Description

The most celebrated figure of slapstick, Charles Chaplin has risen to become one of popular culture's most recognizable figures: a universal icon of mirth, melancholia and perseverance that has been cherished and imitated for decades. This volume of Slapstick Encyclopedia salutes Sir Charles with a pair of vintage, remastered Chaplin comedies, a rediscovered piece of footage in which he comically conducts an orchestra at a New York fun-raiser and a collection of comedies that explore the music hall roots of the British-born American master.

Two of Chaplin's films are adapted from stage routines he performed while touring with the Karno troupe: The Rink and A Night In The Show (which Karno veteran Lupino Lane also revisits in Only Me). Stan Laurel was Chaplin's own music hall understudy and in Pie-Eyed he performs a chaotic drunk act worthy of his mentor (Chaplin's "Inebriate" can be witnessed in Volume 4). History indicates that Chaplin borrowed heavily from music hall star Billie Ritchie and Live Wires And Love Sparks is the only filmic record of his influential pantomimic talents.

Billy West was one of the more shameless borrowers of the "Little Tramp" persona and his impersonation was so good that it won even Chaplin's favor. various directors. U.S. 1915-29. 134 mins. B&W. Music by Eric Beheim, Brian Benison, Robert Israel, Ken Rosen, Donald Sosin.

Contents:
A Night In The Show (1915, w/Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance)
"Rare Chaplin Snippet" (1916, w/Charles Chaplin)
The Rink (1916, w/Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell)
Live Wires And Love Sparks (1916, Billie Ritchie)
He's In Again (1918, Billy West)
Pie-Eyed (1925, Stan Laurel)
Only Me (1929, Lupino Lane) ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Fine silent comedy that's still laughable
Most silent comedies tend to hold up better than dramas, particualrly the later ones where the camerawork isn't as jerky. This contains some fine little-known work. The pre-hardy Stan Laurel does a hilarious turn as a drunk caught in a compromising position with another man's wife. The forgotten Billy Richie is wildly funny as a knave who deliberately cheats on his wife and suffers the consequences. Another little-known comic, Lupino Lane, does an excellent turn in a one man, multi-character performance. As for Chaplin, even non-Chaplin fans like me will like "The Rink" and "A Night at the Show." These films show that filmed comedies had a splendid beginning. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Fine, not WOW-ing
A pretty decent collection and includes the first full-length feature, hence historically important. However, the sound quality is one of the worst possible on a DVD..and is sometimes annoying..though the picture quality is reasonable for the price. Not a bad piece for a collection, if the Image and Mutual Versions is out-of-bounds for your wallet. If you are expecting a "real" DVD-like quality, you will be disappointed. Though, that is the result of the source itself.

Fantastic Restoration!
Quality prints of Chaplin's Keystones are so hard to find! This is one. Image Entertainment has done it again. The quality is crisp and clear. Highly recommend!

This review is for the Tillie's/Mabel DVD, NOT the Chaplin Marathon!

Not as bad as expected
First of all, this review is for the Laserlight dvd "Charlie Chaplin Marathon", which has different content from other dvds that this review may appear on.

What we have is is three readily available Chaplin short films, and the feature "Tillie's Punctured Romance".

The three short films, "The Immigrant", "The Rink", and "The Vagabond", are three of Chaplin's best from the Mutual Films period, 1916-1917. In this edition, the films are presented in copies from the Blackhawk collection, with the 1930's era Van Buren soundtracks added on. The picture quality is surprisingly good for a budget dvd, the soundtracks are as horrible as they have always been, and the films are not as restored as the copies on the Image "Chaplin Mutual Films" collection. This makes the dvd not a bad starting place for the Chaplin novice.

However, the copy of "Tillie's Punctured Romance" is a horror, a very bad print, missing many shots and scenes, with a narrator droning endlessly on to try and make sense of this choppy film. It is an abomination, and it saddens me to think that people might be buying this instead of the Image dvd of the film. The Image dvd is fully restored, and looks and sounds a good as possible.

The verdict - this disc may pass for someone who isn't that interested in Chaplin, but it is not for the discerning fan. There are many discs to recommend instead of it.

Not bad, for what it's worth
This appears to be the same version that appeared frequently on early cable channels in the early 1980s.

The narrator actually helps somewhat, as some of what goes on is a bit hard to follow.

Overall, it's an old-timey tale from 1914 where the city slicker (Charlie Chaplin) and his assistant (a rather appealing Mabel Normand)bamboozles the country gal (Marie Dressler). It has its moments. When Charlie and Mabel bilk the country gal out of her bucks, they go to a theater and are horrified to watch a story of a couople of city slickers who rob a country bumpkin. Ridden with guilt, they exit the theater as the story hits way too close to home. Marie Dressler wreaking havoc when she catches Charlie & Mabel making love is also quite humorous.

This was the first knwon feature comedy film, and was a good beginning for the genre. By the way, the little boy who Charlie Chaplin slaps was little Milton Berle, who later recalled that Chaplin really hurt him in this scene.

First feature comedy
The reviews on this page seem to be referring to two or three different editions of "Tillie's Punctured Romance." So let me start by saying that I'm reviewing the Image DVD version (which also contains the one-reeler "Mabel's Married Life" as a bonus feature) and not the Chaplin marathon which seems to be the recipient of the bad reviews here.

"Tillie's Punctured Romance" is an important film for a couple of reasons. It was the very first feature length comedy, providing film comedy an alternative to one- and two-reel shorts. It was also the last film with Charles Chaplin as merely an actor; he began directing all of his films after this.

In addition to its importance, "Tillie's Punctured Romance" is still enjoyable to watch. The print on this DVD is a little rough in places, a few times switching from what appears to be a nice 35mm print to a seemingly worn out 16mm print and then back again within the same scene. But overall, this is a quality presentation of the film when you consider the fact that it was made in 1914. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

One of Chaplin's Best Dramas
This film isn't bad at all to me . You just need to watch it through carefully and in my opinion , it's his best drama ever , even better then Limelight . Although it does'nt have any comedy in it the plot is pretty good and some sequences are almost heartbreaking . The quality of the film is very good and the way Rolie Totheroh the cameraman took the shots was excellent . The people Charlie chose to play the cast was good too . Too bad the film was a failure in 1923 and chaplin failed in making Edna have a future career in drama . The only reason why I give this video a 4 is because the short comedy Sunnyside is very weak and hardly made me laugh at all .

Known as a film landmark
I haven't seen this film yet, but I wanted to balance the one dismissively negative review on here. "A Woman of Paris" is much admired for its pioneering use of subtlety and suggestion, and sounds like a fine drama. I haven't seen "Sunnyside" yet, either, but it is generally known as one of the weakest of Chaplin's independent shorts.

Chaplin's worst
A woman of Paris is a miserable excuse for a movie, however the film short, "Sunnyside" is pretty good though. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

An amazing classic in black and white!
If you are a Chaplin fan already, this is a classic Chaplin movie. It will keep you laughing out loud and rolling in the isles. If you aren't familiar with Chaplin, this movie has something for everyone; physical humor, romance, good vs. evil. You can't go wrong.

A classic that towers among them all
I have seen this movie late one Friday night (well 12:00 MIDNIGHT and it was more entertaining than movies with sound a must see

One of the best films ever made!!!
Full of comedy and classic scenes like the eating of the shoe, the tipping cabin and the dancing dinner rolls. It is a Classic I would give it 6 stars if possible. A must see!

Charming film of the silent era
Of all the silent films available today, this is the most watchable: it is a timeless film.If you have never seen a silent film, you won't be disappointed in viewing this "Little Tramp" classic. Chaplin's famous "dancing dinner rolls" stands out in my mind as one of the most clever and charming scenes ever filmed.The film still evokes emotion even today.One of the greatest films ever made. ... Read more