It would be impossible in a book of this size to offer anything like a comprehensive survey of the vast, tumbling, chattering, shrieking army of clowns who have peopled the first seventy years of the cinema; and this essay pretends to be no more than a bird's-eye view, only lingering from time to time over a figure of particular importance or special attraction. Even so, everyone will find some of his favourites forgotten, or written off in an inadequate aside. I can only apologize for the inevitable. The section of the book devoted to silent comedy may seem disproportionate; but I have felt it important to give space to the more remote and unfamiliar film comedians than to dwell on artists who are still active or whose work can readily be seen at first hand.