early silents. Lights would occasionally explode from over heating. In movies prior to WWI, especially, you'll notice that almost all characters have their faces painted very white, unless they were playing a non-white character, which often lead to racist characterizations. As the film stocks and lighting improved, there was less need for the white face, eye liner, and lipstick use.