Saturday, March 3, 2012

The Films of Charlie Chaplin at the Mutual Film Corporation


With Essanay Studios, Charlie would find a new sense of artistic freedom and a more refined skill as a filmmaker. He would then take it to the next level at Mutual Films, as well as becoming the highest paid actor of the time.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't achieve that optimal level until a few more contracts, but he was even closer at this point. Charlie was now producing his films and would experience near-complete artistic freedom. But didn't have sole ownership of his films, he shared the producing credit with Henry P. Caulfield who unfortunately had a say in production as well. Charlie also had several uncredited co-directors and co-writers, so Charlie's films still weren't completely his. And thus, like Essanay, Chariie would still struggle a bit. However, it's at Mutual where he would create some of his best shorts up to that time as well some of his most iconic images and memorable gags of his career. Charlie made 12 films for Mutual, but I'll only be including eight reviews in this section.
The Floorwalker (Shop) (1916)
Producer: Charlie Chaplin, Henry P. Caulfield
Writer/Director: Charlie Chaplin, Vincent Bryan (co-writer)
Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell, Lloyd Campbell
RATING: 70/100 
Although Charlie was given his own studio at his time at Essanay, it would be at Mutual when he would be able to build his own sets. His first film at Mutual, The Floorwalker, would be one of his first films in which Charlie built his own set. One of the more interesting things about the set, is when Charlie asked his team to build an elevator, which would allow Charlie to create one of his most inspired gags: the elevator chase scene. Another iconic image in this film, is one that has been recreated and parodied in several films since then.
Charlie's Tramp encounters the owner of a department store who looks exactly identical to him, and as soon as they see each other, create a rather amusing mirror effect. This gag has been most famously done (and thus popularized the gag) in the Marx Brothers film Duck Soup. The gag would be parodied in several other mediums in the future, such as in the animated series Family Guy. The mistaken identity gag would also be one that Charlie would revisit in several of his other films. This film would also be one of the first times Charlie would feature his good friend Eric Campbell in his trademark role of the angry hothead, a role he would play in a multitude of Chaplin's films as well as starring in some of Charlie's best work.
As mentioned earlier, The Tramp encounters a man that looks completely identical to him. But when he gets mistaken for the man, and the crime he had committed, the Tramp finds himself in deep waters.
A pretty funny and enjoyable short. It's not exactly mesmerizingly good, but it's still pretty fun. The story is pretty clever, but doesn't really go anywhere. There are lots of brilliant gags (seeing the moments mentioned earlier alone makes the film worth seeing) but the humor isn't very consistent. All in all, it's a pretty funny and entertaining film.





The Vagabond (Gypsy Life) (1916)
Producer: Charlie Chaplin, Henry P. Caulfield
Writer/Director: Charlie Chaplin, Vincent Bryan (co-writer)
Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell, Lloyd Campbell
RATING: 80/100
The Tramp meets a woman who is being abused by her employers, and he takes it upon himself to rescue her and whisk her away. Their life together is pleasant but things become complicated when The Tramp falls in love with the woman, but the woman falls for another.

With The Tramp (1915), the short from Essanay, Charlie had taken his first step towards his unique genius, and with The Vagabond, he would take another step. But only just a step, it's not exactly a leap, like The Kid. The Tramp and The Vagabond (Man, Charlie like to use "The" in the titles of his films) were two of the very first films ever to display a mixture of comedy and pathos, which would become Charlie's trademark and which he would later perfect in The Kid. The Vagabond comes close, but not as close as The Tramp or nearly as close as The Kid.

But on it's own, The Vagabond is an extremely endearing and adorable film with some beautiful touching moments and a few laughs. But only a few. It's a smidge disappointing because the film isn't very funny. There are a couple or so pretty good moments, but overall it's a letdown. That being so, the film is still very cute and amusing and it isn't really boring, it just works better as a drama with some funny moments, rather than the level of his masterpieces which are a perfect combination of laughs and tears. 


One A.M. (Solo) (1916)
Producer: Charlie Chaplin, Henry P. Caulfield
Writer/Director: Charlie Chaplin
Starring: Charlie Chaplin
RATING: 95/100
 
One of Charlie's most impressive films is One A.M. It's simply a drunk Charlie coming home from a night out on the town, trying to get inside his house, upstairs into his bedroom, and into bed. That's it! Really! And it's wonderful.

One A.M. is just great. Only Charlie Chaplin can take 15 minutes trying to get inside his house, getting upstairs, and getting to sleep and entertain you every second of it. It just shows the sort of charisma, talent, and mastery that Charlie exuded in his films and made him one of the best who ever lived. One A.M feels like an exercise or lecture in physical comedy (but not a boring lecture, not at all). There may not be anything mind-blowing about this short, but it's just a perfect example of what made Charlie Chaplin the master comedian that he is now known as.






The Pawnshop (At The Sign of the Dollar) (High and Low Finance)(1916)
Producer: Charlie Chaplin, Henry P. Caulfield
Writer/Director: Charlie Chaplin
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Henry Bergman
RATING: 75/100
 
One of Charlie's most famous and successful Mutual shorts, The Pawnshop puts The Tramp working at, as you might expect, a pawnshop. It's a great formula actually. The Tramp + Pawned Trinkets = Awesometown.

Well, it's not really awesometown. It's more like prettygoodtown. There are some great moments here, and the entire film is pretty funny, but it's not very consistent as a slight majority of the jokes grow tired pretty fast and are basically slapstick cliches. There's not much to the story as well. It's still a great enjoyable film overall, and most likely worth your time





The Rink (Rolling Around)(Waiter) (1916)
Producer: Charlie Chaplin, Henry P. Caulfield
Writer/Director: Charlie Chaplin
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Henry Bergman, Eric Campbell
RATING: 80/100
 
This Mutual short is another one of Chaplin's "formula shorts." The formula in this film being: The Tramp + A Roller Rink = Laughter. Much laughter.

Charlie plays a waiter who loves to roller skate, and (big surprise here, just warning you so you don't get too startled) manages to get into some mischief with his boss and some skaters at the rink.

The Rink is one damn funny film. The first third of the film isn't as funny, but as soon as Charlie steps onto the roller rink, laughter and joy ensues. The story is also actually quite amusing and concludes in a rather hilarious explosion of silliness. It's pretty close to getting up there with one of Charlie's funniest, but not quite there. However, witnessing his largely impressive and humorous skating skills is well well worth worth it it.





Easy Street (1917)
Producer: Charlie Chaplin, Henry P. Caulfield
Writer/Director: Charlie Chaplin
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell
RATING: 80/100
 
Here we have a Chaplin silent short that may rival The Immigrant as Charlie's most important and famous work at Mutual Studios. It also may as well be Charlie's most autobiographical with a subject matter very near and dear to Mr. Chaplin's heart. The Tramp, looking for work, joins up with the police force and gets assigned to the toughest neighborhood in the county, Easy Street. He does his best to clean up the area, but struggles when he runs into the bully and his gang that run the whole joint.

As I've mentioned, Charlie grew up in the slums of Walworth, London, which was a very rough and tumble neighborhood. Charlie wanted to recreate his hardship by building a little London town in the middle of Los Angeles, California, and he did so (if I may say so) brilliantly. A little trivia, the name of the street and film is a reference to the actual street Charlie grew up on, which was called East Street. See, it's like Easy Street but with a "T" instead of a "Y" at the end. Clever!

The film may not be very funny (even though it does have a few pretty good moments) but it's definitely one of Charlie's most endearing films as you can almost feel how much of himself he put into this film. The ending is very touching, and you almost feel the sort of difficulties Charlie had to go through to get where he is today. It's a very moving film, but don't expect a lot of funny moments.




The Cure (The Water Cure)
Producer: Charlie Chaplin, Henry P. Caulfield
Writer/Director: Charlie Chaplin
Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell
RATING: 70/100
 
This short is actually one of Charlie's more popular Mutual films. Charlie plays a drunkard looking to rehabilitate himself at a health spa, and doesn't exactly get the R&R he's searching for when he can't help but cause some trouble with the management.
The Cure is another one of Charlie's less impressive but still largely enjoyable shorts. There are a few pretty great moments as well as some of Charlie's more memorable and iconic images. The overall film is fun and silly, but it does feel a bit lacking and disappointing as you know that it pales in comparison with some of Charlie's better work. But on it's own, it's a fairly amusing albeit inconsistent short with some great moments.





The Immigrant (A Modern Columbus)(Broke)(Hello U.S.A.)(The New World) (1917)
Producer: Charlie Chaplin, Henry P. Caulfield
Writer/Director: Charlie Chaplin
Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell
RATING: 90/100
The Immigrant is undoubtedly Charlie's most successful, important, and iconic film up to that point. It's his first of many films to be added into the National Film Registry, which if you don't know, is a pretty big deal. A film is added to the Registry (which is part of the American Library of Congress) when it is deemed "culturally, aesthetically, or technologically significant." And The Immigrant definitely is all of those. This film would also be one of the first courageous satires of his career, being a film criticizing and parodying the search for the American Dream.
Charlie plays an immigrant (do I even have to say it?) who finds love on the boat to America. They travel to America in hopes to find wealth and a better life, but they don't exactly get what they want.
It's amazing how much Charlie can give you from so little. The plot is simple and light, and the entire experience is hugely amusing but may not be very hysterical as you might hope. There are some pretty great scenes, but the film just isn't that funny. It's not boring or anything like that, the story is actually quite moving and endearing. It may not be a laugh riot, but The Immigrant is definitely one of Charlie's most magical films. The tenderness and the delicacy of the characters and the way they interact is beautiful.

The Mutual shorts are filled with great gems of Charlie's career that any fan or aspiring fan will enjoy. You can buy DVD collections of them at Amazon.

Charlie's work at Mutual is very similar to his time at Essanay, but it is a step further. He had more creative control, but not as much as he would've wanted. Despite this, Charlie produced some of his best and most memorable shorts at Mutual. Charlie had definitely found his way as a comedian (seeing as some of this funniest films are from Essanay and Mutual) and he had begun to find himself an artist, creating very touching and emotionally gripping films at this point. But you ain't seen nothing yet. His next career move would take him to First National, where his work would be almost leaps and bounds over his previous work.


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