The Chaplin Mutuals, Vol. 3
By 1916 Charlie Chaplin was the most popular comic actor in America, but it was the 12 brilliant comedy shorts he directed during his 16 months at Mutual Studios that turned Chaplin from an inventive comedian to one of the greatest directors of the American cinema. "Fulfilling the Mutual Contract, I suppose, was the happiest period of my life," he wrote in his autobiography, and no wonder: with unprecedented freedom, an enormously lucrative contract, and a company of creative artists at his personal disposal, Chaplin turned the studio set into his creative playground. Always one to latch on to the comic possibilities of inventive props, he turned an escalator into the centerpiece ofThe Floorwalker, his first film for the studio, where his rapscallion clerk continually incites the store's crooked manager (Eric Campbell). InOne A.M., Chaplin steps out of the Tramp persona to play an inebriated gadfly at war with his home, battling everything from a staircase to a suit of armor to a resistant Murphy bed, all seemingly set on keeping him from getting to sleep.The Pawnshopshows the Tramp in a more aggressive role than we're used to, goofing and playing practical jokes on his coworkers, whileThe Rinkputs him on roller skates for a burlesque ballet on wheels. Each short becomes a comic workshop as Chaplin investigates the slapstick possibilities of an array of props and situations while refining his persona as the down but not out everyman.--Sean Axmaker