Charlot et le masque de fer

In the spring of 1978, a few weeks after the death of Charlie Chaplin, a museum in my hometown scheduled a festival of his films. On the bill were several of the famous features such as The Kid, as well as some comparatively lesser-known short comedies. That's where I first saw The Idle Class, and I still remember how well it went over with the audience, provoking big bursts of laughter that seemed to erupt every 30 seconds or so. Even viewers who'd already seen lots of Chaplin's short comedies (myself included) were blown away by this one, which was both laugh-out-loud funny and poignant in equal measure.

Seeing the film again today, I feel it belongs with Chaplin's best work. The first thing that strikes me now is his economy of expression. Note how few title cards there are, and how brief and simple the wording is. It isn't easy to set up a story plainly and clearly in silent cinema without using lengthy expository passages, at least during the opening scenes, but here Chaplin manages to establish the premise with remarkable efficiency and very few words in a matter of minutes. We soon learn that Chaplin is playing a dual role, and that one of his characters is a wealthy sot, while the other is his familiar Tramp character. We also learn that Charlie the Tramp has hitched a ride to a resort for the Idle Rich, apparently in order to play golf (golf!?!), which brings him into close contact with his feminine ideal, Edna, and her wealthy cohorts. Chaplin does not heavily emphasize the irony that Edna is already married to a rich drunk who is Charlie's double, and who is selfish and unworthy of her, nor does he stress the point that practically all of these privileged people appear to be quite spoiled and useless. "Political" elements are present in The Idle Class for anyone who feels inclined to look for them, or to write a dissertation on 'Chaplin & Society,' but in my opinion the director was not interested in making a movie about social inequality, not at this point in his career, anyway. I believe he was interested in the absurdities of human behavior, and in deflating pomposity for comic effect. In any case, and whatever his intentions, the gags are in generous supply in The Idle Class, brilliantly conceived and beautifully performed.

Earlier postings have mentioned the bit when the rich husband, seen from behind, appears to be racked with sobs when he reads a note indicating that his wife has left him, on account of his drinking -- although in fact he's shaking a cocktail. I believe that's one of Chaplin's all-time best gags, and it sure rocked the house at the museum screening. Even funnier is the extended sequence in which the rich husband, obviously nursing a hangover, wanders down to the lobby of his hotel in his underwear. He's horrified to discover his lapse, and must then maneuver his way back to his room without being seen. Also worth noting is a great, wordless sequence in which Charlie the Tramp sees Edna ride by on horseback, and fantasizes about rescuing her from a runaway horse. Her gratitude turns into love, and within seconds they've married and Charlie has fathered her child! It's hilarious and a little sad, a brief story-within-a-story told without any words whatsoever.

I'll sum up by simply saying that The Idle Class is a timeless comic gem, certainly one of Charlie Chaplin's best short films, and that it's a genuine treat for anyone who appreciates great comedy.

One of Charlie Chaplin's best short comedies, "The Idle Class" uses some of his favorite themes to very good effect. Charlie has a dual role, playing his usual 'tramp' character and also playing a rich idler. He thus sets up some identity confusion and also the kind of class contrasts that often set up some of Chaplin's best material. There are plenty of good gags in this one, and some memorable scenes, with the hilarious costume party sequence being especially good. This was one of Chaplin's last short comedies, and it is constructed very carefully, with excellent timing in the gags and in the plot. While in a much lighter vein than the full-length pictures he was then starting to make, it has the same level of craftsmanship and is very entertaining.

While Charlie Chaplin's little tramp persona has been famous worldwide for nearly a century, a character he created back in his musical hall days is less well-known. That character was the alcoholic aristocrat. Here, in the Idle Class, he makes his final appearance, and his only one opposite the tramp, in a mistaken identity comedy that prefigures Chaplin talkie The Great Dictator.

In spite of this being his swansong, the posh drunk's personality is more fully fleshed out here than ever before, as if Chaplin was eking the utmost out of the character before abandoning him. Chaplin also involves him in gags of a type he did not often do; the pull-back-and-reveal joke, like the shot revealing he is wearing no trousers, or the elaborate arrangement of people and props as he tries to conceal it from the people around him. These jokes are hilarious, but they are not typical Chaplin – they draw too much attention to the artifice of it all, and threatens to detract from the humanity of the characters, which is why he would never have used such gags with the little tramp.

Speaking of the little tramp, he is far from absent in The Idle Class, and there is plenty of his kind of humour here. He gets a great entrance, emerging from a little hatch on the underside of a train after the grand arrival of an assortment of toffs. There are some supremely confident gags on a golf course, where in the classic style of the Mutual shorts the focus is upon the trail of chaos that the tramp leaves behind him. For example, we see Charlie sauntering into the distance while in centre-screen his two fellow golfers get into a fight over a misunderstanding he has caused. In a following shot only his legs appear, as he stomps on a straw hat in one corner of the screen, causing yet more mayhem. Charlie is not shown directly, but it is his personality and his influence on the comedy you remember. Compare that to the scenes of the wealthy drunkard, in which Chaplin is always on screen because the character is weaker and requires our constant attention to work.

So, an odd little Chaplin short, featuring much material of a kind he would not return to again. And yet it is very effective and funny, even when it wasn't in a mode that suited him. As if to prove the value of the kind of gags we see in The Idle Class, they went to live on in the work of his fellow silent comics. Whether the influence of this picture was significant or not, those pull-back-and-reveal gags are used to great effect in Harold Lloyd's films, while those elaborately staged sight-gags were of course a staple for Buster Keaton.

All of which heralds the timely arrival of that all-important statistic – Number of kicks up the arse: 7 (2 for, 4 against, 1 other).

A great scene in the film is when the HUSBAND has his back to the screen so you can't tell when he is actually doing. To some it looks like he is crying until he turns around to face the camera. In fact, the drunk HUSBAND is mixing himself a martini in his glass shaker. Just one of many situations where Chaplin plays with the audience.

Another example of Chaplin's brilliance in film-making, this short work. Many of his favorite themes come along, such as several chases and a mix-up between him and 'the husband'(also played by Charlie). Best scenes include the one where 'the husband' reads a letter from his wife that he should drink less. We see him pick up a picture of her, then he starts shaking like he's crying... but he's just mixing another drink. That really cracked me up. The scenes on the golf course are also very funny and well-made. Then the movie slows down a bit with the ballroom-thing, but the ending is just the best: with Charlie kicking the father of 'the wife' right where he should... great scene! In short: good short Chaplin, though not up there with The Adventurer, The Tramp or Pay Day. 7/10.