The Cure (1917)

An alcoholic checks into a health spa and his antics promptly throw the establishment into chaos.

Stars:

Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charles Chaplin	...	The Inebriate
Edna Purviance	...	The Girl
Eric Campbell	...	The Man with the Gout
Henry Bergman	...	Masseur
John Rand	...	Sanitarium Attendant
James T. Kelley	...	Sanitarium Attendant
Albert Austin	...	Sanitarium Attendant
Frank J. Coleman	...	Head of Sanitarium

Storyline

Charlie goes to a spa to dry out, but he takes a trunk of liquor with him. He tangles with another's gouty foot in a revolving door. Later he thinks the gouty man is making love signs to him (he doesn't Edna, the real object of the man's efforts), so he signs back. He interpets a massage to be a wrestling match. When management throws his liquor into the fountain, when flow the healthful waters, everyone gets drunk.

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Plot Keywords:

sanitarium | water | revolving door | bandaged foot | masher | 

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Genres:

Short | Comedy

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 April 1917 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Water Cure

Filming Locations:

Lone Star Studio - 1751 Glendale Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lone Star Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

24 min 24 min 24 min (restored)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White Color (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Outtakes show that the original premise was to have Charles Chaplin play one of the employees at the clinic, but switched the roles with John Rand (who was to play the inebriate) after an uninspired performance. Chaplin himself specialized in drunken characters in the English music hall where he grew up.

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Goofs

When the Man With the Gout (Eric Campbell) falls into the spa well and struggles underwater, it is a stunt man that is struggling. Eric Campbell is one of the people who pull the stunt man out.

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Quotes

Title Card: [opening title card] The health spring.

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Connections

Featured in Unknown Chaplin (1983)

User Reviews

Charlie at his short best

Much of the delights in this short film involve a tipsy Charlie (whose luggage consists entirely of bottles, to the good fortune of the weirdly bearded porter) and a grouchy, gouty, Eric Campbell - a perfect foil for Chaplin, he'd be much missed after his death in a road accident later in 1917.

Edna Purviance, Charlie's usual sweetie in these short films, is a welcome presence, but it is Chaplin himself who shines throughout 'The Cure', whether struggling from the over zealous attention of a Turkish bath attendant, walking his funny walk up steps, or getting stuck along with Campbell in a set of revolving doors.

It doesn't get much better than this.