FILM 2700 History of Motion Pictures
Week II Screening: Chaplin Mutuals, Volume 3
Screening Questions
1. Make a list of characteristics of Chaplin’s character in the Mutual films you watched. What does he wear? Describe his gestures and movements. How does he interact with his environment and other characters in the film?
One A.M.-- He wears a tuxedo with a bow tie and hat. His movements are clumsy and he stumbles around the house. He interacts with many of the objects in his house such as the rug, table, stairs, and bed by tripping and falling. There is a cab driver but he does not interact with Chaplin.
The Pawnshop -- He wears pants with a light thin jacket, a white shirt underneath, and hat. He does various errands at the pawnshop but gets into fights many times. He punches and kicks a man who works there because the man didn’t like him dusting near the work area. He is not attentive when handling objects such as the ladder, broomstick, and cello which makes him hit people and get in fights. He falls down often but in the end his kicking and hitting comes to use because he saves everyone from a robber.
The Floorwalker -- He wears a black suit with a tie, a hat, and a cane. He moves quickly and is clumsy, falling down near the stairs. He interacts with the store manager by arguing and fighting with him. When he runs into the identical floorwalker, Chaplin is intrigued by him and does different movements to see how they are alike.
The Rink – He wears a black suit with a bow tie, white shirt underneath. He causes inconvenience at the restaurant by running into the other server and making food fall, getting in the way of the janitor, hitting the other server with a tray, tripping a man at the rink with his cane. He is friendly towards a woman and skates with her.
2. Do these characteristics change from film to film or are they relatively consistent?
They are relatively consistent because he falls and is clumsy in all of them....