[DVD] Charlie Chaplin, Volume 1 by Classics 8

Rating:
Summary: Charlie Chaplin's first eight Keystone Comedies in 1914
Review: If you want to start at the very beginning of Charlie Chaplin's film career (a very good place to start), then "Charlie Chaplin, Volume 1" fills the bill. Chaplin joined the Keystone Company at the end of 1913 and would make thirty-five comedies in 1914, a period during which he made the transition from a music hall comedian to a film actor (and director). Collected her on Volume 1 are, in order, the first eight of Chaplin's Keystone Comedies, which include a couple that feature Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle:

1. "Making a Living" (Released February 2, 1914), presents Chaplin, not as the beloved Tramp, but rather a "sharper" who is a rival of the character played by director Henry Lehrman. After panhandling Lehrman, Chaplin steals the girl (Virginia Kirtley) and there are lots of slapstick fights. The problem is that given this is Charlie Chaplin's American debut it is really unimpressive given the greatness that is to come. Chaplin never thought it was particularly funny, especially since all of the elaborate comic business he developed for the film ended up on the cutting room floor.

2. "Kid's Auto Race in Venice" (Released February 7, 1914), takes place at the track of a Soap Box Derby. Written and directed by Henry Lehrman, who also plays the film director in the comedy, this one has Chaplin as a tramp who keeps getting in the way of the cameraman trying to film the kids racing their cars. Chaplin's scene stealing is really all there is to this one, which supposedly was improvised on site and filmed in less than an hour. However, the comedy does have the distinction of being one of the first self-reflexive films in movie history.

3. "Mabel's Strange Predicament" (Released February 9, 1914) bring Chaplin and leading lady Mable Normand together for the first time. They would make nine one- reelers together, including "Mabel at the Wheel," "Mabel's Busy Day," and "Mabel's Married Life," plus the ambitious six-reeler "Tillie's Punctured Romance" (she also directed or co-directed four of his comedies). Chaplin plays a drunken masher for the first time on screen, who tries to get acquainted with the elegantly dressed Mabel, who has to deal with her husband (Chester Conklin), another admirer (Harry McCoy), and his jealous wife (Alice Davenport). The interesting thing here is how Chaplin, the relative novice, steals the movie from the star, Norman, but to be fair, she really has nothing special to do in this one.

4. "Between Showers" (Released Febraury 28, 1914) has Chaplin and Ford Sterling as rival mashers. Sterling is actually the star of this one, who starts off stealing an umbrella from a copy (Chester Conklin) before Charlie, in tramp costume, shows up. Neither Sterling nor Chaplin are really funny in this one, so while historically there is a changing of the guard at Keystone as Chaplin replaced Sterling as Mack Sennett's main clown, it seems a moot point on the basis of this lame comedy.

5. "A Film Johnnie" (Released March 2, 1914) has Charlie as a Tramp who falls for the heroine (Virginia Kirtley) of a Keystone film he is watching in a nickelodeon. After creating mayhem at the film show, he does the same thing at the film studio (where Ford Sterling, Fatty Arbuckle and other Keystone players appear as themselves), and at a fire, where Mack Sennett has sent the Keystone Cops to play firemen. Like "Kid's Auto Race," this is an early example of self-reflexive cinema, and it is the second best comedy on this DVD.

6. "Tango Tangles" (Released March 9, 1914) has Chaplin as a drunken swell, with all the action taking place at a dance hall and its cloak room. Minta Durfee is the hatcheck girl, Sterling the band leader, Arbukcle the clarinet player, and Conklin a male dancer. This is a minor Keystone comedy, trying to make something out of the tango craze, but not even getting the dance right. Charlie tries to pick up the hatcheck girl, and then Sterling takes turns fighting Fatty and Charlie, with the latter benefiting from Chaplin's choreography.

7. "His Favorite Pastime" (Released March 16, 1914) has Chaplin playing a drunken tramp, with Arbuckle doing a cameo as another drunkard. Playing the lady was Peggy Pearce, with whom Chaplin was romantically involved at the time. The best part of this above average Keystone comedy takes place in the tavern where Chaplin has a fight with Arbuckle, takes on a tough guy, has a couple of sequences in the men's room, and then is at the bar. You will find the genesis of a lot of familiar bits of Chaplin business (e.g., turning a sausage into a cigar, dealing with a swinging door) in this one, which is far and away the best of the eight Keystone comedies on this DVD.

8. "Cruel Cruel Love" (Released March 26, 1914) is a mock melodrama. Chaplin plays Mr. Dovey, who is rejected by the woman he loves (Minta Durfee) when she sees him with the maid (Alice Davenport) who was just fired. After his rejection, Mr. Dovey swallows what he believes to be poison and has visions of devils burning him in the fires of Hell. In the end there is the requisite reconciliation. What makes this one different from Chaplin's other early Keystone films is that he is going over the top for comic effect, but it does not make it funnier.

Overall, the historical interest in seeing Chaplin's first film comedies outweighs the quality of these early efforts. But you do get a sense of Chaplin learning his craft and coming up with bits that make it impossible for what he is doing to be cut from the film. Ironically, what started out as an effort at self-preservation became the foundation for an approach and standard of film comedy that would make Chaplin and his Tramp the most beloved comedian on the face of the planet.