A Burlesque on Carmen

Chaplin liked Cecil B. DeMille's "Carmen"; this, I think, was his only effort devoted to parodying a sole film. I disliked DeMille's "Carmen"; neither the direction, nor narrative impressed me, and Geraldine Farrar was annoying. Edna Purviance is much easier to watch. Her caricature of Farrar's obnoxious narcissism was entertaining and rather satisfying--nearly making the experience of watching Farrar's performance worthwhile. And, Chaplin is funnier here than in any film he had done before. This, not "The Champion", "The Tramp", or "Police", is what I consider the jewel of his outturn at Essanay.

This short follows the same plot of DeMille's "Carmen", nicely condensed, absent the melodrama. And, I'm discussing the 1915 "Burlesque on Carmen", not the bastardized version Essanay created the following year, after Chaplin had left the studio. That one includes a subplot involving Ben Turpin, which pads on two more reels to the formerly 2-reel short. This, the original, preferred version is a visually coherent, appropriately photographed short (other than some jump cuts). Chaplin took the style, or look--tinting, mise-en-scène, composition and such--right out of DeMille's film. As a result, this is one of Chaplin's better-looking films from his early work. If nothing else, DeMille made some pretty pictures.

Chaplin did transform, or mature his comedy while at Essanay; although, of his Essanay films, only a few are very discernible from his Keystone shorts. You may witness a slight maturing in his other Essanay movies, but "Burlesque on Carmen" seems to introduce a radically more mature burlesque for Chaplin. And, I mean "burlesque" in two senses: first, this film is a burlesque in that it parodies another film, and, second, it may be that Chaplin learned to refine the broad, crude and frantic humor of his Keystone upbringing in the process of parodying that film. There's a clear focus here--in parodying DeMille's film, and thus we get a substantial refinement in Chaplin's style.

There are some very funny moments here, too. The swordfight, which turns into a wrestling match, is great. Chaplin continually interrupts the photoplay by breaking down the fourth wall, including winking at the camera. Another of my favorite gags is when Chaplin, looking as close to the tramp as in any part of the film, stops at a saloon before continuing with the expected storyline.

If you look at the whole career of that madcap genius Cecil B. DeMille, his style and preoccupations changed considerably over time, but one thing was evident from day one – his unshakeable pomposity and over-confidence. That is why he was always a ripe target for satire. Getting an early shot in on the heels one of DeMille's earliest successes was Charlie Chaplin, with his farcical yet precisely aimed Burlesque on Carmen.

These were the days when people would go to see a popular picture many times over. Chaplin too has clearly studied the original, and played upon the familiarity it would have had with audiences of the time. He has mimicked the sets, set-ups and even copied many of the titles verbatim. He even bases gags around very minor aspects of the DeMille film such as the soldiers and smugglers pushing at the door. All this provides a rich environment for Chaplin to tweak into hilariously disrespectful mayhem.

This doesn't appear to be an especially popular or well-known short, perhaps because without the genuine little tramp and modern setting it is not considered kosher Charlie. Personally I feel it is one his best Essanay pictures, for a number of reasons. Virtually the whole of Chaplin's act was satirical on some level, whether he was lampooning the upper class, social norms or modern fads, and generally the bigger the target the bigger the laughs. And simply because of its period trappings it allows him to do funny business with props and situations he would never normally get hold of, such as the numerous gags involving his sword. With his semi-faithful recreation of a contemporary drama, you get to see the considerable straight acting talents of Chaplin and his leading lady Edna Purviance, in a role unlike any other she played, but one she is very suited to. You also have John Rand being very funny in his own right, and Leo White getting the lengthiest and most creative pummelling he ever received from Charlie. Burlesque on Carmen is a unique standout in Chaplin's career, but also great fun to watch.

All of which brings us to the all-important statistic –

Number of kicks up the arse: 0 (although it does contain practically everything else)

I saw the 1951 UK version of this. It was narrated by Peter Dellars of all people and be sounds like Pete Smith. This version is also based on the 4 reeler version which Chaplin sued to stop being screened (Essanay added two reels to Chaplin's original version after he left for another studio!

So because they added a dumb narration to an additional two reels that was added after the fact, it's hard to review.

On one hand I can't evaluate it because of the silly narration that keeps getting in the way. On the other hand if it wasn't there I would have likely shut this off.

Except for The Gold Rush, I've never like Chaplin much. I found him way to simplistic and at the same time too broad. I know he was huge back in the day, but I just don't "get" him. Maybe this movie being 113 years old tells us why.

"Carmen" the 1845 novella by Prosper Merimee and the Georges Bizet opera have been adapted on screen numerous times since 1913. The oldest existing film version is Cecil B. DeMille's October 1915 "Carmen."

"Carmen," set in 1830 Spain, dealt with smugglers who conscripted the female gypsy to persuade a high-moral young Army officer manning the city gates to allow the group in to sell their goods. Naturally, the officer succumbs to Carmen's sexy whiles and his slippery slide down the corrupt ladder begins.

The themes in Carmen was especially popular in the mid-1910's during the time DeMille directed his movie, which was nominated by the American Film Institute in its Top 100 Most Passionate Films Ever Made. A month after the DeMille effort, Raoul Walsh released his "Carmen" a month later with Theda Bara, a lost film.

In one of Charlie Chaplin's final films for Essanay Studios, the comedian produced "A Burlesque on Carmen" in December 1915, based on the DeMille movie. Edna Purviance starred as Carmen,.

Chaplin's contract had expired shortly with Essanay after he made his "Carmen" because the studio had failed to meet his higher salary demands. Once he left, the studio added discarded footage Chaplin had shot as well as it created a subplot with Ben Turpin, extending the 30-minute short. Furious about the inferior movie that came out, Chaplin unsuccessfully sued the studio, causing much bitterness between them. A recent restoration of what Chaplin's original intentions were produced a highly-praised comedy that is recognized as one of his more intelligent movies in his resume.

Charlie Chaplin's 13th Essanay film is loosely based on Georges Bizet's famous opera Carmen and stars Chaplin as Darn Hosiery, a Spanish Officer on watch at a popular smuggling point. Local barman Lillas Pastia (Jack Henderson) persuades an attractive gypsy girl, Carmen (Edna Purviance) to distract the guard while they smuggle their goods. Despite having no interest in the man Carmen uses her charms to distract Hosiery who ends up in a love quartet for the gypsy's heart.

Burlesque on Carmen is an above average Essanay picture and features some nice subtle comedy as well as the usual trips, kicks and pokes. It also features the first noticeably decent performance from Chaplin regular Edna Purviance.

Purviance who appeared in every one of Chaplin's Essanay films and went on to appear in over thirty with the comedian over an eight year period had up to now, in my opinion, merely been a background prop for Chaplin to move about and turn his attention to when necessary. Often, through no fault of her own she would play characters with names such as 'A Woman', 'Girl' or 'Maid' but here as Carmen, with a proper fleshed out character, she shines. She is saucy and flirty yet firm and strong headed and is at the forefront of the story. It's nice to see her finally come into her own.

What's also nice is for Chaplin to take the action away from his traditional locations such as a house or park and transplant the plot to Spain. This gives him the excuse to try different sets and costumes, many of which add to the humour. He has great fun with a rather bushy military moustache and finds humour in his Uniform. The imagined heat of the Spanish sun also gives Edna Purviance a chance to show her face (and body), often hidden under bonnets and shawls. This is the first instance where I actually noticed the lightness of her hair as it is so often hidden from view. As I mentioned at the top there is a fair bit of subtle humour here to go along with the more obvious attempts. I loved how Chaplin slyly stole a beer and the looks he gave his fellow officer when trying to get 'time alone' with Purviance were fantastic.

For me the biggest laugh came when Chaplin is annoyed at a man blowing a horn. He carefully positions himself behind the man, lifts up the back of his tunic, unsheathes his sword, sharpens it, raises it above his head and then kicks him up the arse before returning the sword to its sheath. I loved the misdirection and patience of the joke. Overall I laughed out loud around five or six times which puts it towards the top of the Essanay films in that respect.

The final few minutes are surprisingly dark, even for a comedian famed for his pathos. I was totally shocked by just how grim it was and was glad for the final reveal even if the relationship didn't make much sense.

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