Chaplin at Keystone [Import]

David Shepard gave a sneak preview of these new DVDs at the Niles-Essanay Film Museum's Edison Theater on Friday September 24th 2010. He called it the "World Wide Premier" of these restorations. Eight years in the making, and it is finally here! RESTORED KEYSTONE COMEDIES with Charlie Chaplin.

Imagine seeing the Keystone Chaplins projected on a theater screen, most looking as good as the Chaplin Mutual restorations! Seven films from this set were shown to an amazed audience. All were accustomed to the washed out, fuzzy, jumpy videos that have been on the market for ages, making it hard to enjoy the films. Now they are razor sharp, with perfect contrast & stabilized images. The projection speed has been slowed down, now you have time to see Charlie's facial reactions & body mannerisms. At this corrected speed these comedies feel more mature, Chaplin's genius is more apparent.

David explained that all of these comedies on the DVD set were sourced from multiple archival prints (30 different prints were used to make the most complete version of TILLIE'S PUNCTURED ROMANCE). Most of the time it is not apparent when the source material changes. ALL films are mastered from 35mm archive sources except "RECREATION" which had to use 16mm prints for several sequences missing from the existing 35mm sources.

Here are the seven 1914 comedies from this set that were shown in the theater, six of which looked perfect.

The first one shown, MABEL'S STRANGE PREDICAMENT (with & directed by Mabel Normand, w/ Chester Conklin, Alice Davenport & Billy Gilbert), was the weakest restoration as negative spots appeared through out the short. I thought it was odd to start the show with this comedy as it kind of set the tone that these will be sharp & clear, but with defects. The short was fun and watchable, David did explain that some master material was beyond full restoration. I wonder what Industrial Light & Magic could have done to clean it up. Each frame would have to be re-toned to take out the spots. But the good news is that the film quality got better after this.

CAUGHT IN THE RAIN (Chaplin's first solo directed film, w/ Mack Swain & Alice Davenport) was a big improvement and this quality was retained for the rest of the show. The bulk of the film is from a clean & clear 35mm Nitrate master. A few sequences had to be taken from a 35mm Nitrate source that was deteriorating, but these are brief. I am glad they were included to complete the film, and remind us of how fragile these original source films are.

MASQUERADER (with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Chester Conklin, Mabel Normand, Charles Parrot "aka Charlie Chase", & Billy Gilbert) looks like it was filmed yesterday. It is hard to believe that these films were cranked out in days, this and the next two were all filmed in the same month.

THE ROUNDERS (co-staring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, w/ Al St. John, Charles Parrott "aka Charlie Chase", & Billy Gilbert) keeps the picture-perfect restoration. Here Fatty & Charlie are much like a comedy team, leading to questions about this from the audience during intermission. I imagine Charlie would have tired of sharing the screen time and any comedy team would not have lasted long. I didn't realize that "Rounders" was a then popular phrase for "Bar Hoppers".

THE NEW JANITOR (w/ Al St. John) is also pristine. It was mentioned that Chaplin recalled using this short to broaden his acting to include Pathos, however a scene he describes where his character talks about his family after being fired from his job is not in any existing prints. It is possible that Charlie miss-remembered this as a similar scene exists in the short "His New Profession" that was filmed that same month.

HIS MUSICAL CAREER (w/ Mack Swain, Charles Parrot "aka Charlie Chase", & Billy Gilbert), another pristine presentation, will interest Laurel & Hardy Fans as Charlie & Mack attempt to deliver a large piano up a flight of stairs. These are steep wooden stairs going up to the second floor of a house, as opposed to the long concrete staircase going up a hillside for Stan & Ollie, but the similarity makes one wonder.

DOUGH AND DYNAMITE (w/ Chester Conklin, Slim Somerville, & Charles Parrot "aka Charlie Chase"is a two-reeler mastered solely from a 35mm paper negative stored at the Copyright Office. It is one of only two Keystone Chaplin comedies that were copyrighted. Since this paper negative was never used to make release prints (its sole purpose was to enforce a copyright), it gives a rare opportunity to see a Chaplin film just the way someone would have seen it the very day it got released to the theaters. This is complete, including the mid-reel notice "Part Two of this comedy will be seen in a minute" followed by the part 2 title card. In the old Nickelodeon days, there would have been only one film projector (most of the films were just 1 reel then). When the 10 minute reel of film would end, the projectionist would have to take time to thread up the next film to show. In the case of a two-reel or longer film, this meant brief 1 minute intermissions every 10 minutes! David explained that running two projectors in one theater did not become commonplace until the 1920's when longer films became more common.

While it was not shown, we were informed that TILLIE'S PUNCTURED ROMANCE contains every reel change notice through out the film, so that we can experience it the very way the original theater goers experienced it in 1914. 30 film sources were used to make this complete print. This one has looked good on previous videos, now it will be complete.

I can not comment on any other shorts in this set as they were not shown & David did not comment specifically on any of them, outside of RECREATION being a mix of 35mm & 16mm sources.
MAKING A LIVING
KID AUTO RACES IN VENICE
BETWEEN SHOWERS
A FILM JOHNNIE
TANGO TANGLES
HIS FAVORITE PASTIME
CRUEL, CRUEL LOVE
THE STAR BOARDER
MABEL AT THE WHEEL (2 reels)
TWENTY MINUTES OF LOVE
CAUGHT IN THE CABARET (2 reels)
A BUSY DAY (split reel released with non Chaplin THE MORNING PAPER)
THE FATAL MALLET
THE KNOCKOUT (2 reels)
MABEL'S BUSY DAY
MABEL'S MARRIED LIFE
LAUGHING GAS
THE PROPERTY MAN (2 REELS)
THE FACE ON THE BAR ROOM FLOOR
RECREATION (split reel released with non Chaplin THE YOSEMITE)
THE NEW PROFESSION
THOSE LOVE PANGS
TILLIE'S PUNCTURED ROMANCE (6 reels)
GENTLEMEN OF NERVE
HIS TRYSTING PLACE (2 reels)
GETTING AQUAINTED
HIS PREHISTORIC PAST (2 reels)

It should be noted that one comedy is missing from this set: HER FRIEND THE BANDIT is considered a LOST FILM and no print was located.

Oh and you CHARLIE CHASE fans, watch for him making cameo appearances in several of these films!

It's always been my belief that Charlie Chaplin's Keystone comedies rank alongside his best work as clever and funny films in their own right, and now with this fabulously restored boxed set from Flicker Alley, that belief has been amply confirmed.

For decades these films have had significance in the minds of historians only because Chaplin created his tramp character at Keystone, this despite the fact that he made 36 movies while at the studio in 1914 - a considerable output. For the most part though, the Keystones have been unfairly dismissed as unimportant and primitive in their knockabout comedic style. This opinion has been fostered largely because the films, which were hugely popular in their day, have been available in very poor quality prints with improperly sped up projection and inappropriate musical accompaniment. This kind of careless presentation through the years gave a wrong impression and hid the true merits that the Keystone films contain. Roughly 95% of the material in this new collection has been pieced together from 35mm nitrate sources so that we can now better appreciate the importance of the films and view them as they were intended to be seen.

Chaplin's tramp is already the familiar "little fellow" in these films, and he displays a knack for mischief - like the early Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny - which he gradually discarded in his later work but in retrospect is very refreshing to see. The pathos Chaplin became so famous for may not be as evident in the Keystones, but everything else - the costume and make-up, the body language, the facial expressions, the waddling walk - is all there right from the start. This period laid the groundwork for what followed, and we can see many of the comedy situations in the Keystones that figured into Chaplin's later films for Essanay and Mutual. On the other hand, some of the things Chaplin does in the Keystones are sans the tramp character, being carry overs from his days in the London music halls which makes these films special in that sense alone. The fact that they were largely shot outdoors in local streets and parks also makes them a fascinating historical record of the Los Angeles area in the early 20th century.

Finally the time has arrived for us to re-assess the value of Charlie Chaplin's formative first year in films and this superlative DVD set from Flicker Alley has thankfully made this possible.

Exactly what was it that made Charlie Chaplin so popular in the very beginning of his film career? The question has puzzled many, even well-known authorities on the subject. Playwright and critic Walter Kerr came up with the (in my opinion somewhat far-fetched) theory that Chaplin with his Keystone-films made his audience a "promise," whereas poet Lars Forssell in his analysis on Chaplin remains bewildered as to why the comedian at all was considered so extraordinary more or less from the start.

What Kerr and Forssell did not acknowledge was that Chaplin's Keystone-films, being so immensely popular in their day, underwent treatment which did not do their creator any justice. His films were being re-cut and re-edited over and over again by insensitive hands, taking full advantage of the fact that Chaplin did not legally own his films at that point. Add this with how poorly celluloid tends to age, and you're left with a rusty if not downright disturbing experience.

Until BFI's restorations on the Chaplin-Keystones were finally released a few weeks back, no soul could imagine just to what degree the original pleasure of his first films had been obliterated. I had personally been waiting six years for this set to become true, and am happy to tell that it was worth every hour. Now, we are finally able to study Chaplin's evolvement both as an actor, director and story constructor during his first year in the medium of celluloid, and what's more, we're forced to recognize that the reason why Chaplin made it big so quickly was because he made damn funny films from the very beginning.

First of all, I want to tip my hat in gratitude to everyone involved in this project. Several of the films are crystal sharp, as though they've been led to the spring of youth, and even when that's not quite the case, it's still a hundred times better than what has been available in the past. Original nitrate-prints have been used whenever accessible, making a section of the previously unwatchable one-reeler RECREATION in perfect shape. A number of talents have been involved in the musical arrangements, some well known (Robert Israel) and some more obscure, but it is evident that everyone has been equally anxious to do the films justice.

As for the films themselves, I'm thrilled (though not really surprised) to confirm that the more than thirty films which Chaplin made at Keystone during the single year of 1914 all in all stand as much, much better than we've been tricked to beleive previously. A film like A FILM JOHNNIE has all of a sudden been transformed into something more than a vaguely amusing parody on early film-making; restored and played at the proper speed, it is actually a very funny little film, with several sure-fire gags which previously went over my head. Even at this early point, Chaplin's pantomime is often remarkably subtle; in THOSE LOVE PANGS, he picks up a fork in order to cause his rival Chester Conklin severe pain in the latter's rear end...a vulgar bit of business in itself, but what makes Chaplin different from his Keystone-contemporaries is his way of building up our expectations with the gag. He isn't just a mere slave to his own twisted ideas; on the contrary, he examines the fork thoroughly, glances at us, making sure that we're in on the joke, and...OUCH!! This sort of performing was more advanced for film comedy of 1914 than anybody alive today can fully grasp.

Other than his inevitable pantomimic skills, Chaplin's abilities as a story constructor are also hastily maturing throughout the four discs, making films like THE NEW JANITOR and DOUGH AND DYNAMITE quite complex. Indeed, some films are better than others (in MABEL'S BUSY DAY, for instance, Chaplin appears to be somewhat bewildered as to in what direction the film is going), but it is invariably a pleasure to see every one of them restored, making it possible to judge them fairly. We won't ever see them in their proper context (unless a time-machine is invented and takes us back to the turbulent year of 1914), but thanks to the restorations of BFI, we're at least given access to the second best thing: to see these films as sharp and well-trimmed as they once were, and finally get to understand just why producer Mack Sennett was told to do more Chaplin-films as quickly as possible only a few weeks after the latter's debut, on a day when Sennett in fact had considered firing the comedian.