The Chaplin Revue (2 Disc Special Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Where are the actual dvd Reviews??
Review: All the reviews posted on this dvd are for the vhs!! It's so annoying that no one seems to realize that there are not three, but SEVEN early chaplin shorts presented on the dvd (the extras have even more shorts)!! Also, the three from the 1958 re-edit entitled the 'chaplin revue' are available on the dvd in their ORIGINAL VERSIONS as well as the recut!! So will people stop complaining and give these shorts the attention and respect they deserve!! Also, I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend to get the box set for the chaplin collection vol. 2, which includes this, because to get the 7 movies separatly would be $175 retail and the box set includes a special documentary on chaplin NOT AVAILABLE SEPARATLY as well as the seven films for a retail of only $100!!

Rating:
Summary: Where are the actual dvd Reviews??
Review: All the reviews posted on this dvd are for the vhs!! It's so annoying that no one seems to realize that there are not three, but SEVEN early chaplin shorts presented on the dvd (the extras have even more shorts)!! Also, the three from the 1958 re-edit entitled the 'chaplin revue' are available on the dvd in their ORIGINAL VERSIONS as well as the recut!! So will people stop complaining and give these shorts the attention and respect they deserve!! Also, I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend to get the box set for the chaplin collection vol. 2, which includes this, because to get the 7 movies separatly would be $175 retail and the box set includes a special documentary on chaplin NOT AVAILABLE SEPARATLY as well as the seven films for a retail of only $100!!

Rating:
Summary: The Screen's greatest filmmaker at his best!!!
Review: Chaplin's 'Review' consists of three hilarious films straight from the genius himself. The first is 'A Dog's Life' in which the Tramp acquires a canine companion; the second is 'The Immigrant,' where Chaplin comes to America; and the third is 'The Pilgrim' in which he is an escaped con hiding out in a small town as a preacher. Chaplin as always puts everything into these and produces three hilarious winners. Great to see when you need a good laugh--Chaplin supplies that. Would you expect anything else from the King of the Cinema?

Rating:
Summary: The King of the Cinema
Review: Chaplin's 'Review' consists of three hilarious films straight from the genius himself. The first is 'A Dog's Life' in which the Tramp acquires a canine companion; the second is 'The Immigrant,' where Chaplin comes to America; and the third is 'The Pilgrim' in which he is an escaped con hiding out in a small town as a preacher. Chaplin as always puts everything into these and produces three hilarious winners. Great to see when you need a good laugh--Chaplin supplies that. Would you expect anything else from the King of the Cinema?

Rating:
Summary: The Screen's greatest filmmaker at his best!!!
Review: Chaplin's early films were very popular during World War I. In this video, three of his finest shorts are shown. First, "A Dog's Life", where the Tramp gets a dog and enters a bar, where he befriends a dancer. Second, "Shoulder Arms", a story about war and the courage of one person. Finally, there is "The Pilgrim", a hillarious short about an escaped convict who poses as a priest. Wonderful all the way around. Pure nostalgia!

Rating:
Summary: The Screen's greatest filmmaker at his best!!!
Review: Chaplin's early films were very popular during World War I. In this video, three of his finest shorts are shown. First, "A Dog's Life", where the Tramp gets a dog and enters a bar, where he befriends a dancer. Second, "Shoulder Arms", a story about war and the courage of one person. Finally, there is "The Pilgrim", a hillarious short about an escaped convict who poses as a priest. Wonderful all the way around. Pure nostalgia!

Rating:
Summary: The Chaplin Slowdown
Review: Compiled, scored and narrated by Charlie Chaplin in 1958, "The Chaplin Revue" was a terrific idea to showcase three of the comedian's best films for First National -- "A Dog's Life" (1918), "Shoulder Arms" (1918) and "The Pilgrim" (1923). Unfortunately, Chaplin tampered with these particular films by presenting them at a slower projection speed, which ruins the original comic timing and pacing. As a public service, avoid "The Chaplin Revue" and purchase "The First National Collection" on DVD. This excellent disc includes most of Chaplin's work from 1918 to 1923 -- and at the proper projection speed. The difference is amazing.



Rating:
Summary: The Chaplin Slowdown
Review: Compiled, scored and narrated by Charlie Chaplin in 1958, "The Chaplin Revue" was a terrific idea to showcase three of the comedian's best films for First National -- "A Dog's Life" (1918), "Shoulder Arms" (1918) and "The Pilgrim" (1923). Unfortunately, Chaplin tampered with these particular films by presenting them at a slower projection speed, which ruins the original comic timing and pacing. As a public service, avoid "The Chaplin Revue" and purchase "The First National Collection" on DVD. This excellent disc includes most of Chaplin's work from 1918 to 1923 -- and at the proper projection speed. The difference is amazing.

Rating:
Summary: Review of the Revue
Review: In the "Chaplin Collection" DVD series, this is the one entry where Chaplin's short films are given the same digital cleanup, analysis and care that his features did. To be honest, this balance seems about right. I find his short films to be very hit-and-miss affairs with some occasional brilliance coupled with some material that I simply find a bit dull. He genius would be fully realized, I feel, when he moved into full-length movies and had more time to develop his storylines and his jokes. But the films presented here are fairly good -- not my favorites, but good. Although I enjoyed much of it, I had a few quibbles.

The only real annoying thing about this collection is that it's based upon re-releases that Chaplin did decades after the fact. Perhaps worried that the footage from the late 1910s would look dated, he decided to slow down some portions of the movie to reduce the jerkiness and make the movements look more natural. I'm not alone in stating that I feel this ruins some of the gags and completely throws off the timing. It's true that a lot of the jokes are funny enough to survive this, but I cannot help but find these speed variations distracting.

Of course, with the rough comes the smooth, and when Chaplin re-released those films, he did so with a synchronized soundtrack. I love Chaplin's musical compositions, so it's great to get some here for his short work. I particularly like the theme song he creates for "The Pilgrim", a slow rambling country song that sounds a hell of a lot better than most stuff that comes from "real" country musicians.

Negatives aside, there's a lot of fun stuff to be had. I like Chaplin's attitude, his sense of gallows humor. Themes we would see further developed and fleshed out later in his career are forming here. Constantly present is his sticking up for the "little guy", whether that be for the tramp or for, say, the soldier in "Soldier Arms".

These films aren't the funniest or the best, but they're a decent representation of Chaplin's short movies. If you already know that you like the films presented here, then this is definitely a good DVD set to pick up. The picture and sound quality are as good as we're going to get for stuff of this age, and the extra material is worthy of a viewing or two. Just note that they've messed up the labeling on this; the listing for disc one is actually describing the contents of disc two (and vice versa). Don't waste as much time as I did looking around the menus for things that are actually on the disc that's still in the packaging.

Rating:
Summary: Great DVD, but not all the films are equal.
Review: Since Chaplin was making dozens of shorts a year, it's easy to guess that not all of them are of the same quality. So it is with this collection. There are several must-owns on here, however, and they have been mastered well onto DVD with loads of extra materials, so this release remains essential in a Chaplin collection.

The two flagships for me are "Shoulder Arms" and "A Dog's Life". "A Dog's Life" was the first complete Chaplin film I saw, and it continues to delight me with its lightning pacing, masterful gags, and fascinating use of music -- the high-comedy bits still feature the merry scores of usual Chaplin films, but the main theme is a weepy, dramatic orchestral piece which, when juxtaposed against the famous Chaplin sight gags, are remarkably funny, almost perverse. Chaplin's physical skills are unparalleled in this film, with the "human puppet" sequence, the employment centre, the fight with the wild dogs, and the opening "roll with the cops" sequence being the highlights. "Shoulder Arms" was a brave stab at making the First World War funny and Chaplin succeeded grandly. Luckily, he also had the good sense to cut out an entire first act, seen here on the DVD bonus materials, which had little to no bearing on the story and isn't all that funny anyway. The trench gags in this film are fast and hilarious; though the "enemy territory" section drags a little, the film remains great.

The remaining films range from hilarious to just okay: I like "Sunnyside", which takes the Tramp's frequent dashes of unrequited love to a new level; but "The Pilgrim" wears out its central gag long before it's over, and "The Idle Class" and "A Day's Pleasure" are excruciatingly slow.

There are more films on these two discs than on the other Chaplin DVDs in this series, so there is slightly less bonus material to peruse. But there's still quite a bit, such as a propaganda film with Chaplin and Edna Purviance, and deleted scenes from "Shoulder Arms". It's always great to actually see deleted scenes from such old films. This DVD set is still a worthy addition to this impressive series of Chaplin reissues.

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