CHAPLIN, CHARLIE.   Term Paper ID:28503 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Analysis of his films & development from gag-based shorts to comedy features with complex ideas. Discusses "The Kid," "His Trysting Place," "The Idle Class."... More...

6 Pages / 1350 Words 6 sources, 7 Citations, MLA Format $24.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Analysis of his films & development from gag-based shorts to comedy features with complex ideas. Discusses "The Kid," "His Trysting Place," "The Idle Class." Paper Introduction: Charlie Chaplin was one of the most popular and influential directors and performers in the history of film. His influence derived from many different aspects of his work but one of the most important was his role in the development of comic feature films. Although other performers and filmmakers were involved in the same process (and surpassed Chaplin at times) he was nearly unique in the degree of control he exerted over the development of his own films. A comparison of works ranging from his early days of making two-reel shorts for Keystone to later shorts and his first self-directed feature at First National, The Kid (1921), demonstrates the process through which coherent narrative features were developed from the gag-based style of the shorts. Although The Kid is not the height of Chaplin's accomplishment in the new form, as his first it displays some of the problems the Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Ed. Theinconclusiveness of that ending is not much greater than that of The Kid.But Chaplin had achieved many of his objectives in this first feature andhe was to go on to solve many of the problems while making films that had acritical and emotional resonance that escaped most other silent filmmakers. But, asMcCaffrey notes, unlike Lloyd and Keaton, Chaplin did not transcend themusic hall sketch form in his first feature and The Kid is constructed insequences that often work primarily as extended gags. The serious tone of the opening sequences with the motherwas created by elements--such as the insert of the still of Christ carryingthe cross--that seem like absurdly artificial efforts to create a seriousatmosphere in which the story of adoptive love can be played out. Mast, for example, in order to defendChaplin's features from the charge of "weak structures [and] weak stories,"argues that these works are not intended to be coherent stories "butthematic investigations--putting the wandering picaro, the homeless tramp(or some variation of him) in juxtaposition with a particular social andmoral environment" (64-65). (1921) had a"clever, intricate, smoothly unified story line" that made Chaplin's TheKid look "primitive" in comparison (85). AsMcCaffrey notes, however, Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. But Chaplin's control increased throughout the silentperiod and gaining greater autonomy was his specific aim. Butthis may be because he earnestly wished to combine serious socialcommentary and emotional depth with his comedy. Donald W. In this film Chaplin plays both an alcoholic Count,whose wife will not speak to him, and the tramp character, who wanders intothe expensive resort where the characters stay. New York: Routledge, 1995. The gags are not, in either case, inextricably integratedinto the narrative. Social critique and an analysis of the nature of paternal love werestrong subjects for what is also a very funny movie in many respects. Like Keaton and Lloyd, Chaplin was involved in the development of thecomedian-centered comedy feature. Charlie Chaplin was one of the most popular and influential directorsand performers in the history of film. Such plot devices coexist, however, with the gradualaccumulation of feeling in the relationship between Charlie and the Kid.This emotional tone develops its impact as the pair are seen to shareexperiences and the "father's" love is made clear. Such episodes as thediscovery of the baby and the setting up of a nursery in Charlie's wretchedapartment or the sequence in which the pair's business arrangement isdemonstrated could, in fact, be the isolated subjects of individual shortcomic films. He, for example,was interested in the conflict between opposing views of the relationshipbetween human beings and society, which was either "an unfortunate humannecessity" or a fortunate one--the crux of the problem often faced byChaplin's Little Tramp, whose plots often depicted him as torn, at leastbriefly, between freedom and the respectability of a lawful, conventionalexistence (Mast 96). Although The Kid is not the height ofChaplin's accomplishment in the new form, as his first it displays some ofthe problems the vaudeville-oriented comic filmmakers faced in making thetransition. Ed. Society sets all his ingenuity and loveaside however, when the doctor discovers the nature of their relationshipand reports Charlie to the authorities. The Kid. 1-13.Krutnik, Frank. Kristine Brunovska Karnick and Henry Jenkins. He accomplishedthis goal and then looked to comic features as the direction in which hewished to take his art. Features were desirable, for one reason, because they were where theeconomic future of films lay. CBS/Fox, 1992.---. Yet neither director was interestedin developing the kinds of ideas that fascinated Chaplin. Videocassette. Madacy, 1993.---. Videocassette. Thus, in a way, Charlie triumphs over Swain. . The same could be said of many of the gags in The Kid. "A Spanner in the Works? This triumph isbased, however, on the fact that their encounter is developed in thecontext of the central gag, i.e., Charlie's and Swain's growing mutualhatred as the two strangers sit next to each other at a lunch counter.This film features, therefore, a simple narrative that depends on a plottwist. Chaplin's gags consist ofthose that merely respond to the setting (such as an extended golf sketch)and those that develop from the confusion of identities. 2nd ed. In the end, as Charlie enters the mother's house with the Kid,the ambiguity of their future indicates the extent to which Chaplin foundit difficult to devise a satisfactory ending. 1921. New York: Routledge, 1995. For structural purposes it is onlynecessary that Charlie and Swain meet, be able to recognize each otherlater on, and accidentally exchange overcoats--one bearing the love noteand the other the baby's gift. 1 6-19.Jenkins, Henry, and Kristine Brunovska Karnick. But, as The Kid shows clearly enough, Chaplinwas trying to develop more complex ideas that depended on their developmentwithin the narrative. McCaffrey. In this short film Charlie and his wifequarrel and he leaves the house, but seeks to placate her with the gift ofa bottle for their baby. Genre, Narrative and the Hollywood Comedian." Classical Hollywood Comedy. And when the plot comesto a crisis it is not a simple coincidence that causes it--even though thecoincidence is necessary for the resolution. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1971. . His influence derived from manydifferent aspects of his work but one of the most important was his role inthe development of comic feature films. Author-based perspectives often do, asJenkins and Karnick state, "avoid the tricky questions of artistic controland of the relationship between the individual artists and the system ofproduction" (7). "Pie and Chase: Gag, Spectacle and Narrative in Slapstick Comedy. There are, of course, many ways to read film history. Although other performers andfilmmakers were involved in the same process (and surpassed Chaplin attimes) he was nearly unique in the degree of control he exerted over thedevelopment of his own films. 82-95. They could not, forthe most part, simply be lifted from their context and, like the golfscenes or the diner scene in His Trysting Places, stand on their own. But, especially in the case of Chaplinwho produced, directed, wrote, starred in and, later, composed music forhis own films, the auteur clearly conceived of himself in just this way.Thus when Jenkins and Karnick argue against reading "the shifts ofindividual comic artists, such as Chaplin, from short films which werelargely outside the classical norms of the Hollywood system towards moreclassically constructed feature films . Kristine Brunovska Karnick and Henry Jenkins. Swain's character, however, will still be the victim ofmisunderstanding as the film ends because his wife's jealousy over thebaby's gift will be replaced by her jealousy over the unexplained loveletter. The scenes inwhich the Count, trapped inside an unremovable costume-party knight'shelmet, and the tramp, presumed to be dressed in costume himself, interactwith false policemen, mistaken identity and other problems are played outin gags that are integrated with the film's narrative. The illness of the childhighlights Charlie's seeming unfitness to raise any child. The Idle Class. 17- 38.Mast, Gerald. Ed. A comparison of works ranging from his earlydays of making two-reel shorts for Keystone to later shorts and his firstself-directed feature at First National, The Kid (1921), demonstrates theprocess through which coherent narrative features were developed from thegag-based style of the shorts. Butquestions about Charlie's income are set aside by the ingenuity of hisarrangements (household and business) and the audience is allowed to focuson his growing love for the child. Classical Hollywood Comedy. "Introduction: Golden Eras and Blind Spots--Genre, History and Comedy." Classical Hollywood Comedy. And only a year later HaroldLloyd's first feature, Grandma's Boy (1922), also showed "far greater skillin story construction" (McCaffrey 85). Another couple is shown on their honeymoon and,as he leaves his hotel, the man (Mack Swain) is asked by a young woman tomail a love note that sets up a tryst. New York: Routledge, 1995. The diner meeting between the twomen could fit into any number of contexts with no trouble at all. CBS/Fox, 1992.Crafton, Donald. The twist involving the note left by the mother, however, gives awaythe fact that Chaplin was to some extent continuing to rely on simplenarrative developments--like the switched overcoats in His Trysting Places--that were caused by coincidence and chance rather than developed throughcharacter. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1979.McCaffrey, Donald W. The Comic Mind: Comedy and the Movies. At this point there is a furthercritique, of the nature of society and its inability to see beyond itsnecessary--but imperfect--laws. Jenkins andKarnick, for example, argue against the auteur- (or "author") basedapproach on many excellent grounds. His Trysting Places. Yet thethrust of Chaplin's intentions is unmistakable. Videocassette. For Chaplin himself the feature signified theopportunity for greater progress and maturity. Works CitedChaplin, Charles, dir. This first feature should be compared, however, with an early short.His Trysting Places (1914) was one of more than two dozen of Chaplin's 35Keystone films in which he directed himself. Ed. The struggle to develop complex ideas in a feature filmseems to have been more difficult for Chaplin than for the others. But they were also desirable because alonger format allowed the filmmakers to develop more complex ideas. In the early shorts "gags may or may not be thematically related"to the narrative and in this case there is no essential relationshipbetween gag and narrative (Crafton 1 9). "An Evaluation of Chaplin's Silent Comedy Films, 1916- 36." Focus on Chaplin. Some critics, with adesire to interpret nearly every aspect of the auteur's work in the mostpositive light, refuse to allow that Chaplin's feature narratives aresometimes less than perfect. The film is not particularlyinteresting--although it is funny in many places--and its unusual featuresinclude the fact that Charlie (to distinguish the performed character fromthe director) is married (with a child) and shows few signs of the trampcharacter which was only gradually being developed during the early yearswith Mack Sennett at Keystone. ButChaplin's structures grew more complex and by the First National periodsuch short films as The Idle Class (1921) featured gags that grew out ofthe narrative itself. Coming from "performance contexts" suchas burlesque, vaudeville, and English music halls, where the acts were"similar in length to the comedy short--from eight to twelve minutes," allthese early stars were engaged in a "major and difficult step" as theytried to bridge the gap between gag-based shorts and full-length narratives(Krutnik 18). Yet Chaplin was clearly intent on making a featurethat possessed a depth of analysis (e.g., of the nature of parental love)that went far beyond anything to be discovered in either of the shortsdiscussed here. This will lead to confusions as theirrespective wives berate them for infidelity and, eventually, once thecorrect overcoats have been regained, all will be sorted out. in terms of personal progressand maturity" they are arguing against viewing Chaplin's development in theway Chaplin himself viewed it (7). The audienceunderstands that this is something of an issue from the first. In the end of The Idle Classthe uncovered impostor takes one last kick at the backside of the wealthyman who had tormented him and merely runs off into the distance. ButChaplin demonstrates with his conclusion that he is not entirely capable ofdeveloping the kind of fully integrated feature-length narrative he hopedto achieve. 1921. Kristine Brunovska Karnick and Henry Jenkins. 1914. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

Many of our Papers can be Downloaded From This Site!

PLEASE READ THIS, IT IS IMPORTANT!

Office hours are Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm (PST). You may place orders for custom research over the phone during office hours. E-mail requests can be made to our graduate and undergraduate department any time, and will be reviewed during office hours. You may also contact customer service any time through e-mail, and we will review your message during business hours. A great many papers can be downloaded right from this site, but not all of them. If you would like to know if a particular paper is downloadable, just look in the description for: "Available for Internet Download: Y" or "Available for Internet Download: N" If you wish to purchase a paper which is NOT available for immediate download, you will need to make other shipping arrangements. Also, please be aware that these orders are processed Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm (PST). If you place your order after 4:45pm on Friday, it will not be processed until the following Monday morning. We charge $8 per page for all of our pre-written reports, plus shipping (and tax for California residents). However, the highest cost of any ONE report is $136, or 17 pages. Please, take a moment. Make sure you have chosen the report you want or need BEFORE you complete your order. If you are not sure, allow us to help you. We do not offer refunds or exchanges, so it is important for you to let us answer your questions during office hours. Reports which are e-mailed or downloaded are in Microsoft Word format. We are making more reports available for e-mail delivery faster than we can update our listings. Please call to check on the status of particular reports. There are many other shipping options which are listed on the Checkout page.