His New Job (1915)

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writer:

Charles Chaplin (writer)

Release Date:

1 February 1915 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Comedy

Tagline:

Essanay PRESENTS THE ONE AND ONLY CHARLES CHAPLIN IN ANOTHER IRRESISTIBLE ABSURDITY.

Plot:

Charlie is trying to get a job in a movie. After causing difficulty on the set he is told to help the carpenter...

Plot Keywords:

Hollywood | Public Domain

Cast

Charles Chaplin	...	Film Extra
Ben Turpin	...	Film Extra, in Anteroom
Charlotte Mineau	...	Film Star
Leo White	...	Actor, Hussar Officer
Robert Bolder	...	Studio President
Charles J. Stine	...	Director
Arthur W. Bates	...	Carpenter
Jess Robbins	...	Cameraman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Hitchcock	...	Leading Man (unconfirmed)

Also Known As:

Charlie's New Job

Runtime:

32 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Essanay Film Manufacturing Company, The

Trivia:

The 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).

Goofs:

Continuity: A taped "X" on Ben Turpin's neck, used by Charlie to strike a match against, disappears when the gag is over.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Chase Me Charlie (1918)

Pretty Good, & A Noticeable Step Up from Chaplin's Earlier Features

Besides being pretty good in itself, "His New Job" is also interesting in that it is a clear improvement over the previous features that Charlie Chaplin had made when he was with Keystone Studies. While the Keystone features were not bad, and often contained some excellent material, overall they generally gave the appearance of having been thrown together quickly, which often left a lot of unrealized potential in some of their ideas and themes. And, while these Essanay features themselves were usually not quite as good as his later Mutual features, they did give Chaplin a chance to perform quite a few kinds of material, and most of them are well worth seeing.

In this one, Charlie's character is competing with some other hopefuls who are trying to break into the movies. Ben Turpin and Charlie have quite a few scenes together, and although their scenes are primarily knockabout slapstick, they do work well as a team. The action takes place in several settings, and on average it is fairly creative in its use of the settings and props. Most of the gags come off all right, and overall the feature works pretty well.