We continue onward with out Chaplin Mutual journey with the seventh entry into the series, BEHIND THE SCREEN. The title pretty much says it all as we get to see Chaplin as a prop man for a movie set and Eric Campbell as his boss. One of the better teamings between the two, in my opinion. In the beginning of the short, Chaplin does all the hard work while Campbell sits there lazily. The dynamic is played a bit more ironically in that whenever Chaplin finally gets a moment of rest and Campbell finally gets up to do something, that’s when the big boss comes to comment on how lazy Chaplin is! Of course, Chaplin is doing hard work.
The hard work Chaplin does involves, very much like in THE PAWNSHOP, more comic props. The way Chaplin wraps the chairs around himself is both awe inspiring and a great sight gag. It’s a bit hard to explain in words, but he takes these chairs one by one and piles them in a way on his back where there is this gigantic circle of chairs that overtakes his entire body. Another great prop bit is the column for the ancient times scene he lugs around. Another prop, due to it’s size, that overtakes his body. This column manages to hit several people who pass by, roll around and spin on the ground and crush people in a comic manner. Again quite a spectacle and very funny.
Another highlight of the short is pie fight that takes place in the end. Even if Chaplin is doing all the work at the beginning, it’s Eric Campbell who takes all the pies and physical punishment towards the end. That was another thing similar to THE PAWNSHOP, Chaplin’s avoidance of physical punishment in the slapstick department. He gets behind the table and ducks those pies like a Jedi master, ducks every punch and gets away unscathed. As far as the pies themselves, I tend to notice they look much gooier than a typical Stooge pie fight. There’s also much more attention to long shots, messy rooms and spectacle while a Stooge pie fight is more close ups and based on the actor’s reactions.
One other bit I want to bring up is Chaplin taking bites off that leg of lamb, or whatever it is. After he finally gets caught by his co-worker, he makes these funny faces and then proceeds to beg like a dog for the food. That got a laugh out of me. He then takes some bones and plays drums on some food tins on the ground like he’s John Bonham. A great sense of fun are in these films at this point yet they feel like mature comedies. The social stuff will be coming soon. We do get a union set up here similar to that in the Keystone short DOUGH AND DYNAMITE but beyond that, pure comedy here. Another fun short.
