Chaplin's Essanay Comedies, Vol. 02

Superb restoration of some of Chaplin's most important work!
First of all, I am reviewing the Image dvd of Chaplin's Essanay Comedies, Vol. 02. The Madacy product that this review might appear on is grossly inferior to this edition, and is to be shunned with all your might.

We have here five Chaplin films and a guest appearance. The guest appearance is forgettable, as is the rest of the movie that the appearance is in. Two of these films are Chaplin treading water, "By the Sea" and "A Woman". "A Woman" is only important for trivial reasons, because Chaplin makes his last appearance in drag, with astonishing results.

The other films, though, are key to the Chaplin legacy. "Work" is his most political statement yet, with it's condemnation of bosses and managers via Charlie's boss, who sits in the back of a cart while Charlie draws it forwardthrough streets and up impossible hills. This film is so ridiculous that you wonder how on earth it came together to fit so well.

"The Bank" is...

Chaplin's Essanay Comedies Vol. 1,2, and 3
This is the long awaited "restored" version of Charlie Chaplin's Essanay comedies. Unfortunately when I say "restored," I mean to the best quality possible; Chaplin himself had the original negatives incinerated when he moved from California to Europe in the early 1950's. He was unable to have all of his work shipped over seas. This was the case for both the Essanay films and the Mutual Films. The First National films as well as his feature films were the ones that he kept. When they restored the Essanay and the Mutual films, they tried to find the earliest prints in the best condition that were still available. This means that some films or parts of films will be in better condition than others. In the case of the Mutual films alternate takes were used in the film restoration process (a Chaplin employee had kept footage that was supposed to be thrown away). Even though extra footage doesn't exist for the Essanay comedies, the "Chaplin's Essanay Comedies Vol. 1, 2, and 3"...

Good stuff
I am only a teenager and like most boys my age I love toilet humor.
So when my Social Studies teacher said we will be watching some Charlie Chaplin videos I was a little closed minded like everyone else.
The video we watched was Work, and just after about 5 minites of watching I was a Chaplin fan. The gags in the short little flim are ever bit as fun and funny as the day they were released. Some of my classmates just fell asleep, because they're too closed minded, but I would still recomened this stuff to any person young and old. He will give an ear to ear grin on the front of your melon. Chaplin rules.

Click to Editorial Reviews