Charlot policeman

This is the one in which Chaplin gets a job as a policemen and is given the prime task of policing Easy Street, a notorious hotspot of vice and crime, from which the police are usually wheeled back to the station in a wheelbarrow. Eric Campbell, often seen in Chaplin films as an upper-class braggart with an elaborate beard here plays a clean-shaven bully who rules the street with an iron fist, and it's not long before Chaplin has to go head to head with him.

This one is pretty funny. The street has such a reputation that even an 8-year-old kid can scare the police. To defeat Campbell's bully, Chaplin has to trap his head in the gas lamp of a suspiciously rubbery lamppost. One aspect of the film that looks quite bizarre today is the way that one character who is clearly a junkie is portrayed as a figure of fun.

Entertaining, but not among Chaplin's best.

Interesting plot: the Tramp becomes a policeman! (It could happen...). From here many adventures ensue.

Has the usual Chaplin slapstick and sight gags but also has some darker themes: bullying, abuse of power, power-madness, instant fame and even drug abuse (though here it appears more of an advert for drugs - it was 1917 I guess, so they didn't know better).

However, it is not as powerful, clever or laugh-a-minute as Chaplin's later stuff. Chaplin's gags seem less well thought-out and more about cheap laughs here. I guess he was still honing his craft and exploring his own boundaries.

Good performances. Eric Campbell is scary as the bully, he of the fearsome eyebrows.

Charlie Chaplin remembered the rough and tumble neighborhoods he grew up in and the moral anchors the scattered Christian missionaries provided for the indigent residing in those rough boroughs of London.

He brings law and order into his January 1917's "Easy Street," in his attempt to tame those bullies he was so familiar with growing up. Chaplin, after attending a session at a missionary, decides on applying for a police position. Once he gets badged, he's patrolling one of the meanest streets in the city. Actor Eric Campbell's character is the toughest of a tough lot, to which Chaplin sets out involuntarily to control the beast. A street gas light proves to be the comedian's best weapon; it was while filming this scene the lamppost, bent in the middle, fell on Chaplin, requiring him to be rushed to the hospital.

Chaplin used the bookends of the missionaries, one in the beginning and another, a newly-constructed missionary in the tough neighborhood, to convey the movie's message. All the reformed neighborhood thugs, including Campbell, are dressed up to go to service. Here, Chaplin is making an overt statement on the power of redemption.

When a tramp decides to go straight, he returns the money he has just stolen from a mission and commits to putting back into his community by joining the police force. Unfortunately for him his assigned patrol is Easy Street – a virtual no-go area controlled by a violent and intimidating bully. Unaware of this the young tramp heads onto the beat.

Very highly rated on this site, this short film is a typical Chaplin film as it mixes comedy with an social heart. In this regard I must admit that I found it amusing (but not hilarious) and engaging (but hardly cutting in its insight). What I supposed is most telling is that the film isn't dated and boring, it still seems fresh and lively even though technology has moved so far ahead of the period; that doesn't mean it is brilliant but it must stand for something I guess. The scenes are well laid out and tickled me but personally I much prefer the shorts of Laurel & Hardy for their sheer comedy value.

Chaplin is his usual reliable self and does his tramp personae well. He is given sturdy support specifically from Campbell as the E Street bully but also from others who react to Chaplin rather than doing something themselves. Overall then an amusing little short that will please Chaplin fans. Not one of his best but certainly worth a look for those with more than a passing interest in the man.

Easy Street (1917) : Brief Review -

Charlie Chaplin as a Heroic Cop inventing useful cliches on "Tough Street". That's Enough! The toughest beat for a cop is named 'Easy Street'. This is a good metaphor even after 104 years, don't you agree? Or haven't you seen the similar stuff in at least one film in your life which was of course made years after East Street. Well, that's called inventing cliches. Hollywood was getting involved in almost every genre in the 10s decade but Comedy wasn't really explored by the mid 10s. Chaplin did the job alongside Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton by the end of the 10s decade and continued the same in the 20s decade too. We owe them a lot for that. Easy Street is an action-comedy, an unknown genre then but a popular one Today. I live in India, i belong to Bollywood Industry so this Action-Comedy Genre is well known, and well in demand which makes this film a very important affair for me. And like i said, Chaplin discovered useful cliches which i have seen in almost every cop film belonging to action-comedy genre in Hollywood as well Bollywood. A reformed tramp becomes a police constable who must fight a huge thug who dominates an inner city street. Chaplin again does some innovative acrobatics and brings laughter but most importantly it has that linear equation formed correctly. Comedy stunts are not easy in any era, whether it was 1917 or 2021, this segment always has to have sense which obviously comes from proper management. Here, that linear equation, that well planned cat and mouse game in pacy line-up makes it looks sensible and so does extremely funny. Eric Campbell can be seen doing all his trademarks here. Overall, Easy Street is short and sweet and believe me watching Chaplin in Cop's avatar is some pleasant thing for sure. Enjoy the original resource of those cliches you have been enjoying for years.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.