From Fritz Lang's Siegfried (1923): Kukla and Ollie share a rare moment of repose...

...secure in the knowledge that a mere thirty years later they'd be two of the biggest stars of the Golden Age of Television.

Okay, I know, I know --  that joke does a tremendous disservice to Siegfried, which -- along with Kriemhild's Revenge, its companion in Lang's Die Nibelungenin series -- in actual fact is one of the supreme visual achievements of the silent film era. But I really couldn't help myself; the first time I saw it, back on an early 90s laserdisc, I immediately flashed on Kukla, Fran and Ollie, perhaps my fondest memory of 50s kids TV.

What can I tell you -- time plays nasty tricks even on masterpieces.