Charlie Chaplin (1951)

the classic Mutual comedies 77 the flirtatious Mr. Stout, whom he upsets in what starts a general scramble. Later Mr. Stout and Edna, Mrs. Stout and her partner in flirtation, and Charlie (posing as Sir Cecil Seltzer) all turn up unexpectedly at a skating party. Consternation follows. The ensuing action rings in every variety of fall, every species of mayhem, and ends in a grand chase in which Charlie makes his escape by hooking his cane on an automobile rear and being towed to safety. The fast but delightfully graceful action is flavored with delicious comic bits. In one scene he mixes drinks to a wonderfully apposite "shimmy" rhythm; in another he unknowingly places a broiler cover over a live cat which he serves to the startled diner. (Imitations and variations of this gag have been legion). Then there is his super-gallant kissing of Edna's hand; his dashing party entrance, shoulders aslant and flicking ashes into his hat; his hat tipping by pressures against the wall. (It would be hard to say who invented this gag which was often later worked by W. C. Fields.) Other prime comedy bits occur in the melee when, falling upon Mrs. Stout (played by Henry Bergman), Charlie decorously pulls down her skirt; and his attempts to retain his balance by rotating his hands like an electric fan. "Easy Street," released in January 1917, is the most famous of the Chaplin Mutuals. Though not as hilariously funny as some, it has the most cleverly worked-out story, in which some have read social criticism and others a satire on puritanism. Charlie, a derelict, wanders into a Mission. Reformed by the minister and the angelic organ player, his first act is to return the collection box he had stolen. Gang war on Easy Street, the toughest section of the city, rises to a crescendo, with policemen carried back on stretchers, like soldiers from a battlefield. Help is needed