Film & Shorts Discussions > Random Comedy Reviews

Easy Street (1917) - Charlie Chaplin

<< < (3/4) > >>

Tony Bensley:

--- Quote from: HomokHarcos on April 20, 2022, 05:46:18 PM ---This was the first ever Chaplin film I saw, in 10th grade history class my teacher put this on. The most memorable part of the movie was the actually street itself, ieven if it's supposed to be a very tough neighborhood you'd never go to. It is what I think of for 1910s street settings.

Each year Chaplin had been getting better than the one before, and I feel that continues in 1917 with the Mutuals being better than those that came out in 1916. Easy Street is the best Chaplin film so far, it's actually almost an action comedy in the vein of Popeye, as you've mentioned. Eric Campbell is the big bad bully that Chaplin has to take down. This is easily my favorite ever Eric Campbell role, the fight scene with Chaplin being a highlight. Who knew that heroin gives you superpowers? Just like cocaine. I actually wouldn't be surprised if Chaplin tried some hardcore drugs in real life. When Chaplin tripped near the the end in front of Edna Purviance, it looks like he actually took a hard wrack.

I also have to wonder, how many of those people would end up being "reformed" by going overseas to fight in World War I? I mean they have shown they like to fight, it sounds like the government would offer them war service in exchange.

--- End quote ---
EASY STREET (1917), was also my Charlie Chaplin initiation, and it too was in a classroom setting; Grade 5 or 6, as I recall. The teacher made mention about the streetlights being gaslit, rather than electric. This was in the mid 1970s when Chaplin was still living.

That above print sure looks rather nice. Will try and watch it all, a bit later!

CHEERS! :)

metaldams:

--- Quote from: Tony Bensley on April 21, 2022, 11:12:32 AM ---EASY STREET (1917), was also my Charlie Chaplin initiation, and it too was in a classroom setting; Grade 5 or 6, as I recall. The teacher made mention about the streetlights being gaslit, rather than electric. This was in the mid 1970s when Chaplin was still living.

That above print sure looks rather nice. Will try and watch it all, a bit later!

CHEERS! :)

--- End quote ---

That print is from the latest restoration.  All these restorations are available in a set released from Flicker Alley.  Well worth it.

https://www.flickeralley.com/classic-movies-2/#!/Chaplins-Mutual-Comedies/p/41384439

I missed being alive when Chaplin was by about a year.  364 days, to be exact.

Umbrella Sam:
I can see the criticisms here. When you really think deeply about it, it does seem like there are some socially-confused messages in it, and there are uncomfortable moments, especially near the end with Edna and William Gillespie. I will admit that it does sour my experience somewhat. But metaldams puts it perfectly for me; it offends me, but I still consider it a work of genius. For one thing, the opening is very well set up; Chaplin sitting alone, listening to the music, and finally deciding he’s ready to reform. I agree on the BOOBS IN THE WOOD connection, I got that vibe too watching the townspeople, although in this case they only seem to fear Chaplin when he’s facing them; behind his back, they’re ready to strike at any moment whereas in BOOBS IN THE WOOD, everyone seems genuinely scared to be remotely near him. You really have to appreciate the way Chaplin frames the camera; while I agree that the ending reformation scene is essentially “love backed by force” when you think about it, the way Chaplin sets it up from a cinematography perspective makes that not so readily apparent at first. The long shot of a cleaned up Easy Street, everyone seemingly happy, acknowledging Chaplin and just overall being more clean compared to the long shots earlier...it really is very effective and at first glance does seem like it kind of has a genuine feeling to it. And the action scenes from Chaplin are also very well done; I love the moment where Chaplin exits the building briefly and is running around town; very intense and made more intense when he returns and has to avoid Campbell alone. The action from Chaplin is really well staged in this film.

Paul Pain puts it well: artistic masterpiece, storytelling disaster. Really the best way to describe it in my opinion.

metaldams:

--- Quote from: Umbrella Sam on April 23, 2022, 10:12:25 AM --- I agree on the BOOBS IN THE WOOD connection, I got that vibe too watching the townspeople, although in this case they only seem to fear Chaplin when he’s facing them; behind his back, they’re ready to strike at any moment whereas in BOOBS IN THE WOOD, everyone seems genuinely scared to be remotely near him.

--- End quote ---

When I was comparing this to BOOBS IN THE WOOD, I was thinking more the well choreographed physical movements between Langdon and his girl when they were playing the cat and mouse game in the woods and comparing that to the well choreographed movements between Chaplin/Campbell and the townspeople.  Bringing up Langdon’s relationship with the townspeople and comparing it to Chaplin’s with the townspeople is something I didn’t of, and surprisingly so - because it’s a good comparison.

NoahYoung:
I rank this one just below THE CURE, THE IMMIGRANT, and THE ADVENTURER.

Regarding the Flicker Alley Mutual Restorations, there was quite a bit of controversy and fighting on forums between David Shepard (R.I.P.) and others regarding the projection speed used, which many felt was way to slow. In fact, none other than Skretvedt, in his amazon review, complained about that very thing. My solution -- use VLC media player, which is free, and set the speed to whatever you think looks best. Not an fps adjustment, but a decimal speedup or slowdown. For example, 1.04 will speed it up by 4%, but the length of the video will not change -- the clock will just tick faster. You can also set it to correct the pitch of the sound to compensate for the speed change.

The ironic thing is that many of us older folks first saw these Chaplin films on standard 8mm projectors that didn't project faster than 18 fps anyway.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page