Editorial review of Essential Charlie Chaplin volume 10
The Essential CHARLIE CHAPLIN COLLECTION…a must-have for any fan or film buff’s library. This definitive collection of 12-DVDs contains 57 of Chaplin’s legendary early films in chronological order…a true historical legacy of the greatest comedian who ever lived.
COVERS CHAPLIN’S WORK AT KEYSTONE, ESSANAY, MUTUAL AND FIRST NATIONAL FILM COMPANIES.
* Beautifully animated DVD menus
* Alternate soundtracks available on certain DVDs; pick from the original soundtrack or an old movie projector track
* Mastered from the highest quality original material available.
* Detailed liner notes on each film, including original release date
The Adventurer (Mutual Comedy 10/23/1917) [19:08]
Charlie is a convict who escapes from prison and while fleeing he steals a man’s bathing suit to get out of his prison garb. He decides to take a swim and in the process rescues a mother and daughter from drowning. The two well-to-do women invite Charlie to be a guest in their home, where he gets in a kicking fest with the girl’s suitor. Later, Charlie borrows a tux and attends a party at the home and reeks havoc with ice cream. Unfortunately, poor Charlie gets carted off to prison again when his picture appears in the paper.
Triple Trouble (Essanay Comedy 8/11/1918) [23:36]
Charlie is a janitor who takes care of an inventor’s house. It is wartime and the inventor has a formula for wireless explosives that the other side wants to steal. The film ends with a great explosion. Originally, this film was to be titled “Life,” but the studio stopped production since it was taking so much time. The resulting film is a patchwork of used and unused material from 1915 and new footage without Chaplin in 1918.
The Bond (Charlie Chaplin 10/4/1918) [10:59]
This film was filled with patriotic scenes and was used to encourage people to buy bonds to help support the Allied cause in WWI. All interactions in the film were intended to illustrate the bonds of friendship, love and marriage, all leading up to “the most important bond of all”-the Liberty Bond.
Shoulder Arms (First National 10/20/1918) [44:50]
Charlie is a private in training in the Army during WWI. His whole drill squad is inept, but Charlie outshines the others with his incompetence. At night he dreams of what he will do on the battlefields. Once he arrives in the trenches he volunteers to go into enemy territory. He takes refuge with a girl when the Germans arrive…he escapes but she is captured. Charlie manages to impersonate a German officer, rescues the girl and his commanding officer and captures the three German leaders…but is it all a dream?