Silent Era : Home Video Reviews

Silent Era Home Page > Home Video > Charlie Chaplin: 57 Classics

Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved.

Charlie Chaplin
57 Classics
(1914-1921)

Contents: Making a Living (1914), Kid’s Auto Race (1914), Mabel’s Strange Predicament (1914), Between Showers (1914), A Film Johnnie (1914), Tango Tangles (1914), His Favorite Pastime (1914), Cruel, Cruel Love (1914), The Star Boarder (1914), Twenty Minutes of Love (1914), Caught in a Caberet (1914), A Busy Day (1914), Dough and Dynamite (1914), The Fatal Mallet (1914), The Knockout (1914), Mabel’s Married Life (1914), Laughing Gas (1914), The Face on the Bar Room Floor (1914), Recreation (1914), The Masquerader (1914), His New Profession (1914), The Rounders (1914), The New Janitor (1914), Those Love Pangs (1914), His Musical Career (1914), Getting Acquainted (1914), His New Job (1915), A Night Out (1915), The Champion (1915), In the Park (1915), The Tramp (1915), By the Sea (1915), Work (1915), A Woman (1915), The Bank (1915), Shanghaied (1915), A Night in the Show (1915), Carmen (1915), Police! (1916), The Floorwalker (1916), The Fireman (1916), The Vagabond (1916), One A.M. (1916), The Count (1916), The Pawnshop (1916), Behind the Screen (1916), The Rink (1916), Easy Street (1917), The Cure (1917), The Immigrant (1917), The Adventurer (1917), Triple Trouble (1918), The Bond (1918), Shoulder Arms (1918), Sunnyside (1919), A Day’s Pleasure (1919), The Kid (1921) and The Chaplin Puzzle (1992).

Brentwood Home Video
2004 DVD edition

Charlie Chaplin: 57 Classics (1914-1921), black & white, 5948 minutes total, not rated,
including Making a Living (1914), black & white, 9 minutes, not rated, Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Mabel’s Strange Predicament (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Between Showers (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, A Film Johnnie (1914), black & white, 7 minutes, not rated, Tango Tangles (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, His Favorite Pastime (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Cruel, Cruel Love (1914), black & white, 9 minutes, not rated, The Star Boarder (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Twenty Minutes of Love (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Caught in a Caberet (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, A Busy Day (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Dough and Dynamite (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Fatal Mallet (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Knockout (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Mabel’s Married Life (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Laughing Gas (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Face on the Bar Room Floor (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Recreation (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Masquerader (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, His New Profession (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Rounders (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The New Janitor (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Those Love Pangs (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, His Musical Career (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Getting Acquainted (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, His New Job (1915), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, A Night Out (1915), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Champion (1915), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, In the Park (1915), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Tramp (1915), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, By the Sea (1915), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Work (1915), black & white, 24 minutes, not rated, A Woman (1915), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Bank (1915), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Shanghaied (1915), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, A Night in the Show (1915), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Carmen (1915), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Police! (1916), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Floorwalker (1916), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Fireman (1916), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Vagabond (1916), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, One A.M. (1916), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Count (1916), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Pawnshop (1916), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Behind the Screen (1916), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Rink (1916), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Easy Street (1917), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Cure (1917), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Immigrant (1917), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Adventurer (1917), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Triple Trouble (1918), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Bond (1918), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Shoulder Arms (1918), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Sunnyside (1919), black & white, 33 minutes, not rated, A Day’s Pleasure (1919), black & white, 21 minutes, not rated, The Kid (1921), black & white, 68 minutes, not rated, and The Chaplin Puzzle (1992), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Brentwood Home Video, 45340-9, UPC 7-87364-53409-8.
Five dual-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 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 mono? sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; and one single-sided, single-layered, DVD disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 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 mono? sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; five-disc DVD keepcase in cardboard slipcase; $19.98.
Release date: 27 April 2004.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 4 / audio: 4 / additional content: 4 / overall: 4.

This budget DVD collection follows the suit of other Brentwood big box releases: put as many films onto five or six discs as possible, irregardless of print quality and sell them as cheap as possible. With so many quality versions of the later Chaplin films available, the chief attraction of this collection will be the presence of the 1914 Keystone films. But don’t expect them to be mastered from anything but 16mm reduction prints.

The documentary The Chaplin Puzzle, written by Joe Adamson, features narration by Burgess Meredith.

Don’t consider buying this collection for the later Chaplin films. The Essanay, Mutual and First National films have all been released on DVD home video in far superior editions transferred from 35mm prints (see below). The main attraction of this set is the fairly complete collection of the Keystone films (nine of the 35 films are not in the collection — one, Her Friend the Bandit [1914], is presumed lost).