All I need to make a
comedy is a park, a policeman, and a pretty girl.—Charles Chaplin
New
York’s Film Forum is in the midst of a Charles Chaplin Festival and if you have
never seen one of his films on the big screen, you don’t know what you’re
missing. I was fortunate enough on a recent evening to catch two of his
silents—The Idle Class (1921) and The Circus (1928).
A scene from The Idle Class.
In The Idle Class, Chaplin
plays two parts: the Tramp and the Husband. After sneaking onto a private course to play a round of golf,
the Tramp winds up at a costume ball where the Neglected Wife, played by
Chaplin regular Edna Purviance, mistakes him for her husband and general
hilarity ensues. While the film may be short (30 minutes), it’s full of comedic
moments. The scene where the husband enters the hotel lobby without his pants
on is worth viewing for itself alone.
Those darn monkeys.
The Circus opens with a song, Swing
Little Girl, sung by the man himself. Chaplin composed the song and a new score for the film’s 1969 re-release
and the poignant strains of the elder Chaplin’s voice urging the girl on the screen
to “never look down” make this version of the film a special treat.
While visiting a
traveling circus, the Tramp is mistaken for a pickpocket and leads the police
on a merry chase, including a brilliant turn in a hall of mirrors, before
stumbling into the big top. The chaos he creates is thought to be part of the
act by the crowd, and the Tramp is offered a job by the Ring Master. The Tramp
soon falls in love with a circus rider, played beautifully by newcomer Merna
Kennedy. When she declares her feelings for Rex, a tightrope walker, the Tramp
takes to the high wire to prove his love.
Once again, the myriad comic scenes
are too numerous to mention though I will admit that most of my favourites
involve the Tramp interacting with animals, from the running joke of the donkey who always chases him to getting trapped in the lion’s cage to the trunk full of
mischievous monkeys who wreak havoc on his balance (shouldn’t every film have a trunk full of
monkeys?).
The festival runs through August 5 and other Chaplin festivals are
slated for Boston and Washington, DC. If you can get to the cinema, please do.
There’s nothing like sharing in the trials and joys of the little Tramp with an audience of
film lovers.
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