The Chaplin Mutuals, Vol. 1

Charlie Chaplin was the biggest star in film when he signed with the Mutual Company in 1916 for the then-unheard-of sum of $670,000. The twelve films he made for Mutual reflect Chaplin's attempt to use comedy not just as a series of gags, but as a search for genuine, universal truths. Digitally mastered from early generation 35mm negatives, these works provide considerable testimony to Chaplin's skills as both a comedian and a filmmaker. This volume includes the shorts "The Immigrant," "The Adventurer," "The Cure" and "Easy Street" (all 1917). Charlie Chaplin entered a period of tremendous artistic freedom and creative growth when he embarked on his 12 films for Mutual Studios in 1916. As he neared the conclusion of his contract, he became increasingly more ambitious and mixed his tried and true comic formula with social commentary for two of his most enduring works. The Immigrant finds the promised land less than rosy for peasants herded like cattle on the ship and wandering the streets of New York looking for work and food, but the Tramp's ingenuity and resilience make him into a symbol of hope for the future as well as a comic riposte. Easy Street is Chaplin's most successful mix of social issues and slapstick comedy. As a rookie cop in the city's toughest neighborhood, a slum overrun with bullies, drug addicts, and gangsters, the goodhearted Chaplin isn't above a little unconventional policing--when his billy club proves ineffective on gargantuan Eric Campbell's thick skull, he resorts to gassing him with a compliant street lamp. The balance of the tape emphasizes lighter fare: The Adventurer finds Charlie as an escaped convict who hides out in a high society party crawling with cops. When the Tramp decides to take The Cure, he comes prepared with a trunk full of alcohol, which quickly inebriates the guests and staff of the sanitarium. The revolving door becomes a comic centerpiece (like the escalator in The Floorwalker), which befuddles the inebriated Chaplin and infuriates gout-stricken nemesis Eric Campbell. --Sean Axmaker

Browse Our Catalog.

View More In Silent Films.