Charlie Chaplin at Keystone [DVD]

I must confirm the enthusiasm that other reviewers have expressed for this set of films. One of the discs' extras, about the history of Keystone, sets out quite vividly the careless violence, mutilation and neglect to which the original copies of these films, and their original negatives, were subjected from the very beginning. That they survive at all seems remarkable; to see the second film Chaplin made, "Kid Auto Races", in totally pristine condition, is absolutely astounding. Not all look as good as that, but even a film like "Cruel Cruel Love", covered though it is at times with small blotches, still shows a clear and well-defined picture beneath them. "Recreation", by the booklet's own admission, only exists in fragmentary copies and with terrible picture quality, but as one sits, watches, and sighs, a miracle occurs. For a couple of minutes or so, the picture is, without warning, completely transformed into a beautifully contrasted and perfect scene, in which all of the actors one has already glimpsed through the murk, reappear, so that one can now easily see how they should each have looked earlier, as individuals with their own special characteristics. The print quality throughout the set, is infinitely better than any previous dvd releases of this material, and I own several, that I have seen. It is not just a matter of print degradation, incorrect projection speeds, jumps in action caused by missing frames, and missing footage in these earlier issues on disc. Often they have been released with the extreme left side of the frame missing, resulting in characters being sliced down the middle, to make room for a sound track. On other occasions, it is the top of the frame which is gone, slicing heads in half; or a copy which has zoomed onto the centre of the frame, and incorporated both of these problems together with frequent grotesque close-ups. All of these problems are largely eliminated in this set, and this only because the world's archives have been searched for early nitrate negatives, positives, and in a couple of cases, paper prints. The films are, collectively, unlikely to ever look better than this.Another problem has been with inter-titles. One of the reviewers has commented that it is good here to see so many titles, but in truth the problem in the past has been later additions, at the times of re-release, of titles which either clarify the action, largely by inventing dialogue, with mixed success, or which introduce new "jokes" to describe events, jokes which today seem totally unfunny, patronising, self-conscious and "smart-alecy" All of these subsequent modifications have been removed, and the simplicity of the original Keystone titles, where they still exist, has been returned to. The one major exception seems to be in "The Face on the Barroom Floor", which is itself a pastiche of a pre-existing poem. The original titles made brief use of quotation from the poem, but here the use of quotation has been extended ( and previous faulty editing of events corrected) so that not only does the narrative make more sense than hitherto, but we can now understand jokes which demand some knowledge of the original. Another correction worth mentioning, is to "The Fatal Mallet", parts of which had been printed in reverse on the materials used in some previous dvd releases, but not so here.As other reviewers note, the accompanying music has all been specially composed for each individual film, albeit occasionally utilising well-known tunes, by a number of composers, and this is a real blessing, because earlier incarnations of these films on disc have usually been accompanied by endless repetition of the same 4 or 5 jangly and remorselessly cheery pieces of music from film to film ad nauseam, to the real detriment of the viewing experience. Different approaches to the task have been used; in some cases the music does genuinely react to events on screen, whilst in others, music which conveys only an appropriate overall mood or tempo has been favoured, but of course even in the shorter Keystone films, mood and tempo does change, from moment to moment sometimes, and momentarily the music can seem at odds with this.The restoration of these prints has, for me, had an unexpected outcome. No matter how faded, unfocused, heavily grained and blotched, and degraded earlier dvd copies have been, the men have always been instantly recognisable and identifiable as individuals, partly because the same half dozen or so reappear from film to film, but largely because of the easily distinguished physiques, facial hair, and pantomiming gestures. For the women it has not been so. They have not (with one exception) been easily distinguished by physique, blondes and brunettes have merged into a uniform grey as a result of many generations of duping, and often their performances are characterised, not by pantomime, but by more subtle physical and facial movements and expressions, often lost with image degradation. Moreover, individuals tend to appear prominently, and at times briefly, only in three or four films each, though more often as part of an anonymous background, making recognition in the past quite difficult; I suspect that even Mabel Normand herself would not have been so easily identifiable if so many of her film titles did not announce her name. But these restorations change all that, and several actresses now spring to our attention, their individuality restored. Charlie and Mabel apart however, no actors' names appear on the films themselves ( excepting the feature,"Tillie's Punctured Romance"); there was no star system in 1914 when these films were shot. It is therefore a real pity that the accompanying booklet makes no systematic attempt to identify the supporting cast; there is the occasional naming of a single prominent support in a film, but little more. There is really a case here for giving credits where credit is due!My final comments are, I suppose, designed only for the most fervent Chaplin/Silent enthusiasts, and the first concerns "His New Profession". It baffles me as to why, given the meticulous care which has gone into these discs, the print constructed here has been "topped and tailed", omitting footage which is readily available on other dvd releases. The film should begin with a close-up, filling the screen for just over two seconds, of an amply proportioned and curvaceous bathing beauty, giving us ample time to take in, not ony her evident charms, but also the ironic fact that she fills the front page of the Police Gazette! Then the paper is lowered, and we see that the reader is Charlie; it is only at this point that the current print kicks in. Charlie flicks at a couple of pages, before looking more intently at the front page, a slight look of guilty pleasure as he takes the girl in, then, after he turns the page over, a satisfied smile flickers across his face, followed by the decision to tear the page out and pocket it; he gazes at the camera guiltily, as if afraid of being observed, as he does so. But the absence of those first two seconds makes it much more difficult for the viewer to appreciate all of this, and we seem to have a case of life emulating art, as if someone has snipped out and pocketed the "erotic" footage just as Charlie has removed the page.The film should conclude with Charlie going over to the bogus wheelchaired blind beggar, booting I him out of the frame, and walking off with the girl (an unidentified Peggy Page) and again this scene is readily available on other dvd releases, even referred to in the accompanying booklet, but completely missing here.My next point refers to the booklet, and to "Tango Tangles". At the dance-hall which is the setting for the film, Charlie tries to flirt witha rather statuesque but uninterested hat-check girl, who however later becomes much more responsive when approached by band-leader Ford Sterling, and by Roscoe Arbuckle. She is identified in the BFI booklet, and in other sources, as Minta Durfee, who indeed does appear in several of these films, but it is quite clearly not her here! The same girl appears prominently, and revealing considerable personality, in the opening minutes of "Between Showers" as cop Chester Conklin's girl-friend, and has been identified by others, with varying degrees of confidence, as Sadie Lampe; she can also be glimpsed early in "A Film Johnnie" (in which Minta Durfee does actually appear) as an audience member in the cinema to the left of the central aisle, more prominently as the maid in "The Star Boarder", as a slummer near the end of "Caught in a Cabaret", and as a hotel guest in "Mabel's Strange Predicament".One final point. Those who buy this set might be interested to look at the Arbuckle/Keaton short, "Back Stage"(1919), available on You Tube, to see just how much it borrows from the first half of Chaplin's "The Property Man" (1914, as are all of the 35 films, including part of the recently discovered "A Thief Catcher", in this hugely important set).

I have waited a long time for some restored Keystones featuring Chaplin and here they all are - apart from the lost Her Friend the Bandit (1914) - and all looking very smart thanks an army of restorers, technicians and musicians. Many of them are of historical interest only: I can take only so much brick-throwing which seemed to have amused audiences at the time. After all, if you are hit by a brick it could possibly kill you but in the silent era they caused just minor inconvenience, even when hit full in the face. There is a lot of kicking - again too much, often to the point of tedium - but Chaplin always shows a balletic ability which is pretty graceful at all times, even when fighting. Chaplin finely created a complete character, one often imitated but rarely bettered. As the films are in chronological order one can see how he developed very quickly. In some early films you can almost see him thinking about what he could do that would be funny - and not always succeeding. Later he knew exactly what he was doing. One surprise for me was to find Chaplin in drag playing a woman rather than a man dressed as a woman. He's pretty good at it and very funny in the pantomime dame tradition. As the films were shot very quickly there are more than a few rough edges but all are fascinating to watch now. Previous video and dvd copies of these 34 films have been poor with no intertitles,fuzzy pictures and music that had nothing to do with what was on screen. Now they have new scores, intertitles wherever possible and the picture quality is pretty good considering the mangling some of the copies received over the years.The 56-page booklet is useful with each film discussed although I might suggest Glenn Mitchell's The Chaplin Encyclopedia for more information including cast lists  The Charlie Chaplin Encyclopedia . The BFI have done an excellent job here and must be thanked. But one word of warning. Like a previous reviewer I found that Twenty Minutes of Love on disc one does cut off and revert to the main menu fairly early on. You get rather less than Twenty Minutes! I returned my box set to Amazon who replaced it with another but that had the same fault which obviously happened in the manufacturing process. I have kept my box set fault and all as this remains a great collection at a bargain price.

The quality of this set and the films themselves are very good. I was concerned about whether to buy the US release or this one from the UK. My concern is that the NTSC releases are made first, then converted to PAL for other releases. I don't believe this has happened even though the UK release is a lot cheaper than the US one. I try to guess who makes the digital versions first, US or UK, but I wonder if it was the UK in this case, this is only speculating, it might not even matter nowadays as much. But converting from NTSC to PAL or vice versa is a hazard of buying DVDs today and totally unnecessary where I am. Yes I know they aren't really NTSC or PAL, but the frame rates and resolutions have specifications that match with those formats and these names are common ways to designate that. Despite all that I can't fault the digital look of these films. Though I would have bought a bluray release instead.The films themselves are a joy to watch. Chaplin seems different in his earlier work and he isn't in total control like in his later films. At times I seem to prefer this. You can see a host of other notables in there, Mabel Normand and her overacting eyes, Mack Sennett, Fatty Arbuckle. Chaplin only has a short bit in one longish Arbuckle film, but it is very funny for its obvious ridiculousness, when he plays a fight referee. A concern I have watching these old films is that along the way, violent bits have been censored. Chaplin and others seem to be always kicking and you might notice or wonder if they have been cut out. But they have obviously gone to a lot of trouble and technical expertise to make the films as complete as possible. Some films are questionable in visual quality and even length at times, but it is good to know this is the best available.