Review: Chaplin at Keystone

Charlie Chaplin is known as one of cinema’s greatest icons, but even the first global superstar had to cut his teeth somewhere.

This boxset presents Chaplin’s cinematic baby steps: 34 films over four discs made in 1914 for the Keystone Film Company. Varying in length, they all feature an apprentice Chaplin rising from support act to main focus, building his chops in direction and screenwriting along the way.

Fresh out of vaudeville, Chaplin was sceptical of the studio’s brand of fast-paced, unsubtle comedy and this shows in the earlier films. But he quickly found the comedic potential in a number of stock characters, including scheming tricksters, excitable drunks, and even the odd turn in drag.

Unsurprisingly, it’s when he plays the tramp that he’s funniest, with the most famous bum in the world making his first appearance in Kid Auto Races at Venice. It’s fascinating to see him develop from a mean-spirited, predatory drunk into a lovable, sympathetic guy. Chaplin is also quick to bring out the tragic elements of comedy, something a little lacking in the assembly line Keystone product.

This DVD may have historical significance, presented in painstaking clarity with great linear notes, but it doesn’t stand up as great comedy. Some of it will have you laughing whether or not you’ve seen Chaplin before, but overall the film narratives are interchangeable, making this one for the ardent fans of Chaplin.

Review written by Dominic Holloway.