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York. From 1914 to 1923, when the theatre burned down, Chaplin was on its screen continuously except for one week when the management tried out an imitator, with disastrous results.
Because of the extra care he gave them Chaplin's twelve Mutual two-reelers took eighteen months to complete, half a year longer than anticipated. They show decided progress all around. Chaplin was more sure of what he was after. Each of the new films was an entity in itself, with clear plots and definite themes. They had satire, irony, surprise, pathos — all the elements he had introduced in the best Essanays, but more surely executed. Where there was slapstick it grew naturally out of the picture, it was not dragged in. The sets were more elaborate, the photography improved.
For the first few films Totheroh worked with William C. Foster. Diffused sunlight was still used in interiors but a couple of Klieg broadlights were used to boost a dark corner in "The Floorwalker" set, and in the police-station scenes of "Easy Street," which may have been shot during the rainy season. The moving camera is used to follow the two dancing couples in "The Count." It was also used for Chaplin's encounter with the tough in "Easy Street." "Truck backs" also appear in "The Vagabond" and "The Cure." (In the twenties many critics mistakenly credited the Germans with the invention of the moving camera, forgetting that it had been used in the Italian spectacle, "Cabiria" (1914) and in the Griffith films, notably "Intolerance.") The photography in the Mutuals has remarkable clarity, especially in good prints.
Many of Chaplin's supporting actors moved over with him from Essanay to Mutual. From "stooges" they advanced to more fully developed characters. A real "ensemble" was built up, each actor with a personality of his own. Edna Purviance continued as leading lady; John Rand came and stayed on with Chaplin; but Leo White,