Charlie is trying to get a job in a movie. After causing difficulty on the set, he is told to help the carpenter. When one of the actors doesn't show, Charlie is given a chance to act but in... Read allCharlie is trying to get a job in a movie. After causing difficulty on the set, he is told to help the carpenter. When one of the actors doesn't show, Charlie is given a chance to act but instead enters a dice game. When he does finally act, he ruins the scene, wrecks the set, an... Read allCharlie is trying to get a job in a movie. After causing difficulty on the set, he is told to help the carpenter. When one of the actors doesn't show, Charlie is given a chance to act but instead enters a dice game. When he does finally act, he ruins the scene, wrecks the set, and tears the skirt from the star.
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- Extra
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- Secretary
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- Carpenter
- (uncredited)
- Studio President
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- Man in Office
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- Manager
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- Leading Man
- (unconfirmed)
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- Director
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- Film Star
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- Cameraman
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- Director
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- Stenographer
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- Film Extra in Anteroom
- (uncredited)
- Office Receptionist
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Chaplin's first scenario he wrote and directed for Essanay was January 1915's "His New Job," a fictional embellishment paralleling his new position at Essanay. The opening scene shows Chaplin going into the film production studio office to interview for a job. Seen in her first movie role as an office secretary is 15-year-old Gloria Swanson, soon to be a huge film star. Also, in one of only a handful of movies he's teamed up with Chaplin during his Essanay days is janitor-turned-main comic for the studio, Benny Turpin. And new to Chaplin was his name appearing for the first time in the opening credits. Since Keystone kept his entire tramp wardrobe, Chaplin personally was force to shop around Chicago to buy duplicate clothing.
A rewarding start for Chaplin's year with Essanay.
Gloria Swanson also makes a screen appearance - the girl Chaplin is having a conversation with at the beginning of the movie.
It starts out in the waiting room, apparently for the opportunity to interview for a job as a film extra. He immediately begins flirting with a woman in the room, and soon does the old hat gag where someone demands that he take it off but he keeps putting it back on, finally doing that cute trick where he flips it up in the air. I feel like I've seen him do that in at least four or five films, although I have to say that he does it best in The Immigrant.
It seems that the characterization is getting pretty developed by this point, and that the little tramp has earned a good following of fans who want to see him in each new Chaplin film. There is less and less effort put into giving him a role in each film, he generally just comes out and plays himself.
There are lots of traditional Chaplin antics in the waiting room as he competes for the film extra position, although when he finally gets into the interview room and blows into that earpiece, it might be the first time I've literally laughed out loud at one of these short comedies in quite a while.
Charlie is dressed as a soldier for his part in the film within the film, although as is to be expected, things soon go wrong and his lack of acting talent becomes abundantly clear. I always find it a little amusing when actors play roles in which, at some point, they lament the fact that they have no acting talent.
But my favorite part of the film is that it shows us behind the scenes, what some of the film sets looked like back in 1915. I always find it fascinating when I catch a glimpse of something real in these old movies, even if it's something tiny, like wafting smoke or the unintentional movement of curtains or a throw rug. It is endlessly fascinating to me to imagine what it was like to really be there, what the set looked like to the naked eye, in real life and in color.
Here, we are treated to some shots of the inside of the soundstage, which I guess is the next best thing. Generally, the movie is clever and fun, but other than some interesting behind the scenes shots there's really nothing new here. The ending is even a little violent, but this is still one of the more fun of Chaplin's earliest work.
*Swanson later testified on behalf of John Lennon when he was trying to gain US citizenship.
Did you know
- TriviaThe was the first film on which Charles Chaplin received screen credit. On all his previous comedies for Keystone he was not credited (though credits would be added to later reissues of those films).
- GoofsA taped "X" on Ben Turpin's neck, used by Charlie to strike a match against, disappears when the gag is over.
- ConnectionsEdited into Mixed Up (1915)
Details
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- Charlie's New Job
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- Runtime
- 31m
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1