We are going to start our look at Charlie Chaplin today with the 2nd film staring him, Kid Auto Races at Venice. When Keystone Film Company got a hold of Chaplin, they didn't quite know what to do with him. The first film with him, Making A Living(1914), was artistically a huge failure. The film simply wasn't funny. So what Keystone decided to do was to visit a soapbox racing event for children, and let Chaplin purposely interrupt the filming, letting Charlie improvise how he interrupts it, and hoping something funny would happen. This film was also the first released (he wore it for Mabel's Strange Predicament earlier but that film would be released later) in which Chaplin wore his immortal costume, that would soon be recognized as his Little Tramp character. While this film unsurprisingly does not have the polish later Charlie Chaplin films would , it still remains quite entertaining today. From 1914 and directed by Henry Lehrman, here is Kid Auto Races at Venice.
Twenty Minutes of Love marked the first time Mack Sennet, head of Keystone Film Company, allowed Charlie Chaplin to direct his own films. While Chaplin would later try to get away from, the slapstick for the sake of slapstick, style of humor of Keystone by creating more motivation for the slapstick, here he plays by the rules of the Keystone style of comedy. This is a fast, fun, and purely slapstick short. From 1914, directed by Charlie Chaplin, and also staring Minta Durfee, Edgar Kennedy, Gordon Griffith, Chester Conklin, Josef Swickard and Hank Mann, here is Twenty Minutes of Love.
Next comes one of Charlie Chaplin's great masterpieces, A Dogs Life. This film was Chaplin's first film for Frist National. You will notice in here a strong break from the type of humor at Keystone. The pace is slower, and all the jokes come from the story and characters, and have clear motivations. You will also notice the story line is more defined and there is drama present. Chaplin wanted to show that comedy and drama could be combined, and he proved his point masterfully. Here we can see Chaplin as a fully formed artist in this true cinematic masterpiece. From 1918, directed by Charlie Chaplin, and also staring Chaplin's long time costar Edna Purviance, and Charlie's brother Sydney Chaplin, here is A Dog's Life.
Charlie Chaplin's films were rightfully sensations world wide, and he was one of the first filmmakers to be hailed as a great artist. Therefore the image of the Little Tramp appeared everywhere. His image could be seen in a comic strip in the newspaper, toys, animated cartoons (done by Otto Messmer and Pat Sullivian, two artists who would bring us the silent Felix the Cat cartoons) and everywhere else you can think of. Actors such as Billy West (not to be confused with the cartoon voice actor) made a career imitating Chaplin in films. One of my favorite uses of the Little Tramp outside of Chaplin's own films is the appearance of an cubist animated tramp appearing in the classic French Avant-Garde film, Ballet Mecanique. Besides the animated appearance of Chaplin's Little Tramp there is much more this film offers. It is also a brilliant representation of the struggle of humanity against the attack of mechanization. In fact this film is such an artistic success that co-director Fernand Leger, considered giving up his highly successful painting job to become a film maker. Sadly for the world of film this never happened, but at least we have this artistic masterpiece. So from 1924, and directed by Fernand Leger, and Dudley Murphy, here is Ballet Mecanique.
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