Ajouter une intrigue dans votre langueCharlie does everything but an efficient job as janitor. Edna buys her fiance, the cashier, a birthday present. Charlie thinks "To Charles with Love" is for him. He presents her a rose which... Tout lireCharlie does everything but an efficient job as janitor. Edna buys her fiance, the cashier, a birthday present. Charlie thinks "To Charles with Love" is for him. He presents her a rose which she throws in the garbage. Depressed, Charlie dreams of a bank robbery and his heroic rol... Tout lireCharlie does everything but an efficient job as janitor. Edna buys her fiance, the cashier, a birthday present. Charlie thinks "To Charles with Love" is for him. He presents her a rose which she throws in the garbage. Depressed, Charlie dreams of a bank robbery and his heroic role in saving the manager and Edna ... but it is only a dream.
- Bank President
- (as Charles Insley)
- Bank Robber
- (uncredited)
- Bond Salesman
- (uncredited)
- Bank Robber
- (uncredited)
- Bank Robber with Derby
- (uncredited)
- Tall Robber with Moustache
- (uncredited)
- Cashier in White Coat
- (uncredited)
- Bank Robber and Salesman
- (uncredited)
- Bank Customer
- (uncredited)
- Bank Customer
- (uncredited)
Avis en vedette
From his Essanay period after leaving Keystone, 'The Bank is not one of his very best but is one of his best early efforts and among the better short films of his. It shows a noticeable step up in quality though from his Keystone period, where he was still evolving and in the infancy of his long career, from 1914, The Essanay period is something of Chaplin's adolescence period where his style had been found and starting to settle. Something that can be seen in the more than worthwhile 'The Bank'.
The story is still a little flimsy, there are times where it struggles to sustain the short length, and could have had more variety.
On the other hand, 'The Bank' looks pretty good, not incredible but it was obvious that Chaplin was taking more time with his work and not churning out countless shorts in the same year of very variable success like he did with Keystone. Appreciate the importance of his Keystone period and there is some good stuff he did there, but the more mature and careful quality seen here and later on is obvious.
While not one of his most hilarious or touching, 'The Bank' is still very funny with some clever, entertaining and well-timed slapstick and is one of his first to have substance and pathos. It moves quickly and there is no dullness in sight.
Chaplin directs more than competently, if not quite cinematic genius standard yet. He also, as usual, gives an amusing and expressive performance and at clear ease with the physicality and substance of the role. The supporting cast acquit themselves well.
In summary, very good and one of the best from Chaplin's Essanay period. 8/10 Bethany Cox
The Bank begins, sensibly, with the out-and-out comedy. Like many of the shorts he made at Essanay, this involves Charlie's little tramp character causing mayhem in a once-orderly environment. His role here as a janitor in a bank is ideal for this pattern. While most of the time our eyes will be on the tramp and his antics, Chaplin actually often draws our attention to the trail of destruction he leaves behind him, resulting in maximum laughs. For example, in one shot the tramp messes up the workstation of a couple of suited employees, and while he saunters casually into the background, we are left with the two clerks fuming in the foreground. In the shot where Charlie inadvertently puts his mop in a clerk's hat, he draws our eyes towards the point where the gag is about to take place by having that clerk move around more and putting a white space around him. The arrangement looks random but this is a genuine technique that works upon audiences.
Gradually, a plot begins to crystallize out of all this silliness. This is where the emotional angle comes in. Unusually for him, Chaplin uses a lot of close-ups, putting the slapstick on hold for a bit, and highlighting the expressions of his characters. He demonstrates his considerable acting talent, showing how his complete control over his body could be turned to giving a deep and moving performance. He lets the moment run long enough for the audience to appreciate, but prevents it from overbalancing the whole picture by punctuating it with a couple of gags as Charlie takes out his suffering on his rival janitor.
The action finale of the Bank is probably the most elaborate and precise of its kind that Chaplin had constructed so far. It works both as part of the comedy and as an exciting moment in its own right. It has the frenetic pace of a good action sequence, but it is also effectively a series of gags, as characters are knocked down into roly-poly pratfalls, or Charlie's fight with a robber spins into a dance. The whole thing is impeccably staged and timed.
This might be a good time to mention a few of the supporting players from the Bank. Billy Armstrong plays the second janitor, with whom Charlie evidently has an inexplicable (yet very funny) feud. There was usually a character like this in Chaplin's Essanay pictures, and on several memorable occasions it was Armstrong. With his gangly form and spectacular pratfalling, he was ideal. This was also the first time Chaplin worked with John Rand, here playing the top-hatted chief bank robber. He had a kind of preposterous look to him, but was versatile enough to fulfil a variety of roles in Chaplin's pictures over the next twenty years.
The Bank is Chaplin's first truly perfect feature, and due to its excellence should be seen by absolutely everyone.
Last but not least, the all-important statistic – Number of kicks up the arse: 4 (2 for, 1 against, 1 other)
Chaplin's comic timing is perfect as always and he makes difficult tricks look easy as he wages war on a fellow worker. Oddly, while the film works a little too hard to tug at the audience's heartstrings, there is no happy ending to this one, and by the final credits the true colours of both Charlie and his love rival are exposed.
Charlie is a janitor in the bank, and he usually manages to create more messes than he cleans up. Much of the first part of the movie is a series of comic misadventures while Charlie is trying to do his job, producing a lot of laughs. Then we find that Charlie has his eyes on a girl, and meanwhile some bank robbers come on the scene.
All of it leads to some good comedy, while also having some moments of humanity similar to those in the great films that Chaplin would create later. Charlie's character in this one is sympathetic and memorable. "The Bank" is a short feature with humor and substance, and it is one of the best examples of Chaplin's earlier work.
Funny slapstick by Charlie, in particular in the last part when he fights of the robbers. Though not his best, certainly great entertainment for Chaplin fans (and boy am I one of them). Great, bittersweet ending as well.
Peculiar thing happened when I turned off my dvd player and the Dutch 'Tros tv-show' was on with Geraldine and young Oona as guests! Now that can't be a coincidence...
Final score: 7/10.
Le saviez-vous
- AnecdotesThe film was restored in 2014 through the Chaplin Essanay Project thanks to the financial support of Susan Harmon and Richard Meyer.
- ConnexionsEdited into Chase Me Charlie (1918)
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Détails
- Durée25 minutes
- Mixage
- Rapport de forme
- 1.33 : 1