LGM Film Club, Part 549: The Rink

By the time Charlie Chaplin was making his Mutual films in 1916 and 1917, his character had evolved considerably. In his earlier films, he’s not lovable at all–he’s a menacing creep. By his classic 20s films, he’s the lovable tramp. At this time, he’s more of a working man than a tramp and he’s not yet sweet, but he’s given up the distinct threat of those earlier films. The Rink is not the best of these films, but it’s certainly worth your 26 minutes given the number of LOL moments in it. The film’s plot is ludricuos, one of the less great things about it. Half of it takes place where Chaplin works, in a restaurant. The other half is at a skating rink. They two halves connect, sort of, but it’s not worth explaining. Here’s working with his usual crew of this era–Edna Purviance as the girl and Eric Campbell as his nemesis. He’s started working with Henry Bergman around this time too and that would continue through the mid 30s. The good jokes are good–Chaplin figures out what a diner had ordered for the bill by seeing what he had spilled on himself, as an example. The film is most known for the fact that Chaplin was a pretty damn good rollerskater and that’s how the inevitable chase scene that define this era of his films goes. Again, it’s entertaining enough.

Whole thing is on YouTube, I think the difference in the time between 26 minutes I stated above and 25 here is just the explanatory material about the restoration on my copy.