by Allan Fish
(USA 1925 72m/85m) DVD1/2
T’Aint a Fit Night Out for Man or Beast!
p/d/w Charles Chaplin ph Rollie Totheroh ed Harold McGhean m Charles Chaplin md (1942 version) Max Terr (including N.Rimsky-Korsakov, P.I.Tchaikovsky) art Charles D.Hall
Charles Chaplin (the tramp), Georgia Hale (Georgia), Mack Swain (Big Jim McKay), Tom Murray (Black Larson), Henry Bergman (Hank Curtis), Malcolm White (Jack),
So the line quoted above is not even a Chaplin line, but rather the immortal catchphrase of W.C.Fields in his classic short The Fatal Glass of Beer which, likewise, is set in a snowy cabin in the middle of nowhere. But much as though Fields was hardly a fan of Chaplin (“the son of a bitch is nothing but a ballet dancer”), he was also astute enough to know the comical situations that could arise from such a setting.
The story of what would become Chaplin’s first classic feature film (no disrespect to The Kid in 1921, but that was more of an extended mini-feature, and A Woman of Paris – in which he didn’t appear – was a failure with the public which, though critically admired in various quarters, was not a mistake he was going to repeat) is simple; a lone prospector in the Yukon hooks up with another lone prospector (played by Chaplin’s regular partner in crime, the great Mack Swain) in their attempts to find gold, during which time Charlie falls for a music hall girl. It is in essence quintessential Chaplin, displaying all of his virtues and some of his faults. Sure, it’s ripe with sentimental pathos and has a Victorian view of romance. (To watch Chaplin plead love is so indicative of the times, and also very reminiscent of his friend Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood and The Three Musketeers, all wild arm gesticulation, holding of hands to chest, pointing into the distant blue or grey yonder, like he’s paying homage to a queen rather than making romantic allusions.) Indeed it’s more a series of great set pieces than a great whole. But what set pieces! – the cliff-hanging cabin, the gourmet shoe eating, the chicken shoot, the waltz to Tchaikovsky tied to a dog, the dance of the bread rolls, the list is endless. Trying to pick a favourite moment is hard, because there are so many, but for me it has to be the cliff hanger on the cabin, if only because its style is not really typical of Chaplin, it’s the sort of thing more associated with Buster Keaton or, in particular, Harold Lloyd. It’s comparable to the best hair-raisers Lloyd ever did, even if Chaplin didn’t quite risk as much personal injury as Lloyd did in the likes of Safety Last and Speedy. (more…)
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