Let's talk about the Essanays...

in article kAwTa.3402$Jk5.2393930@feed2.centurytel.net, flatheadmt at
flathead44.DeleteThis@hotmail.com wrote on 7/23/03 9:12 AM:

> Its almost like Chaplin was finding and developing his own comedic
> style during this period.

It is the artist in transition -- the knockabout slapstick of the Keystones
combined with the greater subtleties that were further explored in the
Mutuals. It is Chaplin honing his style. Jitney Elopement, The Tramp,
Work, etc, are fascinating and remarkable.

JN
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"WaverBoy" <waverboyNOSPAM RemoveThis @comcast.net> wrote in message news:<9_ydnbkSZYrPt4OiXTWJgA RemoveThis @comcast.com>...
> So, growing weary of the seemingly endless First National battles, I thought
> I'd try asking how our group denizens feel about the Essanays.

Good move. A lot of that has boiled down to semantics.

Love them?
> Hate them? Think they're only ok? Think a few stand out as equal to or
> better than some or all of the Mutuals?

I'm quite fond of the Essanays. Overall they aren't as polished as the
Mutuals, but the best of them are stronger than the weaker Mutuals.
_Police_ is as good as most of the Mutuals, and _The Bank_, _Work_,
and _The Tramp_ are serious stuff. All of them have wonderful bits in
them, even when they
aren't that strong overall--the sailor's hornpipe in _Shanghied_, the
dressing
scene in _A Woman_, the balcony scene in _Jitney_, and Charlie's
puzzlement over bovine anatomy in _The Tramp_, to mention a few.

My chief guilty pleasure among the Essanays is _In the Park_, which is
usually
dismissed as a recycled Keystone, but there is nothing in any Keystone
to
equal Charlie's obscenely funny eagerness to help Leo White die. I
laugh just thinking about it. Doug is right about the lackluster
production values, but they are adequate for most of the films, and I
can't agree with him (or Walter Kerr)regarding Charlie being hit by
friendly fire in _The Tramp_. It's a logical ironic consequence of the
farmer's and Charlie's over-zealous counterattack, and it gives
Chaplin (and us) a chance to see a comic character suddenly become
vulnerable and mortal when he plays dangerous games. It's startling,
but to a purpose. I don't see it as a lapse in taste or judgment, but
as a worthwhile experiment, somewhat undermined by the limitations of
a two-reeler.

> I'm still relatively new to the Essanays. I've seen them all at least once
> now, and a few I've seen two or three times. Collectively, they are more
> interesting to me as a study of Chaplin's evolution as an artist than they
> are entertaining, funny, or moving, although a few of them are almost there.
> I've decided I really like THE TRAMP, THE CHAMPION, and THE BANK as whole
> entities. SHANGHAIED is leaving me cold so far. BY THE SEA is kind of fun,
> just good old-fashioned chaotic mayhem. I must say that I absolutely love
> the hat-on-the-string fight. Random (or orchestrated) Essanay thoughts,
> anyone? And, any thoughts on the quality of Shepard's restoration of them
> (which seems pretty damn impressive to me)?

When they first came out they were discussed here, on the whole quite
favorably. As I recall Doug noted some omissions.

Connie K.
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James Neibaur <jneibaur.TakeThisOut@wi.rr.com> wrote in
news:BB4404D9.D6BC%jneibaur@wi.rr.com:

> It is the artist in transition -- the knockabout slapstick of the
> Keystones combined with the greater subtleties that were further
> explored in the Mutuals. It is Chaplin honing his style. Jitney
> Elopement, The Tramp, Work, etc, are fascinating and remarkable.
>
> JN

I never get tired of "A Night in the Show" and rank it higher even more
than the first two Mutuals, Floorwalker & Fireman. I find absurdly funny
and its success probably comes from its Stage Hall originations where the
comedic timing could be worked out night after night. Moreover, Chaplin
adapted it for the silent camera remarkably well. -Another testimony to
his directorial prowess at such a young age.

JV
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Joseph Vitale (jvital1@uic.edu) writes:
> James Neibaur <jneibaur DeleteThis @wi.rr.com> wrote in
> news:BB4404D9.D6BC%jneibaur@wi.rr.com:
>
>> It is the artist in transition -- the knockabout slapstick of the
>> Keystones combined with the greater subtleties that were further
>> explored in the Mutuals. It is Chaplin honing his style. Jitney
>> Elopement, The Tramp, Work, etc, are fascinating and remarkable.
>>
>> JN
>
> I never get tired of "A Night in the Show" and rank it higher even more
> than the first two Mutuals, Floorwalker & Fireman. I find absurdly funny
> and its success probably comes from its Stage Hall originations where the
> comedic timing could be worked out night after night. Moreover, Chaplin
> adapted it for the silent camera remarkably well. -Another testimony to
> his directorial prowess at such a young age.
>
> JV

What fascinates me about that one is the fact that he exploited the
capabilities of film to do what he was never able to do on stage--play
two roles at once, move to different parts of the theater, get subtle
effects with close ups, etc. It's a textbook of adaptation of stage
material, and obviously gave more than a hint to Keaton in _The Playhouse_.

I love the scene where he gets in line behind the statue.

Connie K.
--
"Our century is inconceivable without its . . . inconclusive mob of isms."
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