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Rating: 
Summary: Chaplin at a furious creative pace
Review:
This first volume in the set of 1915 Essanay shorts presents Chaplin's first experiments with the gags and situations that he will refine over the years in his mature films. Although in 1915 he had only been in the movies for one year, he is clearly fully confident of his talents as a comedian, and he is unafraid to test new ideas at a furious pace. Watching these films is like listening to Louis Armstrong's early "Hot Five" sessions -- a non-stop flood of mostly completely new ideas, not all of which work, but enough do to make the experience enjoyable. Unfortunately, we are somewhat burdened in not being able to fully appreciate the freshness of this work -- we have seen the humor either repeated by Chaplin in later films or by other comedians. Still, even today it's possible to sense the spontaneity, the improvisational nature of these scenes.
Part of Chaplin's creative spurt is no doubt the result of suddenly being endowed with more freedom than he was able to achieve at Keystone, the studio he had recently left. In fact, the first film in the set, "His New Job", is a thinly disguised poke at his old employer, about working as a movie actor in the "Lodestone" Film Company. This film shows how Chaplin's approach to comedy differs significantly from the Keystone formula -- the pace in the action is noticeably slower. By slowing the pace, Chaplin can better mine each scene for more comic gold, and he characteristically bases the humor more on pantomime than on pure slapstick. Even a simple act such as changing into a costume he wears to shoot a scene in "His New Job" provides a wealth of material for comic invention. In these movies, people and things supply a continuous supply of props for Chaplin's creativity.
Along with the flurry of new ideas, the character of the tramp is still under development in these early films. This tramp character is still closer to the Keystone tramp -- quite simply, a nuisance. There is no heroism toward the down-trodden, no sense of the hopelessness of poverty, no resentment towards the oppression of authority here. The tramp of these films is driven purely reactively by his senses, flirting with every hour-glass figure he encounters, fighting with anyone who looks at him the wrong way, and willing to do anything, honest or otherwise, for immediate gain. Even when he gets the girl, he has already won her, as in "A Jitney Elopement". Really the only moment in this collection when the character shows an inclination towards something more noble is in the opening scenes of "The Champion" where he shares a humble meal with his lowly dog.
One final word: the quality of the films is superb, which is especially important in appreciating the flood of new comic ideas that emerge from the mind of the master.
Rating: 
Summary: Crude, unfunny
Review: I don't believe that Chaplin achieved comedic excellence until his features. These shorts are crude physical humor and totally unfunny. Dated stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: Another nicely restored set of Chaplin films!
Review: Okay, this review is for the Image dvd of the Chaplin Essanay Comedies, Volume 1. If this review appears on any other product, with the exception of a Kino product, then know that this review has NOTHING to do with whatever you are looking at. If you are looking at Madacy or Koch videos, then just go away now, and look for a good video, because Madacy and Koch videos of Chaplin are garbage. ANYWAYS... I give this five stars, because the restoration, music, and presentation are awesome. The films are the most complete they have been in over 80 years, and are mastered from the best available materials. David Shepherd worked on these for a decade or so, and some of the films come from as many as five different sources. This can be a little odd sometimes, as the picture will change in quality and framing every so often, which is a bit of a jumpy sensation, but it's either that or just miss the footage altogether. As far as the films go - well, this is not Chaplin's best work. "His New Job", "A Night Out", and "In the Park" are slight, derivative, and not terribly interesting. "A Jitney Elopement" is fascinating for the fact that Chaplin relies on a lot of tracking and racing shots for the chase, which all happens in cars. "The Champion" is a very good film, and is the best of this lot. Chaplin made better films than these for Essanay, which can especially be seen on Disc 2 of the series. This is NOT a good disc for the person who is just getting interested in Chaplin or silent films. You would be better of with the later features, such as City Lights, The Kid, The Gold Rush, or The Circus, which should all be reissued in 2003 in gorgeous quality - I can't wait! But if you are acquainted with Chaplin, and have read a good book or two about his career and development, then this is a fine dvd to get. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: BFI Releases are the Same Restorations.
Review: Please note: I actually do not own this exact DVD. I have the BFI releases of the Chaplin Essanay shorts, released on DVD in the UK. However, the prints used here for this Image Release, are the same restorations on the BFI DVDs by David Shepard. They also have the same musical scores, from Eric James and Robert Israel.
This DVD release from Image contains five of Chaplin's Essanay short films. "His New Job", "A Night Out", "The Champion", "In the Park", and "A Jitney Elopement". The David Shepard restorations are a little mixed in quality with each of the shorts, but are known to be the most complete versions available. On some of the pictures, there is slight cropping on edges, but the overall picture quality is very impressive for the most part. They are a little grainy, and showing their age, but completely watchable, and the best I have ever seen them. Robert Israel and Eric James have done some great new music scores, to accompany each of the shorts.
All of the five short films presented here on this first volume in Image's Chaplin Essanay series date from 1915. It's clear that there is a big improvement in the quality of the films, to that of the earlier Keystone pictures, but these are still not entirely the best. The Mutual shorts that came later were a bigger improvement.
"In the Park" could easily be passed off as one of the cheap-o Keystone one reelers, and its maybe the weakest one here, but none are anything less than highly enjoyable. "His New Job" was the first picture Chaplin made at Essanay, and its similar in a way to that of an earlier Keystone short, "A Film Johnny", but a lot better. Its really just a behind-the-scenes making of a film, with all the usual chaos expected, on a film set where the Tramp is involved. "A Night Out" and "A Jitney Elopement" are easily the two best ones here, both with Edna Purviance (as are all the shorts on this disc, except "His New Job").
There are no real poor films here, and the great picture quality, and of course the nice new scores for the shorts, make it all the more worthwile to pick up if you live in the US (UK readers, go for the BFI releases). Please avoid all releases from companies such as Madacy, and the other budget companies. They don't bother restoring films, and usually put on Jelly Roll Morton records (yes, he's great, but its not right when watching Chaplin shorts) while they are playing.
Rating:
Summary: WELL DONE
Review: This is a must have for an avid Chaplin fan.Great restoration by David Shepard and musical score by Robert Israel and Eric James.I highly recommend this and Vols.2,3 for your collection.
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