The Fireman

Monday September 10, 7:00 pm, The Paramount Theater, Seattle

Referring to Chaplin's Mutual films and The Fireman, in his book American Silent Film, William K. Everson explains, "The weakest of them, the purely slapstick entries, such as The Fireman, are still superior to the best of the Keystones and Essanays; and the best of them (The Immigrant, Easy Street, The Rink) could stand with his best work from any period." The Fireman relies entirely upon the physical brutality found in those earlier films for much of its humor. Charlie suffers the indignities of his fellow firemen and flirts with the chief's (Eric Campbell) sweetheart (Edna Purviance). She visits the station with her father who tells the chief, "Let my house burn. I'll get the insurance and you can wed my daughter." Of course, it goes wrong, there is "An honest fire," and Charlie rescues Edna from her burning house while the other firemen are occupied in truest Keystone fashion.

Charlie Chaplin and friends find work in a crooked fire station, where a wealthy businessman makes an arrangement with the chief to conveniently ignore a house fire so he can cash in his insurance policy. Just enough plot to introduce a smidgen of conflict and move us from one setting to the next, lest the scenery grow too static and the props outlive their usefulness.

In the first act, Charlie flops around the fire house. Sleeping through alarm bells, miraculously sliding up poles, booting his coworkers in the ass and grossing everybody out with his cooking. Standard silent movie physical humor. The second half whisks us away to the scene of the emergency, where our insurance scam has taken an undesirable turn and the fire must be put out after all. Here, the stakes mount and Chaplin closes the show with a hilarious window rescue scene involving a three-story ladder and an obvious mannequin stand-in.

Not one of the comedian's most memorable short films, but (as usual) his physical presence elevates what would have otherwise been a very simple, pointless story. A bit over-stretched, as these things go, but there are far worse ways to burn half an hour.

A typical Chaplin movie from this relatively early stage in the comic's career. He's a clumsy fireman with authority issues due to the bullying nature of fire chief Eric Campbell who takes a liking to Campbell's sweetheart (Edna Purviance). There's nothing groundbreaking here, but the pace is lightning fast and watching Chaplin tormenting Campbell is always fun.

A Fire Chief (Eric Campbell) is approached by a man (Lloyd Bacon) who asks that the Fire Department ignores a fire at his house so that he may collect the insurance money. The man insures that his daughter (Edna Purviance) is out during the fire so remains unharmed. The woman is not out though when an arsonist sets the property alight and she gets trapped upstairs. Meanwhile the Firemen which include accident prone Charlie Chaplin are at another house, putting out a fire. When the man realises his daughter is trapped he searches for them, finding Chaplin who attempts to save the day and win the woman's heart.

Amazingly The Fireman was Chaplin's 52nd film but was released in June 1916. Despite his age and lack of years in the industry he was by now a pro and it shows here with clever gags and a nice central idea. Unfortunately the film suffers from a similar problem as The Floorwalker in that it just isn't quite funny enough.

Although not awash with comedy there are some excellent comic turns to be found. A particular highlight of mine was the dual use of the fire engine as a means of putting out fire and as an over-sized coffee machine. The gag works very well visually and adds a little bit of surrealism which I always like to see. Another laugh comes when Chaplin falls backwards on to a man who is kneeling down, scrubbing a floor. The weight of Chaplin on his back sends the man's head straight into a bucket of water. As well as these sight gags there are the little touches which can often go unnoticed. Chaplin had a habit of using a recurring gag where by he would trip and doff his hat to the curb. Here as a Fireman he salutes. It's a nice in joke and twist on one of his favourites.

One interesting point about the film is that it shows a near deserted area of Los Angeles. It's incredible to see footage of the metropolis less than a hundred years ago and compare it to today. There are few streets and fewer houses and just one vehicle in the background of one shot. To me a lot of Chaplin's location work is fascinating for its background detail as well as its focus.

Another aspect of the film which I enjoyed was the reversing of film to create some odd looking and humorous scenes. The film is reversed to create the effect of Chaplin sliding up a Fireman's pole (in the literal sense) and is also used on a couple of occasions to create images of horses walking backwards which looks very odd indeed. This is another example of Chaplin's ever expanding inventiveness. Because of this and other clever ideas it's a shame that he resorts to so much that even by 1916 was tired and well used. The kick up the backside gag is repeated here several times and although it's Chaplin on the receiving end it does feel a little overdone. The plot itself feels fairly formulaic and very similar to previous films.

Despite the problems with the movie such as tired plot and jack of jokes it ends on a high. The final scene is exciting and sweet and brings the proceedings to a pleasant close. Chaplin's climbing and acrobatics are excellent and even though he has an obviously fake Edna Purviance on his back, the stunts are still impressive. Despite being his second Mutual film it still feels as though Chaplin was finding his feet with the company and though exploring new ideas was relying too heavily on safe material.

www.attheback.blogspot.com

I first saw this movie back in January of this year, around my high school's exam time.

I was stressed out, so I went looking for movies to watch on the Internet, and I came across this.

This was my first Chaplin film; indeed, this was my first silent film, and I must say it made a very good impression on me.

I'm more a fan of verbal comedy, but this was unexpectedly funny!

However, I thought the butt-kicking a bit incessant and found no humor in it.

Other than that, a hilarious film. I give it two thumbs up!