Charlie Chaplin : Films

1915

His New Job

Chaplin’s first Essanay comedy—and appropriately titled—was the only film he made at Essanay’s Chicago studio. As with his Keystone films, A Film Johnnie (1914) and The Masquerader (1914), Chaplin chose to set the action in a film studio. Charli...

1915

A Night Out

Chaplin’s second film for Essanay was the first of five films shot in and around the company’s Niles studio in northern California. The plot is a variation of the teaming of Chaplin and Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle in the Keystone film, The Rounders (...

1915

The Champion

Inspired by the Keystone film, The Knockout (1914) and Chaplin’s interest in boxing, this comedy has Charlie finding employment as a sparring partner who fights in the prize ring and wins the championship match, with the help of his pet bulldog. ...

1915

In the Park

The first of two one-reel shorts Chaplin made for Essanay, the film was hastily made at the request of the company as result of the prolonged production of his previous film, The Champion. The film, which involves Charlie interfering in the lives...

1915

A Jitney Elopement

Charlie must rescue his sweetheart, Edna, from an arranged marriage by posing as Count Chloride de Lime, the man to whom Edna is betrothed but whom neither she nor her father ever seen. The film ends with a car chase, featuring a Ford automobile,...

1915

The Tramp

Charlie saves a farmer’s daughter from some thieving toughs and subsequently stops their attempt to rob the farm. He falls in love with the girl, but upon the appearance of her sweetheart, the little fellow realizes the true situation. He departs,...

1915

By the Sea

The second of two one-reel shorts Chaplin made for Essanay, the film was photographed around the Venice, California amusement pier in Los Angeles in just one day. This extended improvisation includes Chaplin’s first use of the flea routine, which ...

1915

Work

The havoc created by incompetent laborers had always been prime slapstick material. For example, in 1906 Chaplin had appeared in Wal Pink’s music-hall sketch, Repairs, playing a plumber’s assistant. In this comedy, Chaplin plays a paperhanger’s a...

1915

A Woman

Chaplin had twice previously donned female attire at Keystone, in A Busy Day (1914) and The Masquerader. A Woman was Chaplin’s last and finest female impersonation, a then-popular device among comedians (Julian Eltinge built a career and fortune o...

1915

The Bank

Charlie the janitor loves Edna, the pretty bank secretary, but her sweetheart is another Charles, the cashier. One of the best of the Chaplin Essanay comedies, the film’s plot is a reworking of his Keystone film, The New Janitor(1914), incorporati...

1915

Shangaied

Chaplin rented a boat, the Vaquero, to inspire the plot of this comedy gem. Charlie is hired to shanghai a crew, only to be shanghaied himself as well. He has to save himself and his sweetheart, who has stowed away, before the boat is sabotaged ...

1915

A Night in the Show

This exceptional comedy was adapted from Fred Karno’s sketch, Mumming Birds. Chaplin plays dual roles in the film: his old stage success of Mr. Pest, and Mr. Rowdy, a dissipated working man, both of whom are attending a vaudeville performance. M...

1916

Police

Police uses comedy to make pointed—if glancing—social statements which over the years became central to Chaplin’s work. The film is arguably the most mature in the series and anticipates such later films as Modern Times (1936). The Tramp, releas...

1916

A Burlesque on Carmen

Chaplin’s burlesque of Cecil B. DeMille’s popular film version of Carmen (1915), starring the great opera diva Geraldine Farrar, as well as a rival version of Carmen (1915) starring Theda Bara, was originally intended as a two-reel comedy. In Cha...