BFI

The short montage of cruelty that begins Coughs and Sneezes (1945, d. Richard Massingham) is typical of the element in Massingham's films which acknowledges that we all enjoy laughing at someone else's misfortune. The petty pranks of leaving books to fall on someone when walking through a door or kicking someone's seat out from under him also prove Massingham's distrust of the everyday world. He suggests that if things do not go wrong by themselves, someone will encourage them.

However, the conclusion of Coughs and Sneezes leaves the viewer with an equally striking but different impression. Just as in Laurel and Hardy's routines or Tex Avery's cartoons, the emphasis on suffering overrides the comic point of a scene. Massingham's continual sneezing, provoked by pepper, is faded out to suggest no end. The commentator mockingly instructs and praises before telling him, "right, you can carry on"!

This ending demonstrates Massingham's robust attitude to bodily functions, no doubt due to his background in medicine. Combined with a sensible warning to prevent the spread of infection is a generous acceptance of its human cause.

Kieron Webb

Click titles to see or read more