Friday, December 11, 2009

More Chaplin: One A.M. (1916)


Another of Chaplin's better efforts for Mutual, 1916's One A.M. Except for a cab driver at the beginning, this is purely a solo effort—Chaplin comes home drunk and tries to get himself to bed. One of the best examples of Chaplin's physical comedy.

5 comments:

Maggie said...

How do you feel about comments from those in disagreement with your views? : ) : (

You seem like a reasonable guy with a great sense of humor. (A little flattery, just in case I'm wrong about the reasonable part)
So, how is it that we differ so much with Chaplin?

Maybe it's slapstick humor that I don't get, although I thought I was capable of laughing at the slippery banana pratfall as well as anyone.

As I watched Chaplin and his athletic ability, I thought about Michael Phelps and pictured him climbing stairs and slipping on rugs.

Got a bigger chuckle out of that.

I'm just confused about Chaplin and the Stooges.

Sigh.

Bellotoot said...

Mytho - "One A.M." clocks in at 20:45 in this Silentclassics version, but Netflix (Chaplin Mutuals, Vol. 3) has it at 27:09. I notice a couple of scenes missing in the shorter version, namely how Chaplin exits the cab and his Alpine stair climb. Is there any way to verify the film's running time? Oh, the humanity! Chaplin deleted is Chaplin denied! By the way, what did they call him? Chuck? Chaz?

Mythical Monkey said...

Mytho - "One A.M." clocks in at 20:45 in this Silentclassics version, but Netflix (Chaplin Mutuals, Vol. 3) has it at 27:09.

Now that's interesting -- and tragic. I'll scout around and see if I can find the unedited version of One A.M.. I suspect the problem is that it has been in the public domain for so long that people have recycled it willy nilly without any respect for the source material. And if you think about it, a 20:45 version would fit into a 30 minute t.v. time slot where the 27:09 wouldn't necessarily.

Hmm. Obama was right: evil does exist.

Mythical Monkey said...

How do you feel about comments from those in disagreement with your views? : ) : (

Oh, heck, I encourage people to disagree with me. Slapstick is one of those comedic forms that people either like or don't like. Katie-Bar-The-Door, for example, can't abide the Three Stooges (although she will concede to me the shower scene in A Plumbing We Will Go). Doesn't keep us from living together comfortably.

When I was a kid my dad and older brother used to argue about Richard Nixon. Very different opinions, but since I adored both my dad and brother, I listened in rapt awe.

By the way, did I ever mention I was conceived during the first Nixon-Kennedy debate? I have a healthy respect for both sides of the coin ...

Mythical Monkey said...

Mister B --

Well, I've done some research. Good news and bad news. The bad news is that I can't find the 27-minute version of One A.M. floating around free on the internet. The 20 minute version abounds as does an even shorter 16 minute version. (Shudder)

The good news is, the 27 minute version of One A.M. is instantly downloadable on Netflix as part of "Chaplin Mutuals Volume 3." If you have a Netflix account, you can watch One A.M. as Chaplin and the good Lord intended.

So while it's true that, as Edmund Burke put it, "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing," it's conversely true that all that is necessary for the triumph of good is to get ye over to Netflix and set up an account.

If only the solution to Afghanistan were that easy ...