Anything But Silent
Live theatre organ accompaniment by BEN MODEL
CHARLIE CHAPLIN ESSANAY SHORTS
Tuesday, December 5 at 7:30 pm | Members $11 | Public $16
When Charlie Chaplin moved to the Essanay Studio in 1915, he was given creative freedom, and the result was an explosion of cinematic brilliance and hysterical comedy. Join us for a rare screening of three of the legendary comedian’s funniest shorts.
THE CHAMPION - Inspired by Chaplin’s interest in boxing, this delightful comedy has Charlie finding employment as a sparring partner who fights in the prize ring with the help of his pet bulldog. Boxing events were then illegal in most states, and films of boxing matches (including comic takes on them) satisfied a pent-up interest in the subject. Chaplin’s brilliant choreography in the ring anticipates the boxing match in City Lights (1931).
WORK - Chaplin plays a paperhanger’s assistant hired to paper the Bradbury Mansion, one of the biggest homes in Los Angeles Charlie unleashes comic anarchy, leading to an explosive and hysterical finale. The film—which starts with Charlie pulling a work cart with his boss sitting in the cart’s driver seat, hitting Charlie with a whip—is an early example of Chaplin blending comedy with pointed social commentary.
POLICE - In Police, the Tramp, released from prison, is “once again in the cruel, cruel world” where he meets a former cellmate and becomes involved in a robbery plot. Featuring the Tramp at his most rebellious and funniest, Police is arguably the most mature of the Essanays and anticipates such later films as Modern Times (1936).
Ben Model is one of America’s leading silent film accompanists, and has been playing piano and organ for silent films at the New York MoMA since 1984, and the CAC since 2006.
