By the Sea

By The Sea is a short film by Charlie Chaplin during his time at his 2nd film studio, Essanay. Apparently, it is the first film to have a man slip on a banana peel. So, surely that's enough reason to give this film a watch?

Unfortunately, it is nowhere near one of Chaplin's best, or even near an average Chaplin film. There are really only 2 comic moments. 1. When he slips on the banana peel. 2. The men's hats being flown around in the wind. There are a few other moments which may produce a giggle from audiences but nothing enough that will make you want to watch it again.

The story is very slim and not completely clear. Edna Purviance stars in a role that is not necessary. I can only see the point of her being there so that there's a bit more of a story to the non-existent plot. Any excuse to film at the beach! Chaplin is still in a stage where he did not worry about camera work, just as long as he could capture the whole scenario in one plain camera angle.

In Chaplin's early days he would sometimes make up the story as he went along, I feel it is likely that he did the same with this short. It is by no means awful, but it is one that you may think at the end 'hmm, that was decent', and then proceed to forget you ever watched it.

6/10!

There is something new under the sun in the way of comedy business. Charlie Chaplin proves this in the opening scenes of his latest comedy, a lively breeze being utilized to fan the audience into a gale of merriment. Only exteriors are used. Fifteen minutes of fun. - The Moving Picture World, May 15, 1915

This is a quick-moving farce, with Charlie getting involved in an altercation at the shore right off the bat. After he and his opponent (Billy Armstrong) agree to end hostilities, they get some ice cream, then start fighting again over who is going to pay for it (that's Snub Pollard behind the counter). Another man (Bud Jamison) gets hit with ice cream in the crossfire and more fisticuffs ensue. Meanwhile, Charlie flirts with Jamison's wife (Edna Purviance). Later, he flirts with Armstrong's wife (Margie Reiger).

Fun to watch, this movie is (thankfully) shorter and more to the point than some of Chaplin's other efforts.

For me this is one of the few Chaplin Essanay movies that contain any real laugh-out-loud moments - although they do come fairly early in the film, and nothing else in it compares to these two sequences. The first is the scene in which Chaplin and another man (Billy Armstrong) get their hats, which are attached to them by pieces of string, entwined and then proceed to repeatedly knock each other over as they try to disentangle themselves. The second is the moment in which Chaplin appears to be staring intently at something in the sand in order to get his adversary to lower his head enough to grasp it in a headlock. Chaplin's regular retinue – Purviance, Jamison, McGuire, etc – are all present in this one and offer solid support.

"By The Sea" is one of Charlie Chaplin's many short films, consisting mostly of simple slapstick comedy. In it, Charlie's tramp character visits the sea-side and gets involved in a series of mishaps with other vacationers.

Most of the comic elements are fairly routine: banana peels, melting ice cream, unstable park benches, and so forth. Chaplin does this kind of humor as well as anyone, so there are a couple of good laughs, but in this movie there is not any of the depth that he would display in his more memorable films.

This is a pretty routine short for Chaplin, but that's still not too bad by most standards.