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Behind the Screen
(1916)

 

Charles Chaplin was delighted when he began fulfilling his 1916 contract with the Mutual Film Company, a distribution outfit that handled the films of many of the top film producers of the time. The contract was the first made with Chaplin’s own production company, which meant that he could produce his comedies with total creative control.

The Mutual comedies show signs of Chaplin maturing as a cinema artist. His Mutual stories became more carefully constructed and less reliant on senseless bash-and-bop slapstick. The gags show flashes of comic brilliance.

Carl Bennett

coverFlicker Alley
2014 Blu-ray Disc / DVD edition

Chaplin’s Mutual Comedies 1916-1917 (1916-2013), black & white, 400 minutes total, not rated,
including Behind the Screen (1916), black & white, 29 minutes, not rated.

Flicker Alley, FA0034,
UPC 0-17311-67859-2, ISBN 1-893967-859.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Region A Blu-ray Discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) progressive scan AVC (MPEG-4) format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Mbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; and three single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 16:9 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced? scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; five-disc BD steelbook; $59.99.
Release date: 19 August 2014.
Country of origin: USA
This dual-format Blu-ray Disc / DVD edition of the first of the Chaplin Mutual contract films features a new high-definition pillarboxed video transfer from a 35mm fine-grain safety print held by the Museum of Modern Art, with additional footage conflated from a 35mm nitrate positive held by the Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique. New intertitles were reconstructed from intertitle list documents held by the Library of Congress. The 2013 reconstruction version of the film has been a cooperative project of Cineteca de Bologna, Film Preservation Associates and Lobster Films in cooperation with Association Chaplin.

With much of this edition being mastered from an archival 35mm positive, the visual quality is generally very-good with from a good 35mm positive. The edition benefits greatly from the new video transfer.

The film is presented with an ensemble music score performed on piano, horn and cello as composed by Gabriel Thibaudeau. An optional improvisational piano score performed by Antonio Coppola is also available. It is a bit annoying that the Thibaudeau music is out-of-sync with the film’s action.

The supplemental material includes a 28-page booklet, the documentary The Birth of the Tramp (2013); the documentary Chaplin’ss Goliath (1996) on Chaplin star heavy Eric Campbell.

The collection is issued in limited-edition steelbook packaging, which we feel must be handled gingerly to avoid damaging its discs and the case itself.

 
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coverFilm Preservation Associates
2006 DVD edition

The Chaplin Mutual Comedies (1916-1917), black & white, 301 minutes total, not rated,
including Behind the Screen (1916), black & white, 25 minutes, not rated.

Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment, ID2477DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-24772-5.
Four single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in windowboxed 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; four plastic DVD trays in cardboard wrapper box (reissued in four-disc DVD keepcase); $59.99.
Release date: 11 July 2006.
Country of origin: USA
This remastered DVD edition of the twelve Chaplin Mutual contract films features windowboxed video transfers from premium 35mm prints, including additional footage and quality improvements from film materials which have surfaced since David Shepard’s earlier laserdisc and DVD editions, including new orchestral scores composed and conducted by Carl Davis.

Some of the video transfers are the same as for the VHS and 1995 laserdisc editions.

The special features include the documentary The Gentleman Tramp (1975), narrated by Walter Matthau, with excerpts from My Autobiography read by Laurence Olivier; Chaplin family home movies, including scenes of Chaplin at home near Vevey, Switzerland; the documentary Chaplin’s Goliath (1996) on Chaplin star heavy Eric Campbell; “The Mutual-Chaplin Specials,” an appreciation by Jeffrey Vance, author of Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema; “Making The Gentleman Tramp,” a reminisence by Richard Patterson; and a stills gallery containing more than 90 images from the collection of Jeffrey Vance, many never before published.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
 
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
coverFilm Preservation Associates
1997 DVD edition

The Chaplin Mutuals, Volume 3 (1916), black & white, 100 minutes total, not rated,
including Behind the Screen (1916), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment, ID4163DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-41632-9.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in windowboxed 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; snapper DVD case (reissued in standard DVD keepcase); $29.99.
Release date: 19 November 1997.
Country of origin: USA
This early DVD edition of four of the twelve Chaplin Mutual comedies slightly improves upon the previously-released laserdisc boxset edition of 1995, which marked the third time the Mutual films had been released on laserdisc. Each successive edition improved on its predecessor. Picture quality has improved. Each film is more complete in content. And each film is slightly windowboxed to allow the maximum picture area to be seen on all televisions.

That being said, readers have noted that there is surviving footage from these films that does not appear in this home video edition. Our understanding is that most (if not all) of these films have originated from the Van Beuren Company 35mm negatives that were prepared in the 1950s. Those prints featured music by Winston Sharples and synchronized sound effects, and they can be viewed in their 1950s form (transfered at sound speed) on early laserdisc and VHS collections from Image and Republic. While these 35mm negatives feature superior visual quality, portions of the original footage and intertitles were removed in the 1950s. Some early 16mm reduction prints from Blackhawk Films and others, which originated from other surviving positive prints, feature footage that doesn’t appear in this DVD edition. Logic would lead some to assume that this extra footage survives in 35mm prints held by the world’s film archives and by private collectors.

Previously we recommended the now out-of-print The Chaplin Mutuals DVD series with the caveat noted that there was missing footage. David Shepard has now released a new edition of the Chaplin Mutual comedies that are more complete and feature some improvement in visual quality.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
 
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Other silent era CHARLES CHAPLIN films available on home video.

Other SHORT COMEDY FILMS of the silent era available on home video.

Charles Chaplin filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List
 
 
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