Une idylle aux champs

"Sunnyside" and "A Day's Pleasure", the two films Chaplin made before his early masterpiece "The Kid", are two of his worst--probably since his days at Essanay. The most evident problem with "Sunnyside" is how uneven and poorly constructed it is. There's a lot going on in the film (maybe too much), and it seems more inspired than the lackluster "A Day's Pleasure", but it's a mess. Chaplin knew it, too; reportedly, he spent much time trying to make it into a coherent picture, and he contributed the film's failure to his personal problems at the time surrounding his failed marriage. In this light, the "etc., etc., etc." in the intertitles seems an expression of exasperation from the director.

In the film, the Tramp works overtime as a farmhand and employee of the adjoining hotel; his only solace being in his love for Edna Purviance's village belle. That sounds simple enough, but its construction and the fluency of the gags are off-kilter, as is the balance between slapstick and pathos. As a result, much of the hilarity and emotional involvement is forsaken.

Perhaps, "Sunnyside" was instructive for Chaplin. His subsequent films, especially "The Kid", would contain pathos and slapstick harmoniously. One may view the film as an experiment in this light. Furthermore, the dream sequence in "The Kid" is a more fully developed construction than that in "Sunnyside". The dancing nymphs interlude here in homage to ballet dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky might've worked better if placed in a better construction. Nevertheless, There are some funny moments here, as well as some hints at moments of poignancy. I especially liked the opening scenes where the Tramp won't get out of bed and brings a chicken and a cow into the kitchen to make breakfast. But, such moments are often lost within the ultimate hodgepodge that is "Sunnyside".

Sleepy farmhand (Charlie Chaplin) works hard to stay in bed. He mows the grass in the lobby of the Hotel Evergreen. He prepares breakfast the natural way. He's walking the cows when he loses them causing havoc in town. He falls under a bridge and awakens to find four beautiful nymphs. It's actually a dream. He woos the town beauty (Edna Purviance) getting rid of her brother. A well dressed city chap crashes his car and brought into the hotel where Chaplin is working. Purviance and the city chap go off together. Chaplin decides to imitate him. When she still rejects him, he tries to commit suicide but he's still dreaming. He wakes up at the Hotel with his boss kicking him. This time he gets the girl and the city chap leaves town.

For all the good comedic work, one moment delivers a truly hilarious moment for me. Chaplin finally sees that he lost the cows and as he walks back to town, he double checks a man walking along the road. It's Chaplin making sure that the man isn't a cow. It's gloriously ridiculous and fun. The movie is mostly slapstick. Chaplin does do a Tramp imitation when he dresses in city garb. This may not be one of his iconic movies but it's a good second tier work.

While this is certainly not a bad film and is entertaining to watch, compared to other Chaplin shorts, it's a bit of a let-down. Part of this is because there aren't as many laughs as usual and part of it was that the characters just didn't seem that engaging--something a little unusual for a Chaplin short made this late in his career. Plus, for me, it was a little hard to accept the Little Tramp as a farm hand--he just seemed really out of place and a bit lost. Later, when the rich guy appears and Charlie thinks he's going to lose his girl to this dandy, the movie seems a little more familiar, but still it failed to grab hold of my attention. Not a bad film, but Chaplin certain did better.

Charlie works on a farm from 4am to late at night. He gets his food on the run (milking a cow into his coffee, holding an chicken over the frying pan to get fried eggs). He loves the neighbor's daughter Edna but is disliked by her father.

All I know about this film comes from two things: one, watching it. And two, the work of legendary professor Wes Gehring. From watching it, I find that the film is good, with a few amusing bits, but far from Chaplin's best work and it is no surprise that this is not one of his championed films.

From Gehring, I learn that this film (and "A Day's Pleasure") were made while going through a nasty divorce (something Chaplin would do a few times). So if it is not his best work, it may be because he was far from in the best of moods.

This is another one of Chaplin's comedies. The Tramp is the butt of the joke by the start of the movie and turns the tables on the jokers by the end of the movie. There is a love interest that The Tramp falls in love with and by the end of the movie, wins over. Like many of Chaplin's movies, the use of extras and supporting actors add to the comedy. So often, Chaplin casted very large people or very small people. Usually we see a very over weight and tall man standing next to a very skinny and short man. For a silent film, Chaplin is good is using the eye candy to create laughter. Also, if you look closely, all of Chaplin's films have a political message. By the time Chaplin was producing full length features in the 1930's and 1940's, he was clearly making an attempt to throw large political messages at his audience. Although it is a tiny and is easy to miss if you are not looking, the message given by Chaplin is successful. The hotel owner in the movie has a framed sign on his bedroom wall that reads: Love thy Neighbor. Pointing the finger at the ignorant Christian, Chaplin showcases a man who reminds himself to love his fellow man, but manages to treat The Tramp like dirt. Very nice and to the point, Chaplin does it again.