Charlie Chaplin Carnival #5

 Hello my friends and welcome back for another selection of short films from my favorite filmmaker, Charlie Chaplin. 

Today's selection begins with a true classic of silent comedy, Shoulder Arms (1918). This was the most popular Chaplin film up to this time and for years, reviewers would use it as a yardstick to measure all the Chaplin films to follow. This film began production being planned as a five-reel feature (an issue of Pictures and the Picturegoer stated that it would be only three weeks before it was released in the U.S.). This feature would have shown Charlie before, during and after the war. However, Charlie eventually decided to trim this down to only the middle section, making the film a three-reel short. Even scenes during this middle section were trimmed though. Stills from a scene with Charlie having his army medical were used as publicity over the years, though this scene does not appear in the final film. 

Exhibitor's Herald, 1918

The Film Daily, 1918

Up next is a very early Chaplin film, A Flim Johnnie (1914). For movie buffs this film is a wonderful document. The short gives us a great look at the movie going experience, well over a century ago. This is especially seen in the early scenes in a movie theater, which looks quite different from a movie theater today to say the least. This short also does a great job at parodying the rising fan culture and the fame the emerging movie stars were just starting to have. This short was directed by George Nichols. Known as Pop, Nichols was a veteran of the early days of the movies. After the clashing between Charlie and director Henry Lehrman, Nichols would briefly become Chaplin's director. Charlie felt that Nichols' comedy ideas were already outdated. Charlie would state that Nichols' comedy ideas consisted of "one gag, which was to take the comedian by the neck and bounce him from one scene to another." Also seen in this film were Virginia Kirtley (as the "Keystone Girl"), Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Ford Sterling, Edgar Kennedy and Minta Durfee. Virginia Kirtley was the leading lady in Chaplin's first film (Making a Living (1914)). In 1916 she would marry comedian Eddie Lyons and would co-author some of the films that teamed him with Lee Moran at Nester comedies before soon retiring (in 1917) after giving birth to a daughter. In 1928 (two years after Lyon's died early from appendicitis), she tried to make a comeback to the screen but this attempt was unsuccessful. She would live until 1956, when she would pass away at the age of 67 in Sherman Oaks, California. Minta Durfee was Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's first wife. Though their marriage did not last, the two remained on good terms and she helped Roscoe when he was falsely on trial for raping and murdering a young woman (a scandal that would ruin his movie career). 

Next is another early Chaplin short, His New Profession (1914). In later films Charlie Chaplin's character would be one who would very much receive the sympathy of his audience. This film however does not care if you like the little Tramp. In fact, the Tramp is actively unlikable here. Without an ounce of sentimentality or pathos here, this short is typical of the knockabout nothing is sacred type of comedy that the Keystone studio churned out on a regular basis. Though this is not one of the great comedian's best films, it provides a great look into the work of an artist before his art had become fully formed.  

Today's selection ends with Behind the Screen (1916). A pure slapstick classic, this film shows Charlie at his best. The comedy also features a top-notch supporting cast of Chaplin regulars. The film's villain is played by Eric Campbell, a large and heavy man, Campbell dwarfed the already fairly small Charlie Chaplin. This made him an imposing villain, who automatically made our sympathies with Chaplin. He played the villain in multiple Chaplin films and was probably Charlie's best on screen villain. In 1917, Chaplin had loaned Campbell to appear in a dramatic role in a Mary Pickford movie, Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley (1918). Three days into the shooting of that film Campbel was driving home from a party after having too much to drink. He was driving 60 mph on the wrong side of the road and ended in a collision that ultimately killed him. He was only 38 years old. He appeared in 11 classic Chaplin comedies. Charlie's romantic interest was played by Edna Purviance, who played his love interest in most Chaplin films made during this period. Chaplin later directed her in a dramatic role in the feature film A Woman of Paris (1923). She would remain on Chaplin's payroll long after she stopped appearing in his films. Also featured in this film are Frank J. Coleman, Henry Bergman, Charlotte Mineau, Albert Austin and John Rand. All of these actors were Chaplin regulars. Coleman would even play multiple roles in some Chaplin films such as The Vagabond (1916) and The Count (1916). As well as appearing many Chaplin films Bergman also is credited as assistant director in what many consider the filmmaker's masterpiece City Lights (1931). After working in some of Charlie's many comedy shorts, John Rand would disappear from Chaplin's filmography for a while. However, he would later reappear in some of Chaplin's best feature films such as The Circus (1928), City Lights and Modern Times (1936). Albert Austin had worked with Chaplin before Charlie ever made a film as they were both worked for English Music Hall impresario Fred Karno (Stan Laurel was Chaplin's understudy during these years). Like Bergman, Austin would also receive an assistant director credit on City Lights. Austin also has a major role Mary Pickford movie, Suds (1920). 

Thanks for joining me. Stay around for more Chaplin and classic films in general. 

Resources Used


The Chaplin Encyclopedia by Glenn Mitchell.  

https://lantern.mediahist.org/