Charlie Chaplin - The Mutual Comedies

A true rarity this, and an absolute treasure to behold! The great little man entered the film industry in 1914, and just two years later Charlie Chaplin was the highest paid actor in the world thanks to a contract with the Mutual Film Corporation which allowed him complete artistic freedom. The resulted in 12 two-reel films made between 1916-17, and for the first time they are available as a Limited Edition 2-Disc set, and fully restored at that!

The films that he made during that year display Chaplin’s genius for combining comedy with pathos. Furthermore they allow us to marvel at his unparalleled physical artistry and his perfect timing for slapstick routines. Chaplin’s then leading lady, Edna Purviance, and buddy Eric Campbell also play big parts in almost all of the featured comedy shorts.

DISC 1 contains: The Floorwalker, The Fireman, The Vagabond, One A.M., The Count, and The Pawnshop.
In The Floorwalker, which takes place in a New York department store, our hapless hero changes identities with a lookalike floorwalker and utter chaos ensues. Unfortunately for Charlie, the lookalike is involved in dirty tricks and theft of store money, so it is innocent Charlie who soon falls under the watching eye of store detectives. The Floorwalker is particularly memorable for Chaplin’s use of ballet-like slapstick antics and the fight with his double in which he performs splits and pirouettes is simply priceless!

The Vagabond sees Charlie in the title role playing a violinist who, by default, rescues a poor girl (E. Purviance) from abusing gypsies by literally knocking them out one by one with a heavy wooden stick – in true Chaplin style! After the pair escape in a caravan romance lurks in the air, but a chance encounter with an artist who is fascinated by the girl’s shamrock-birthmark soon puts an end to his dreams. Thanks to the artist’s finished painting exhibited in a gallery, the girl’s estranged mother recognizes her long lost daughter and with artist and family members in tow aids to her rescue. But along the drive in the car the girl realizes her true love is for the little vagabond and the car returns to pick him up, too.
One of the most hilarious shorts on Disc 1 has got to be One A.M! It differs from the other films not only because it does not have a plot as such but is a mere solo effort by Chaplin. No, it is one of those rare gems in which he sports an elegant top hat instead of his trademark bowler. The story is simple enough: Charlie here plays an elegant and wealthy gentleman who returns home after a night out on the town. However, it is his drunken state which confronts him with all sorts of obstacles, from trying to get into the house to trying to make it up to the bedroom. Sliding across carpets and getting stuck on tables, the highlight are his manifold unsuccessful efforts to make it up the stairs and into his bedchamber… When, after numerous hair-raising maneuvers, he finally succeeds in making it to the top of the stairs he is knocked down again by the swinging pendulum of a grandfather clock. An absolute riot to watch!

DISC 2 contains: Behind the Screen, The Rink, Easy Street, The Cure, The Immigrant, and The Adventurer.
In Behind The Screen Edna Purviance has aspirations of becoming an actress, so disguised as a male stagehand she lands a job in the props department. Enter little Charlie, who is David to his bullying colleague Goliath (Eric Campbell). During the course of action we witness a strike involving dynamite which blows the place apart but brings Charlie and Edna together – unscathed and in love.
One of the most famous of Chaplin’s films from that period is Easy Street, in which tramp Charlie vows to mend his ways and become a better person, if only to impress the pretty mission hall assistant. Responding to an ad calling for new police officers, Charlie gets the job but his first assignment is a tough one – he is to patrol and restore order in Easy Street, one of the most impoverished and most dangerous local thoroughfares shunned by most of the police force. But Charlie is not one for being intimidated easily and manages to knock out the leader of a local gang by pushing his head into a gas lamp, thus anaesthetizing him. Hell-bent on revenge, the thug kidnaps the pretty mission hall assistant but once again, Charlie kicks and jumps his way to the rescue. Does he get the girl? You bet!
Another classic is The Immigrant in which Charlie is on a ship bound for the ‘land of liberty’, the United States. Aboard he briefly makes the acquaintance of a sickly widow and her pretty daughter and helps them out when it transpires that the mother had money stolen from her. After the ship enters Ellis Island, mother and daughter once again thank Charlie for his kindness and then part ways. Weeks later, a downtrodden Charlie wanders the streets of New York and, finding a dollar on the pavement, enters a restaurant without realizing the coin had slipped out of his pocket. During his meal he spots the very girl from the ship sitting at another table, all by herself. Upon hearing that her mother has died and the girl is just as impoverished, he invites her over and orders her a meal. It is only when the bullying waiter asks for payment that Charlie realizes he lost his dollar and in panic orders more food and more coffee! He the spots another dollar coin on the floor which the waiter dropped and his efforts to pick up the coin without the waiter realizing is a scream. He succeeds just as good luck arrives in the shape of an artist, who pays Charlie and the girl upfront for modeling for him. With a proud gesture Charlie pays the bill from the money the waiter dropped, and uses the money the artist pays him to wed the girl in the marriage office.

It is hard to believe that these films are almost 100 years old – the quality and Chaplin’s comedic genius are truly timeless!

SPECIAL FEATURES of the limited edition Blu-ray and DVD sets include:

· All films fully restored in High Definition
· Carl Davis scores on all 12 films
· Alternative scores for each film by a range of composers including Neil Brand, Antonio Coppola and Stephen Horne
· Audio commentaries for all films by Frank Scheide, Glenn Mitchell, Dan Kamin, Hooman Mehran, Bryony Dixon, Michael Hayde and Carl Davis
· Chaplin Signs the Mutual Contract (1916, 25 secs) documentary short
· Charlie on the Ocean to England (1921, 5 mins) Topical Budget newsreel
· An Interview with Carl Davis (2003, 9 mins): the composer discusses Chaplin
· Illustrated booklet with new essays by Michael J Hayde, Dan Kamin, Glenn Mitchell and Carl Davis; full film credits