A Night at the Cinema 1914 (Various Directors, 1914)

Some people claim they are part of the “YouTube generation”. This is a generation whereby they digest their news, entertainment and education through bite size, under 10-minute videos. There is a sense that these YouTubers are viewer’s whose attention span is short and if videos are too long, they simply switch off. Comparatively, cinema in 1914 seemed to be primarily made up of shorts and bulletins that were bite size and included comic celebrities to round-off the screening. Considering many mornings will start off with a short viewing of Russell Brand’s ‘The Trews’, a video from a friends holiday on Facebook and then a comedy from Funny or Die – it seems viewing habits haven’t changed too much since 1914 at all.

A Night at the Cinema 1914 is part of the celebrations to mark the centenary of the start of World War I. The short 85-minute run-time of the film is comprised of 14 short films that range from news bulletins informing us of Emmeline Pankhurst’s arrest outside Buckingham Palace to the magnificent Egyptian pyramids and sphinx’s as troops march through the territory. Comedy includes a Monty-Python-esque ‘Rollicking Raja’ and a Charlie Chaplin short that shows a little insight into filmmaking of the era.

It is strange to imagine these films, on rotation, whereby visitors would simply pop in and watch whatever is on. Of course a new Chaplin will always sell additional tickets and important news coverage would pull in the punters also, but the very “short burst” nature of each film makes the time fly by and can become a mental timer to judge how far into the programme you’re at. Not to mention how, when you’ve seen military march across a desert landscape, you know it is only a short while before it stops and a completely different film will begin if it’s a little drawn out.

Stephen Horne provides the piano-based score to accompany the film. The music is playful, joyous and representative of the period. The ‘Rollicking Raja’ is the only composition that also includes a vocal track as a singer uses the original composition notes to sing in time with the merry man who could easily pass for Michael Palin in another bizarre disguise.

A Night at the Cinema 1914 veers from laugh-out-loud moments (as the ‘Perils of Pauline’ depict a hot air balloon rising from the ground, taking Pauline with it) to the sadness in the historical moment we see. The first of two World Wars is due to affect every man, woman and child (and dog) depicted on screen – and this was the innocent world before the bombshells hit. But many shorts vividly remind you of the time-period. Planes flying at Hendon airfield must’ve been simply breath-taking a mere decade after the Wright brothers first took flight. Daisy Doodad pulling faces as shocked men, smartly dressed, react isn’t too far from the face-pulling we’ve seen from Jim Carrey and Jack Lemmon. Then we have the underwater adventure of Lieutenant Pimple, whereby the “special effects” are so crude and practical, you cannot help but chuckle at the rickety production. It’s not without its faults, but it is a unique experience that those who appreciate the era will thoroughly enjoy.

This post was originally written for Flickering Myth

Mabel's Strange Predicament (Henry Lehrman, 1914)

Over the next week, I will release three posts about some of the earliest surviving Charlie Chaplin films. This is the third of the three - the first film Making a Living and Kid Auto Races at Venice are easy to find by clicking apporpriately. To make it even better for you the readers, is how you will be able to watch the films yourself too as the films are so old, no one owns the copywright!

It is Established

This third film confirms Chaplin's 'character' of 'The Tramp' for the future. Unlike Kid Auto Races at Venice, Chaplin is not the centre-point of the film. Instead Mabel (Mabel Normand), a married woman locked out of her room in her pyjamas, Charlie bumps into and he takes a liking too. And comedy ensues - but there is much more screen time for Mabel's difficulty in hiding from her husband and hiding from Charlie - rather than Charlie himself. According to Merton in Silent Comedies Lehrman initially started directing the film, but Mack Sennett took over midway through "presumably due to more trouble between Henry and Charlie". Having said that, IMDB credits Mabel Normand herself as the director.

Drunk and Smoking

Everyone always mentions the trademark icons of Charlie is the hat and cain - but I think the drunken element and smoking-cigar are rarely mentioned. The character is rooted in this 'bad behaviour'. The film opens as drunken-Charlie is in the lobby and attempts flirting with Mabel before the film continues to show Mabel locking herself and finding herself face-to-face with Carlie again - a chase ensues to finish with Mabel hiding under the bed of a neighbour. Cue her husband arriving and looking for her and, to his shock finding her underneath the bed of another man. Then, I assume her Mother arrives, and is equally shocked. Fighting ensues - and then Charlie re-appears and the fights continue. Paul Merton notes how the fighting in the final act of this film, you can see, is much more playful and in jest, opposed to Lehrman's antics in Kid Auto Races at Venice whereby the force may be a little more than just comedy.

I will go through another three in due course, but feel free to comment below. The book by Paul Merton, Silent Comedies, has been indispensible as I have watched these films and I strongly recommend you track it down.

Kid Auto Races At Venice (Henry Lehrman, 1914)

Over the next week, I will release three posts about some of the earliest surviving Charlie Chaplin films. This is the second of the three. To make it even better for you, the readers, is how you will be able to watch the films yourself too - as the films are so old, no one owns the copywright!

The First Tramp

This is the first time we see Chaplin in full-tramp outfit. And it is incredible. The short is, fittingly, short. As Henry Lehrman, playing himself, films the Kids at the Auto Races in Venice, we see a recognisable character continually walking into shot. The camera is 'real', the camera is not ignored as the audience themselves are often caught looking at the camera too - but it is perfect comedic timing as Chaplin walks into shot from different sides of the frame - only to be pushed back out of shot by the director.

Interestingly, we often see the camera showing another camera shooting the action. We are watching the filming of the action itself - whereby the actual director is directing. According to Wikipedia this cutting between the actual footage and third-person perspective of the same situation is to explain the joke better.

A Rough Push

Furthermore, Paul Merton explains in Silent Comedies that "Lehrman gets quite violent with Charlie, on one occasion grabbing him by the throat and pushing him forcefully down to the ground, right out of frame", going further to state that "the hostility between these two leaps off the screen". Lehrman had worked for Sennetts production company at Keystone Studios since 1912, directing Roscoe Arbuckle amongst others. But directing Charlie must have been tough for him because Charlie knew how good he was - through his success on the vaudeville stage with Fred Karno - and Charlie didn't take long before working with a different director. The next film would see Mack Sennett himself intervene on directing duties ... but this was the start of something big. Even watching it now, it remains incredibly funny as this drunkard, tramp wanders across the screen at the most inconvenient moments time and time again ...

Making a Living (Henry Lehrman, 1914)

Over the next week, I will release three posts about some of the earliest surviving Charlie Chaplin films. They are only short and, to make it even better for you the readers, is how you will be able to watch the films yourself too as the films are so old, no one owns the copywright!

Before The Tramp

This is one of the earliest surviving films of Charlie Chaplin showing us his skills but not in guise of the iconic 'Little Tramp' character. The story is difficult to grasp without reading a synopsis - I simplified it to show an out-of-work man is conning another out of his money, woman and job. On closer inspection, Chaplin is actually an out-of-work reporter, who is not only swindling people out of their money, but also stealing rival journalists camera's to make money through his newspaper.

What is important about this film is that, not only is it the first Charlie Chaplin film, but it is also a film that features The Keystone Cops. The waving of truncheons and chasing, and fighting, is a feature of these comedians but Charlie Chaplin brought more intelligence to comedy - though he was incredibly skilled at slapstick (and this film shows Chaplin ultimately doing what he is told to do) we are not seeing anything too complex or with deeper subtext. Even the next film, Kid Auto Races at Venice, we will see more intelligent comedy that I believe already is miles ahead of the Keystone Cops comedy of chasing and falling over.

The Origin of an Icon

Charlie Chaplins trademark character of 'The Tramp' does not feature here whatsoever, but we can see many characteristics that would become a part of him - the hat, the stick and the cigar. The character, dubbed Edgar English, is arrogant and smug but the tipping of his hat and clumsiness is refined and more-likabale (Edgar is anything but likeable) in the character of 'The Tramp'.

The film premiered on 2nd February 1914 and was produced by Mack Sennett, the man who established the Keystone Studios in 1912. Sennett would be the man who would establish Chaplin and the directed, Lehrman, would also direct Chaplin in his next feature film ...