In Victorian England, Dan Leno was the great comedian of London's Drury Lane Theatre. Herbert Campbell was a popular comedian in his own right, although never so popular as Leno. As a solo performer, Campbell's most popular stage turn was his pantomime lecture on the proper way to eat spaghetti ... a routine made funnier by the fact that spaghetti was a comparatively new and unfamiliar item to most theatre audiences in Victorian England. Before treading the stage, Campbell had been a messenger for London's tabloid "The Sun".

Although Leno and Campbell had separate careers, for several years at the turn of the turn of the century they had their greatest success working together at the Drury Lane. Campbell -- an enormous stout balding man with a booming Cockney voice -- inevitably became something of a second-banana to Leno, who was short and nimble with broadly comic features.

"Dan Leno and Herbert Campbell Edit the 'Sun'" is a crude silent film, almost a parody newsreel. It depicts an actual event, yet it's clearly a staged enactment. On April Fool's Day 1902, Leno and Campbell served as guest editors of the "Sun". This movie purports to show the two men hard at work in the newspaper's office in Temple Avenue, which looks suspiciously like a movie set.

Onstage, Leno and Campbell had a penchant for garish costumes, Leno in particular often playing grotesque drag roles such as Widow Twankey, but nearly always (as in this film) with his hair neatly centre-parted. Here, the two comedians dress appropriately for their task as newspaper editors: in waistcoats, watch fobs and high stiff wing collars, they strip off their frock coats and get to work. Leno tries to paste some news stories into a page layout, while Campbell laughs at the sloppy results. Leno's neat hair becomes disarrayed, and he ends up with the news items pasted to his head like court-plasters.

This movie isn't nearly funny enough to have worked as one of Leno's or Campbell's stage routines, but it's still a rare and vital glimpse of two very important performers of the Victorian stage. Leno's supremely comic face is funny enough to make up for any shortcomings.

The comedy genre refers to a category of entertainment that aims to amuse and entertain audiences by using humor, wit, and comedic situations. Comedies are created with the primary intention of eliciting laughter and providing lighthearted enjoyment. They encompass a wide range of styles, tones, and themes, appealing to various tastes and audiences.

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The short form refers to creative works characterized by their brevity and concise storytelling. Unlike full-length feature films, short films have a running time of less than 45 minutes, while TV shorts have a running time of less than 22 minutes.

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Dan Leno and Herbert Campbell Edit the 'Sun'

Comedians take over a newspaper as an advertising stunt.

Mr. Dan Leno, Assisted by Mr. Herbert Campbell, Editing the 'Sun'

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Mr. Dan Leno, Assisted by Mr. Herbert Campbell, Editing the 'Sun'

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