Hello my friends. I think it is a good time to take another look at the short films of my personal favorite filmmaker Charlie Chaplin.
Let us start with one of Chaplin's most beautiful films, The Vagabond (1916). Around this time, Charlie had been working on combining his slapstick comedy with real drama and pathos. Though he had already made some good films in this vein, this short shows him taking it to a new level with incredible results. In reality the plot is something that had already been done many times in movies, but Charlie does it with such sincerity that it remains incredibly touching. There has long been a rumor that this film's (SPOILERS) happy ending had been added to appeal to a wider audience, who did not want a comedy with a sad ending. Supposedly the original ending would have had Charlie jump into the water after the girl leaves. To end with a joke, he would be rescued by a woman but discovering this woman is incredibly ugly he would have jumped back in. Chaplin supposedly filmed this scene and kept it for himself. However, this rumor has never been proven true. There is however a wonder outtake that was done as a practical joke with the girl walking in on her long-lost mother much too early during the art gallery scene. (END SPOILERS) This film also benefits from a fine supporting cast that includes Enda Purviance, Eric Campbell, Lloyd Bacon (who would go on to become a director of such movies as 42nd Street (1933), Footlight Parade (1933) and Marked Woman (1937)), Charlotte Mineau, Leo White (in a dual role as a gypsy woman and a Jewish customer) and Frank J. Coleman. The band of musicians outside the bar would be played by Chaplin regulars John Rand, Albert Austin and James T. Kelly.
Moving Picture World, 1917
It is a shame that Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle didn't work together more. They simply made a perfect comedy team in today's next short, The Rounders (1914). While the story is slight and the gags are predictable, this film is a must watch for silent comedy fans simply for how well these two greats work together. Here the two feel like a well-established well into their teaming, rather than two comedians who were simply making a film together. Roscoe regretted that they did not make more films together and stated, "I have always regretted not having been his partner in a longer film than these one-reelers we made so rapidly. He is a complete comic genius, undoubtedly the only one of our times and he will be the only one who will still be talked about a century from now." Arbuckle's wife is played by his real-life wife Minta Durfee and Charlie's wife is played by Phyllis Allen. Al St. John platys a bellboy here. Al was Roscoe's nephew and would work in many films with his uncle. In a brief role as another dinner is a future great film comedian Charley Chase.
By the Sea (1915) is a Chaplin short they I think deserves more attention. This film is often viewed as quick little one reel comedy that Charlie churned out while more attention was paid to his more ambitious films of the time. In some ones this might be true. The whole picture was shot simply in one day and stylistically this film resembles his earliest work at the Keystone Studio (this film was done for Essanay after he left Keystone). There is little to no story here but simply a bunch of slapstick gags revolving around a simple setting. Many of his early comedies for Keystone would simply be little slapstick gags around a bunch of characters with romantic misunderstandings in a park. Because of the similarity but different setting, this film has often times been called a park comedy without a park. As is common with nearly all Chaplin shorts, this film benefits from a wonderful supporting cast. The big burly man is played by Bud Jamison, who would later become a regular foil for The Three Stooges. Billy Armstrong played the man that Charlie is fighting with. He would also appear in other Chaplin Essanay films including The Tramp, Work, A Woman, The Bank and Shanghaied (all 1915). Billy's wife is played by Margie Reiger and Bud Jamison's wife would be played by Charlie's main leading lady at this time, Edna Purviance. Snub Pollard can be seen briefly as the ice cream vendor, though he is nearly unrecognizable due to not having his famous moustache. Snub would go on to have his own series of short comedies in the 1920's at Hal Roach Studios. Also at Hal Roach, he had been a regular presence in Harold Lloyd's short comedies. Snub would much later appear as one of the street musicians in Chaplin's talkie feature, Limelight (1952). This picture was shot along Ocean Front Walk and Abbott Kinney Pier in Venice, California.
Moving Picture World, 1920
Laughing Gas (1914) is another pure knockabout Chaplin comedy. Like many of Charlie's early films for Keystone, there is no effort to make his character, the slightest bit likable here. In fact, many of the gags make him seem pretty much sadistic. However, since the whole film is played for laughs this is not a problem at all. It has been said that this comedy is based off the Fred Karno sketch (Charlie worked as part of Karno's traveling troupe), The Dentist. Whether or not this is true, this comedy features some truly funny moments as Charlie pretends to be a dentist.
In my opinion Police (1916) is the best film Charlie made for Essanay. Not only is this short often very funny, but it also does an incredible job of combining slapstick comedy and real drama. This film very much looks forward to the mature films, he would later make for Mutual as well as his great feature length movies. This film seems to be a perfect combination of everything that Chaplin learned during his first couple years of movie making. Once again, the cast is full of Chaplin regulars like Edna Purviance, Wesley Ruggles, James T. Kelly, John Rand, Leo White, Bud Jamison and Fred Goodwins. Once again, they all add a lot to this film.
Thanks for joining me. Be sure to come back in the future for more Charlie Chaplin Carnivals.
Resources Used
The Chaplin Encyclopedia by Glenn Mitchell
Liner notes for the DVD/Blu-Ray set Chaplin's Essanay Comedies by Jeffery Vance
Liner Notes for the DVD set Chaplin at Keystone by Jeffery Vance
https://lantern.mediahist.org/
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