The Cure (1917)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Writers:

Charles Chaplin (screenplay)
Charles Chaplin (story)

Release Date:

16 April 1917 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Comedy

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Sanitarium | Revolving Door | Mineral Spring Water | Masseur | Hangover

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

Also Known As:

The Water Cure (USA)

Runtime:

31 min | Germany:24 min (restored version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Germany:6 | Australia:G | Argentina:Atp | Spain:T | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Lone Star Corporation

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.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: 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.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Heaven Before I Die (1997)

review of "The Cure"

"The Cure" has Chaplin arriving tipsy to a health clinic to supposedly dry out, but he shows up with a trunk full of booze. This film has some memorable scenes but the premise of it is very funny. There are plenty of run-ins with Eric Campbell's character with the foot cast. Campbell is also Chaplin's rival for the girl as well, although, poor girl, has to(?) choose between an ogre and a recovering alcoholic who is failing miserably at the recovering part.

Outside of the hotel is some sort of little fountain or well that has a stone terrace around it and stone benches. Mostly women it seems sit around the 'ol water cure hole and drink. At some point in the movie, a dude that Charlie had been rough with earlier comes back. The man goes into Chaplin's hotel room and throws every last bottle of booze (that is the ones that the crazy long-bearded old bellhop didn't drink) directly into the water hole below. So much for health clinic security! Before long, the entire hotel is trashed.

There's a good sequence when Chaplin goes into the spa for a massage with a large guy who looks like he's practicing wrestling moves on people. "The Cure" seems to lack a number of good sequences but makes up for it a bit with the overall funny factor. It still doesn't appear to be his best of the Mutual period (this was the 10th film for Mutual, 45th time directing and 67th overall)