The Chaplin Revue (1959)

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writer:

Charles Chaplin (writer)

Release Date:

1 September 1959 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Three Chaplin silent comedies "A Dog's Life", "Shoulder Arms", and "The Pilgrim" are strung together to form a single feature length film...

Cast

Charles Chaplin	...	Narrator / Various (archive footage)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Albert Austin	...	Various (archive footage)
Henry Bergman	...	Various (archive footage)
Syd Chaplin	...	Various (archive footage)
Edna Purviance	...	Various (archive footage)
Mack Swain	...	Various (archive footage)
Loyal Underwood	...	Various (archive footage)

Runtime:

UK:128 min | USA:119 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System) | Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

South Korea:All | Finland:S | USA:Unrated

Company:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Trivia:

To achieve the feel of a modern print, Charles Chaplin stretch-printed the footage, which slowed it down to sound speed so music could be added properly.

Quotes:

Narrator: There were no atomic bombs or guided missiles. Then it was only cannon, bayonets and poisoned gas. Ha ha. Those were the good old days.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Shoulder Arms (1918)

Soundtrack:

I'm Bound for Texas

wonderful overview of the types of shorts made by Chaplin

Most of Chaplin's most famous films are his full-length features. And, I assume most people have at most seen only a few clips of him from his pre-feature days when he starred in dozens and dozens of comedy shorts. This is really a shame, as some wonderful shorts are pretty much waiting to be discovered by the world in the 21st century.

If someone watches this film they have an excellent chance to see some of Chaplin's better shorts because Chaplin himself chose these three shorts and strung them together with a bit of narration to make this 1959 feature film. This is great for several reasons. First, in Chaplin's earliest films from 1914-1915, his character of the Little Tramp is still in its earliest incarnations or is absent altogether. Plus, even when he is there, he was often mean-spirited and self-centered--something very alien from the Little Tramp we have grown to love. Second, because the shorts that were chosen were in great condition, if you watch this film you won't need to worry about watching scratchy film with gaps and lousy musical accompaniment that doesn't fit the action (a common problem).

So, for a great look at Chaplin's shorts at their finest, give this film a chance. It's sure to provide you some excellent laughs.