Charlie Chaplin Film by Film Thread. Pt. 2: Essanay

Nice point about Joe Besser's Stinky character, which I was largely famikiar with from Abbot & Costello TV shows from the 50s. Did it start there or earlier?

Another thought regarding Night in the Show is that watching the contrast between Chaplin and the acts on the bill of the show he is watching gives a feeling of seeing two different eras of entertainment much as watching the complete 1964 Ed Sullivan shows in which the Beatles appeared between more archaic acts.

 

Although there was always a bit of Stinky in Joe, I think the "manchild" aspect of the character was specific to A&C.

 

Burlesque on Carmen (film #50)
December 1915 or January 1916 screened in two reels 31:08
April 10, 1916 released in four reels (later edited to three reels, of which I have a 43:48 version)

This is a film I can't see anywhere close to the way it was meant to be seen. It was a fairly direct parody of a Cecil B. DeMille film of Carmen that had come out in October 1915, and I did my best to approximate the right viewing paradigm by watching that before re-watching this to write this up, but that just provides me context, and doesn't change the viewing order. It does reveal very similar sets, costumes, and story lines. My viewing of Chaplin's Carmen is also unavoidably colored by the places I first became aware of Carmen (the Marx Brothers spoof in The Cocoanuts, including Groucho wearing identical matador headgear) or the lyrics that I can't help but associate with the music, thanks to the castaways on Gilligan's Island adapting Hamlet to this music.

As noted in the header information, this film was originally intended to be released by Chaplin as a two reeler. However, as Chaplin was about to leave Essanay, he lacked leverage to get the final cut, and Essanay decided after he had left to pad it out to a more profitable 4 reel film by inserting some outtake versions of gags and shooting some extra scenes, including quite a few with Ben Turpin. That full four reel film does not seem to survive anymore, though it upset Chaplin enough that he filed (and lost) a lawsuit over its release. What did survive, before recent restoration efforts, was a 3 reel condensed version of that, which is how I first saw this film. However, the last two releases of this film (on the Image DVD and Flicker Alley Blu Ray) have been attempts to reconstruct the original two reel film based on Chaplin's notes and testimony. The Flicker Alley version is definitely the preferable one of these two because the Image DVD has an often out of tune orchestra playing the soundtrack - which is more integral to this film set to music from Bizet's Carmen opera than it would be for most Chaplin films. I will say that the three reel version I first encountered (I have it on an 8 DVD public domain set put out by Delta Entertainment, which was my first exposure to Keystone and Essanay material) is not as bad as some have made it out to be, though the two reel cut now available is undeniably better paced and has less filler. Still I find it odd that the Flicker Alley set, which is striving to be the definitive statement on the Essanay Chaplin's, did not as an extra include a cleaned up version of a longer cut of the film than the two reel attempted recreation of Chaplin's intended film.

One of the most extraordinary features of this film is Edna as Carmen - the first time she had the title role in a Chaplin film, as Mabel often had and Marie Dressler did once. Edna probably gets more screen time in this than she had in all the prior Chaplin films put together (and close to as much as Charlie here), and shows a whole new side of herself acting as sexy Carmen instead of a more demure secretary or farmer's daughter. Edna really is the dramatic lead here, and this film has more of a dramatic narrative to it than any prior Chaplin film other than Tillie (no coincidence that both Tillie and this were based on pre-existing stories).

So what about Charlie as "Darn Hosiery"? He looks great in the outlandish uniform though the standard mustache makes him the Tramp playing Don Jose not Chaplin playing him. He packs little gags in at a very rapid pace during much of his screen time. In the first minute he appears he manages to trip on the same rock twice, pull a little dagger out of a big sheath, use it as a toothpick and back scratcher and bonk his own nose with it, order the rock shot by shoulders, display shock and a skewed walk after the shock and search a fellow soldier's mustache for smuggled goods. To get this much stuff this fast it is all clearly choreographed making its appearance of spontaneity all the more remarkable. Another highlight is a sword fight sequence between Charlie and Escamillo, the matador who has won Edna's heart. The extended flirtation between Charlie and Edna is also very enjoyable, culminating in a rare on-screen extended kiss (with Charlie raising his eyebrow at the camera - one of at least a couple "break the 4th wall" moments in this film).

The plot here, for those unfamiliar, is that Darn Hosiery is charged with stopping smugglers from passing through a breach in a giant wall and refuses to be bribed by the smugglers (though he does pickpocket their bribe). So the smuggler's send Carmen in to win his heart and get him to let "her people" pass. She does the job fine, but when Charlie discovers she really loves Escamillo and has just been using them, he confronts her. He claims to own the right to her affections because of what he did for her, and she laughs in his face. His pride wounded, he decides to kill her and then himself. (If you think this stuff seems similar to events and characters in the news today,I won't disagree.) The film doesn't end quite here, but I will leave something for viewers to appreciate.

This is not the funniest film Chaplin has made as direct parody of another film is not really his forte. But it is probably (in the two reel version now available) the best film making he has done so far, given many of the factors discussed above. And it contains quite a number of funny moments as well, far more than enumerated above.

Rating:

Chaplin recreated 2 reel cut:
Content: 8.5/10
Print: 7/10 (Flicker Alley BluRay)

Essanay extended 3 or 4 Reel cut:
Content: 5/10
Print: 3/10 (Delta Entertainment DVD)

 

Phew, that one was a bit of work. One more Essanay to go, and then I will take another little break before starting with the Mutuals.

50 down, 32 to go.

 

Oops two more Essanays to go including their outtakes comp Triple Trouble.

 

I first came across this film through an awful print of the "full length" version on a Madacy VHS collection. It was difficult to follow the plot, and after Ben Turpin tripped over the same rock for what seemed like the 10th time I really wanted to see someone punch him in the face. The Image "restoration" is a masterpiece compared to the bloated version, IMO.

Re-watching the film today, I came to the same conclusion that you did - this is really Edna's film. She is mostly playing Carmen straight up so the others can bounce gags off of her. In the process, she actually gets something of a crack at a dramatic role, and certainly a role 10x more sexual than what Charlie had allowed her to this point. It's very interesting to see.

The funniest gag in the movie (to me) comes within the first minute - Darn Hosiery ordering that the offending rock be shot. I also get a kick out of the obviously fake donkey, which adds a funny, surreal touch to the film.

It's impossible for a 2016 viewer to get much out of this film without putting a lot of work into it first (watching "Carmen" being a requirement, unfortunately), and I doubt you'll find maybe people who aren't Chaplin fanatics up to the task. So this one is really just an historical curiosity. And, I fear, somewhere in Hell there is a room waiting for me with an endless loop of Ben Turpin tricking over that rock.

 

Watched the 2 reeler version on YouTube. THAT was good, unlike the VHS tape I had years ago. That long version was all but incoherent. I have no need or desire to watch the silent Carmen, and its unnecessary if you know the basic story of Carmen. Then you have Charlie killing people and then commits suicide, just before a "just fooling" end in literally the last ten seconds.
I will be more involved when we hit the Mutuals.

 

Chaplin's Carmen does even mimic/parody sets, costumes, gestures from De Mille's, and his audience for this film would have been aware of those references - so it is an extra layer to get. Admittedly I had never bothered doing so until doing these write ups.

 

Police (film #51)
May 27, 1916
Two reels 25:44

This film was released by Essanay several months after Chaplin departed the studio for Mutual, after it seems likely some tinkering had occurred. Reportedly, parts of this film were originally filmed by Chaplin as part of a planned feature film with more serious themes to be called Life, before Essanay pressured him to abandon that in favor of cranking out more of the money making short films. Some reports indicate that Police was originally planned as a three reel film, and part so it were cur out and used in another post-departure Essanay release (Triple Trouble, to be discussed next). A film called The Chaplin Puzzle went as far as to attempt to reconstruct a three reel version out of these elements.

Personally I am unconvinced by the three reel to two reel theory. I don't see the Kitchen interaction with Edna as any logical precurser to their interaction in Police, and Edna's costume is not the same. The seemingly related flop house scenes from this and Triple Trouble don't flow together as one, and even the flop house sequences in Police itself do not seem at all integrated into the rest of Police. Other than Chaplin's portraying someone who is broke, there is no common actor and no narrative connection between the flop house sequences and the rest of Police. And while there are at least 5 police officers shown in the other parts of Police, most appearing repeatedly, the actor who portrays in the flop house sequence as a police officer (Billy Armstrong I believe) is a distinct actor from any of the police officers in the other parts of the film.

My theory is that Chaplin had made a shorter film Police without the flop house sequences, but that the flop house sequences were made as part of the work in progress Life. When Essanay rejiggered the materials they had left together to come up with the final Police and Triple Trouble, they inserted the flop house sequences in order to pad out their product. But that's just inferred from the materials, I am not certain how it unfolded.

I have seen some indications that Doug Sulpy has weighed in on some of these discussions at some times, and would welcome any thoughts he has on these issues here as well.

Whatever its process of creation, the end product that Essanay released as Police is one of Chaplin's finer films to date, with no real flaws other than the fact that the flop house sequence is irrelevant to the rest of the film. Police effectively synthesizes the social commentary begun in Work with the romantic heroism introduced in The New Janitor, The Tramp and The Bank and takes it to a new level.

The first 5 minutes is a pretty harsh critique of the clergy. Freshly released from prison with money in his pocket Charlie runs into a preacher who urges "Let me help you go straight." Inspired by this message, when he meets up with a drunk Charlie realizes he could easily take the man's watch, but opts not to. Then when he goes to buy some fruit with his cash, he discovers he has lost his cash. Retracing his steps, he finds the preacher talking to the drunk, notes the drunk's watch has been stolen and (with a wonderful first thoughtful then indignant expression) pieces together that the preacher had been responsible for his own loss as well as the drunk's. Charlie let's this all slide, but when he walks on and encounters another preacher who offers to help him "go straight" he reacts violently the second time - chasing after him and knocking into a police officer in the process.

Now we go to the flop house sequence showing Charlie begging for a space in which Charlie tries to angle for a space to sleep by pantomiming first illness then hunger. Before being shown the door. There are a couple nice physical here altercations as well before we are off this detour and back to our story.

Charlie is being held up at gunpoint until the thug recognizes Charlie from jail and decides to invite him to join his larcenous enterprise instead. As they set off on their adventure there is a very unique shot portraying the shadows of the two of them, with Charlie's shadow popping its hat. While this is quite effective, the combination of there being few if any similar shots in other Chaplin films and there being no way to see Charlie's face here, actually has me wondering whether this could be a shot Essanay created after Charlie's departure.

Comedically, the strongest part of the film is the final third or so, in which Charlie joins the thug to break into Edna's house to rob it. Charlie demonstrates he is as unsuited for effective thievery as he is has been for more honest lines of work in the past, going for items like flowers while leaving their vases behind, wasting time drilling open a piano keyboard, mistaking an oven for a safe, getting his foot stuck in a bucket, and stuffing a wind up clock in his pocket where it of course goes off in alarming fashion.

When Edna encounters the robbers. she implores them to stay downstairs so as not to shock her sick mother upstairs and (after calling the police) tries to engage them in banter over tea until the police arrive. When the thug recalls Edna's ring and decides he wants to go upstairs to find jewelry, in spite of the sick mother tale, the thug's refusal to respect that boundary causes Charlie to turn on him in Edna's defense, to stop him from climbing the stairs. This pays off when the police arrive and Edna identifies Charlie as her husband so they leave him alone. It is amusing to see Charlie abruptly change his manner to start acting more officiously in this new role - having the cops light his cigar and seeing them out.

As a coda Charlie returns the goods to Edna who gives him a small reward and he heads down the road, arms outstretched - but only for a moment before this is deflated by the reappearance of the angered first cop Charlie had knocked into early in the film.

Visually this is one of the best prints we have seen so far, with only fairly brief passages at a lower (though still more than acceptable) level.

Rating:
Content: 9/10
Print: 8/10

 

"Police" is one of my favorite Essanays, and arguably in the running for the best film Chaplin had made up to that point in time.

I don't quite get the rejiggered argument for this film - it flows perfectly well and makes perfect sense, as is. While it's conceivable that the "shadow" sequence could have been shot and added later, why go to the trouble of shooting a scene that pads the film by an extra 10 seconds? Considering the travesty that is the extended version of "Burlesque on Carmen", it seems doubtful that any third party could have done such a good job constructing "Police". I will add the caveat that it's been many years since I've "studied up" on this question, so perhaps there is some compelling evidence that runs counter to my own viewing experience and logic.

I think this film succeeds on every level. It is funny, it is smart, it contains social commentary, and it is loaded with subtle moments of comedy that may not be apparent until a 3rd or 4th viewing. I think we even have a bit of a take-off on Griffith's famous intercutting - except Chaplin has the police "race" to the scene slowly and almost disinterestedly ... hardly "coming to the rescue".

Although the joke may be as old as the hills, "Police" contains the earliest appearance I can think of of a Three Stooges staple: Chaplin drops the large mallet on the foot of his fellow thief, and while his partner does a little jig to express the pain, Charlie starts clapping along to his "dance". Works better with two people (or stooges) doing the clapping.

There are loads of funny moments in here. I particularly like Charlie trying (in vain) to grab the piano while he's stealing things, and his insistence on hanging on to his beer even while he is being convinced to "go straight" by Edna. The multiple bullets to the rear end are a bit too Keystone for me, but otherwise there are some pretty flawless sequences in Edna's house. Interesting to see the tablecloth on Edna's table flapping in the breeze, reminding us that these "indoor" sequences were actually shot outdoors.

Terrific film - another one that I think can be shown to a 2016 audience without explanation or apology.

 

I think it more likely that its Charlie doing something visually different if not innovative. The shadow moves like Charlie IMO. A ten second shot for effect? Some would call that a waste of time in a comedy.

Charlie had a thing about flop houses. He saw them as a source of humor for some reason.

 

For all my attempts at parsing how it may have come about, and regardless of if anyone else had a hand in recutting, I agree it is probably the best yet, as indicated by the 9 rating (yes, I gave that to 3 others so far, but he does get even better at Mutual and First National, and I've got to save something).

 

Triple Trouble (film #52)
August 11, 1918
Two reels 22:50
Directed by Leo White, including footage directed by Chaplin

Though this films was released 2.5 years after Chaplin left Essanay based on about 11 minutes of unused Chaplin footage shot in 1915. It was padded out to two reel length with shooting of additional footage and assembled together with the Chaplin footage under the direction of Leo White. The additional footage added a pretty pointless plot about an invention of wireless explosives and diplomats scrambling to purchase it. It really has nothing to do with the Chaplin footage, though White is pretty clever in how he knits the two together. I have read that some believe a Chaplin double was used by White in some sequences, but I didn't identify any such shots (unless you count a pair of arms raising a trash can over a fence to dump it on Leo's head).

Among the best parts are sequences where Charlie is an inept Janitor in the house where Edna lives, quarreling with a cook and then getting into it with Edna after dumping his trash in her room, which were most likely shot for the abandoned Chaplin feature Life . There is also an extended flophouse sequence (much longer than in Police), in which Charlie behaves more like the michiefous violent pre-Tramp of Keystone days, than like the Tramp of Essanay; giving a hotfoot, stealing from a fellow guest and knocking a drunk with a bottle. These being shots that had been outtakes when Chaplin was directing suggests that he had made a conscious decision to portray the Tramp in a more respectable manner by cutting these out. Nice to have them anyway, as there is some funny material here, including a chaotic fight turning into a chase that exists the flophouse.

In a nutshell, the Chaplin footage here represents Keystone style Tramp that was shot in the Essanay years, and released after Chaplin's Mutual era once he had moved on to First National. I think a one reel version with just the Chaplin stuff and without the plot would be a lot better (I might have given that a 5 rating) , but there was a more lucrative market for two reel films at the time, and either way it is nice to get to see the extra Chaplin stuff.

Rating:
Content: 3/10
Print: 5/10

 

There's an element to this film I still don't understand. The professor's device is a wireless explosive, and yet both with the butler and the Kops it seems to also work as some sort of control device - making them move quickly. The intertitles never explain this function.

It's difficult (impossible?) to watch this film as a whole piece, and not always be conscious of the source of the material being seen (whether it be "Police", outtakes, or newly shot material). The Charlie-Edna exchange in the kitchen is oddly Keystone-esque. Edna is rarely the butt of physical comedy (as she is here with garbage being dumped over her) and she is rarely physical in return. She's out of her usual character here - interesting to see.

The ending of the film (especially when Charlie is off screen for a couple of minutes although his character is supposed to be present) is a mess. White seems to have gone with the rule that "mayhem" can cover a lack of plot, or a series of plot inconsistencies.

I'm sure even some audiences in 1918 were taken back by the patchwork quality of the film. In 2016 one of its few appeals is the "fun" similar to spotting the Bela Lugosi stand-in in "Plan 9" or the fake Shemps in the Stooges shorts made after his death.

 

Gonna take a bit of a breather before moving on to the Mutuals (which I have the last DVD version of but will pick up on BluRay.

My BluRay player broke, and I may pick up a multi region one, as I have heard the UK version of the Mutual BluRay is preferable as the US one has scores that are clearly mis-synched to the action

 

I didn't notice any big sync problems on the Flicker Alley set. And there are two different musical tracks. As the set has both BR and DVDs are the problems you speak of on both sets?

 

I would imagine they are on both. The things folks complained about were things like when a character rings a bell and there is a bell on the score, or someone falls and it is punctuated by percussion. And folks complained they drifted further out now sync as each film progressed. I will see if I can search for the comments and link them.

If it seems like it is not a big issue to you I may spare myself the expense of going multi region.

 

Amazing work Rfreeman!

 

Taking advantage of my time away from Charlie to rewatch the Abbott & Costello show. Through episode 4 now.

 

Whike waiting for my UK BFI BluRay Mutual set and region free player to arrive, I watched the Gentleman Tramp documentary that came with my Mutual DVD set.

Can't say I am a fan of this docunentary. It is very heavy handed the way they go back and forth between events in his life (like the HUAC ordeal, the exile) and parallel events in his films (the Verdoux trial). And lengthy clips from every major film get kind of dull. I'd rather watch the films than clips that long.

The worthwhile parts of it come in the last 15 minutes or so where we see early 70s Chaplin at home with his family and at the Oscars.

The final scene is truly delightful though, several silent minutes of Charlie (with hat and cane) and Oona walking off into the distance, ending with an iris in. Got me all warm and fuzzy like the end of Modern Times.

So unless you are a novice who needs an introduction to his films and bio, I suggest skipping to the last 15 minutes of this one and watching that.

 

I see. I guess its because I expect it. To me the sound effects would be a visual cue in the movie house. They WOULD be a split second behind the visual. I don't notice anything getting that far out of sync. I question what they want here.

 

Would up getting the BFI set amd a region free BR player. It is cool that they offer up to 4 soundtrack options on at least some of the films, including 2 orchestral tracks, an improvised piano track and a commentary track (at least for the first one, which is all I have watched so far). Does the Flicker Alley one have multiple soundtrack options too?

 

Two. An improvised piano accomp, and a small band.

 

I ended up enjoying the Essanays far better than I anticipated, especially considering the disapproving comments by some on page one.

The quality of the Flicker Alley release is a blessing, as the prints on other releases can be quite awful and do the reputation of this era no favours.

As an addendum, there are two other items that should be mentioned here - the version of Police found in the very enjoyable Chaplin Puzzle documentary, and the extraordinary out takes found in the Unkown Chaplin documentary.

While the Police restoration in Chaplin Puzzle is not quite as streamlined as the new one, I found it extremely interesting at the time, and it led to my delving further into the whole early period for the first time. Indeed, I probably would not have been interested in the Keystone era or Essanay without the amazement I felt after seeing that version of Police.

Unkown Chaplin is even more remarkable with yet another long section from Life - an appearance by a Proffessor with a flea circus - bit that would crop up again in Limelight.

Anyway, thanks to all who participated in this thread. It has been a lot of fun!!

 

Thanks for mentioning those bits in Unknown and Puzzle. I have seen them before, but will try to seek them out to check them out again.

Just started a Mutual thread this week.