Charlot danseur

In this short, another one of the early ones Charlie Chaplin made for Mack Sennett, he's clean shaven and is nothing like his Little Tramp character. Well, except here he's just as drunk as you'd expect him to be in these early efforts. His beginning scenes are quite amusing as he seems to be at a real dance hall happening as he tries to woo some ladies and keeps slipping and tripping himself. But all that happens afterwards results in some nonsense about fighting over a pretty girl that happen to be also pursued by musicians Ford Sterling and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. As a result, I didn't think the rest was all that funny and in fact was repetitious though it was nice to see Arbuckle do some falls himself. So on that note, Tango Tangles is worth a look and nothing else.

Tango Tangles (1914)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Keystone romp has a dance hall girl getting the attention of a band leader (Ford Sterling), a clarinettist (Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle) and a drunk (Charles Chaplin). The three men eventually bump into one another and more than one fight breaks out. Most might be attracted to this film due to the early appearance of Chaplin but it's the now forgotten Sterling who steals the show. He has a couple funny moments throughout the film but overall he doesn't have too much to work with. For the most part we just see the men each trying to sneak off with the girl but getting busted by another one of the guys and a fight breaks out. Arbuckle gets a nice scene where he's about to throw a man but that's about it for him. I was disappointed with Chaplin (how many times can you say that?) because he really doesn't bring too much to his role as the drunk. The one funny thing is that it appears this was filmed at a real dance and some people there didn't know they were filming a movie.

In Chaplin's first handful of short comedies, there is a very clear pattern of experimentation going on as he discovers where his real talent lies and while the personality of the beloved Tramp evolves and makes itself known. In Tango Tangles, or Charlie's Recreation, we see a bit of a digression as not only does Chaplin's character revert back into the 'obnoxious drunk' half of his on screen persona, but is also overshadowed by the clearly talented and, in this film at least, almost equally large screen presence of Ford Serling.

Serling has been credited by some users as deserving at least some credit for inspiring some aspects of Chaplin's character, which I can accept, because the motions and overblown mannerisms are similar to some of Chaplin's later work, although I think it's important to point out that if Chaplin did learn from Serling, he most certainly saw his technique and improved it, maybe even perfected it.

At the beginning of the film, it is clear that Serling has an intense presence, but as the film goes on, the infancy of screen acting also becomes apparent. It seems here that actors did not know where to stop when flinging themselves about in the outrageously overblown antics that must have been common in slapstick comedy for the stage. They slap each other in the face and then stumble about in a bizarre state of semi-consciousness, wobbling on their feet while their arms swing limply, eyes bulging and head bouncing from side to side like a superball in a box, before eventually falling over backwards and flinging their legs up over their head far enough so that their toes touch the ground behind them.

Not that this is all bad comedy, just a sign of how different the things were that made people laugh in 1914 compared to today, as well as a curious look at the development of slapstick comedy for the screen.

As far Chaplin's performance, it is also clear that the Tramp was still in the future, as he appears in this film without a mustache and therefore looking entirely like someone else. As I mentioned, he once again plays a belligerent drunk, stumbling around and callously punching and pushing people and throwing things at them as he staggers about the set, also in a bizarre state of semi-consciousness. Fatty Arbuckle also puts the majority of his talents on hold to star in this short, as he, Chaplin, and Serling all compete viciously for the affections of the hat girl, with what probably used to be hilarious results. By now, the film is one of the lesser of Chaplin's very early films, but remains an interesting milestone on his way to making his own far superior films.

This is apparently Chaplin's 7th film at Keystone. Chaplin came to Keystone in January. His first film, "Making a Living" was released on February 2nd and this was released five weeks later on March 9th. Welcome to Mack Sennett's "Fun Factory," Charlie. Was Chaplin surprised to learn that Sennett really did run it like a factory, producing comedy by the foot and reel?

What is interesting is the diversity of these early films. Chaplin is not yet "The Little Tramp" by a long shot. In fact he plays many different roles at the start of his career, he has already played a hustler type (Making a Living) and cop ("A Thief Catcher), a man obsessed with being in the movies ("Kid Auto races" and "a Film Johnie") and a drunk ("Mabel's Strange Predicament").

He wasn't a star at this point. He played second fiddle to Mable Normand in "Mabel's Strange Predicament," and second fiddle to Ford Sterling in Between Showers." He is back at playing second fiddle to Ford Sterling again in this film. He is also back to playing a drunk. This time in his real clothes and without the mustache.

While we have the release dates for the films, we cannot be sure of the shooting order. If the shooting order matches the release order, it seems apparent that Sennett was not at all sure that Chaplin could be a movie star and was preparing him to play supporting roles as another Keystone ensemble player.

Sennett liked to shoot on locations where interesting things were happening. He literally drove his actors to events and had them improvise stories on the spot. This is Chaplin's second improvised film after "Kid Auto Races." What is interesting here is how well he improvises with Ford Sterling. They really look like a great comedy team together. Seeing this film along with "Between Showers" would convince anyone that they had a great chemistry and timing between them. They seemed to have been working together for years rather then he just starting weeks before.

"Tango, Tangled" looked like director Mack Sennett just set up his cameras in front of a dance contest floor and told his three leads, Chaplin, Sterling and Arbuckle to be funny. The amazing thing is that they manage to make-up a film out of thin air and it is funny.

Am a big fan of Charlie Chaplin, have been for over a decade now. Many films and shorts of his are very good to masterpiece, and like many others consider him a comedy genius and one of film's most important and influential directors.

He did do better than 'Tango Tangle'. Can understand why the Keystone period suffered from not being as best remembered or highly remembered than his later efforts, but they are mainly decent and important in their own right. 'Tango Tangle' is a long way from a career high, but does have historical significance for obvious reasons.

'Tango Tangle' is not as hilarious, charming or touching as his later work and a good deal of other shorts in the same period. The story is flimsy and the production values not as audacious, the humour only amusing and lacking freshness at times and parts a touch scrappy.

For someone who was relatively new to the film industry and had literally just moved on from their stage background, 'Tango Tangle' is not bad at all.

While not audacious, the film hardly looks ugly, is more than competently directed and is appealingly played. Chaplin looks comfortable for so early on and shows his stage expertise while opening it up that it doesn't become stagy or repetitive shtick. Ford Sterling steals the show.

Although the humour, charm and emotion was done even better and became more refined later, 'Tango Tangle' is mildly humorous, sweet and easy to like, though the emotion is not quite there. It moves quickly and doesn't feel too long or short.

Overall, far from one of Chaplin's best but not bad at all. 6/10 Bethany Cox