THE NEW JANITOR

I got to see this film again, and with an audience this time. I can
now say that I've seen a Chaplin Keystone go over really well with a
crowd (or at least the last the climax of the film did).

The print I saw was an old Blackhawk edition. The source material
looked like a 1920s re-issue, but it evidently wasn't from that same
batch of Keystone re-issues that have the painfully jokey intertitles.
The intertitles on this print weren't Keystone originals, but they were
still terse like true Keystones are.

THE NEW JANITOR is really put together well. It doesn't have the
zest and the action of some other Keystones, but it does maintain a
steady pace while building a storyline to a full conclusion. Charlie
isn't the unruly hell-raiser that he often was in his earlier
Keystones. He doesn't do any obvious leering or flirting, and while
he's comically inept as a janitor, he isn't defiant or destructive;
he's just casually indifferent and a little mischievous. With a little
more energy, he'd be just like the Charlie of the Essanay and Mutual
era.

The interesting thing about this is Chaplin's evolution as a
director. The storyline is sparse, but it moves along from start to
finish. There isn't a lot of footage that doesn't move the story along
in some way, and you don't get the sense that the film is pure
improvisation. Even though there are a couple of experienced comedians
in supporting roles (Al St. John and Jess Dandy), they play their parts
fairly straight. This isn't the usual chaotic Keystone universe here;
it's more like the real world.

Chaplin frequently places his camera directly in front of the
action, the way a theater spectator would see a music hall routine from
the best seat in the house. But in THE NEW JANITOR, most of the camera
set-ups are angled. We have a diagonal view of the stage.

There's one scene that should have been done over. In it, Charlie is
fooling around in the office that has the safe in it, and he does a bit
of business as he walks toward the door at the back of the set and
leaves the room. Unfortunately, the gag doesn't register because we
can't see it: there's a big chair blocking our view. Possibly Chaplin
just didn't think that mattered. Or, more likely, his cameraman didn't
call his attention to it while shooting the scene, and by the time the
film was being edited and the goof was discovered, it must have been
too late to re-shoot it (the set would have been taken apart as soon as
filming was over).

The film books tell us that Charlie is in love with the secretary,
and thwarts the crook to rescue her. That's not the way it looked to
me. I couldn't tell that Charlie was especially interested in her.

Before he discovers the robbery in progress, he's downstairs and
there's a nice little moment where he hesitates: should I go up and see
what's the matter, or go on my way? It's a good little bit of
pantomime, and the suggestion that Charlie has a thinking mind in his
head is kind of a small breakthrough, after all those films where he
does everything on sheer reflex (flirting, kicking people, throwing
bricks).

The working title of THE NEW JANITOR was CAUGHT, and the film was
finished (or shipped out) on September 3, 1914, his first finished film
after THE ROUNDERS. It was released a couple of weeks later.



--Shush--

Constance Kuriyama wrote:
> Thanks for reporting on an audience response to this film.

The audience gave the film the usual smattering of chuckles that
other Keystones have drawn (in my experience), until near the end.
Charlie's capture of the safecracker got some nice big laughs, and his
ingenuity seemed to delight the audience.


> In my prints Charlie definitely pays attention to the sceretary,
> casting sidelong glances at her had repeatedly dusting off her
> behind. I'm not sure I'd call that "in love," but it's attention of
> a sort. She ignores him, since there's a hint initially that she's
> attracted to the clerk who tries to rob the safe. She pats his hat
> affectionately when she arrives for work. In that case there's a
> definite anticipation of _The Bank_ in the story line.

Wow, some of that material wasn't in the print I saw. If Doug Sulpy
is still with us, I'd love to hear more about how the the various
editions of this film differ.



> > Before he discovers the robbery in progress, he's downstairs and
> > there's a nice little moment where he hesitates: should I go up and see
> > what's the matter, or go on my way? It's a good little bit of
> > pantomime, and the suggestion that Charlie has a thinking mind in his
> > head is kind of a small breakthrough.
>
> This is especialy crucial because he's just been fired. His first impulse
> is to leave, but finally he decides to trudge up the stairs again, and is
> nearly exhausted when he reaches the top floor.

Yes, this is a throwaway moment, but it's significant as a clue to
how the Tramp character is evolving, as well as a suspense-builder that
strengthens this particular film. I've seen one or two later Keystones
in which Charlie Murray plays a janitor the way Chaplin does here, and
there isn't nearly as much characterization. The films are less
interesting, partly as a result of that.


> And of course--anticipating _City Lights_--Charlie is first mistaken
> for the thief, until the secretary comes to his rescue. Plenty of
> implicit social comment there.

Yes, but what strikes me is the fact that the Tramp isn't living in
that bizarre Keystone universe now. In Keystoneland, everyone behaves
like overgrown children, there's lots of fighting and chasing, most
people have a violent, hair-trigger temper, and every spouse is a
cheater. Now, in THE NEW JANITOR, Charlie's living in the real world.
To me this is a revolutionary development; if Chaplin had chosen to
remain in the realm of farce comedy, most of his greatest work would
never have been made.


> _The New Janitor_ is probably the one Keystone that most anticipates
> the direction Chaplin's later films would take, and it is certainly
> one of the best Keystones.

I agree.



--Shush--