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

Too Simplistic a Concept for Any Real Laughs

I have the disadvantage of having grown up in the MTV generation so it's harder for me to really appreciate some of Charlie Chaplin's short films. They have to be pretty consistently funny to leave an impression on me, but THE CURE falls into the group of shorts that fall out of mind soon after watching it. It finds Charlie Chaplin's alcoholic arriving at a sanitarium/resort spa where men and women go to clear their minds and cleanse their bodies. But he's a drunk, and hence hi-jinks. There are a few fun gags; in my opinion, the best was Chaplin's total lack of understanding in how a revolving door functions. It's good for a few laughs before it's milked a shade too long. The same could be said for just about every gag in the movie (e.g. when Chaplin is unknowingly dumping his water cup into his hat). The rest of the movie is just Chaplin stumbling around from room to room, aggravating just about everyone he crosses. There are a few chuckles here and there, but nothing memorable. Both Edna Purviance and Eric Campbell make their usual appearances here, but Purviance disappears pretty fast and Campbell (as the man with the gout) does nothing but chase Chaplin and repeatedly stub his bad foot on furniture. I guess the whole concept was just a little too simplistic and there just wasn't much to be gleaned from it for laughs. Fans should give it a watch, but it's no EASY STREET.