A Day's Pleasure (1919)

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writer:

Charles Chaplin (written by)

Release Date:

15 December 1919 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Comedy

Tagline:

His Own fourth Million Dollar Comedy

Plot:

Father takes his family for a drive in their falling-apart Model T Ford, gets in trouble in traffic...

Plot Keywords:

Seasickness | Music Score Composed By Director | Public Domain | Jazz Band | Jazz

Cast

Charles Chaplin	...	Father (as Charlie Chaplin)
Edna Purviance	...	Mother

Also Known As:

A Ford Story (USA)

Runtime:

25 min | 18 min | USA:17 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) (re-issue) | Silent

Certification:

Canada:G (Ontario) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp | Germany:o.Al. | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Harbor, San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

The house the family appears from is in reality Charles Chaplin's office.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: As Charlie struggles with the cantankerous car, a pedestrian walks into view on a sidewalk in the background. Either realizing a film is being shot or waved off by the crew, he hastily turns around and walks away.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003)

Forced

'A Day's Pleasure' has a story and plot. In this one, Charlie Chaplin plays a family man, and they have a day of misadventures beginning with some trouble starting their automobile, then sea sickness on a cruise and, finally, they have difficulties passing a traffic crossing. The problem with the story and plot isn't that it's simple or episodic; the problem is that it's uncharacteristic of Chaplin. It would be a completely acceptable, perhaps even above average, two-reeler for any lesser comedian. Although everyone was a lesser comedian (at least in 1919), I mean those who didn't rise above these kinds of slapstick shorts.

Those like Laurel and Hardy would become masters of them, but films like 'A Day's Pleasure' were no longer the best Chaplin could do. He was already working on 'The Kid,' and it seems he wasn't very interested in shorter and simpler films anymore. First National demanded product, however, and so Chaplin rushed and forced out 'A Day's Pleasure.' And, it shows.

This is still pleasant to watch (it'd have been difficult to make this kind of picture unpleasant), and one may find plenty of laughs in it, but Chaplin was aiming, by now, for more than humour, and he could also be a lot funnier. His breakthrough, 'The Kid,' reflects that.