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A Thief Catcher
(1914)

In Charles Chaplin’s fourth film, he takes a supporting role as he makes his only appearance as a Keystone Kop.

Unknown as a Chaplin film for decades, A Thief Catcher (1914) was recovered in an incomplete 16mm reduction positive copied from a decomposing 35mm nitrate print entitled His Regular Job as rereleased by Tower Film Company in 1918. The print was recovered by Paul E. Gierucki at a Michigan antique sale in June 2010.

Flicker Alley
2010 DVD edition

Chaplin at Keystone (1914), black & white, 590 minutes total, not rated
including A Thief Catcher (1914) [excerpt], black & white, 6 minutes, not rated.

Flicker Alley, FA0018,
UPC 6-17311-67579-9, ISBN 1-893967-57-3.
Four single-sided, dual-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 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; four slimline DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $79.95.
Release date: 26 October 2010.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 8 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.

This quality DVD edition has been mastered from a 16mm reduction print of the 1918 rerelease version held by CineMuseum. The print is very-good but incomplete, with the ending missing.

The collection’s supplemental material includes Charlie et sa Belle [Charlie’s White Elephant] (1916), Inside the Keystone Project (2010) documenting the Chaplin Project (10 minutes), Silent Traces: The Keystone Locations (2010) with John Bengtson, author of Silent Traces (12 minutes), and a stills gallery.

Overall, the improvement in quality over previous home video editions is so great that you’ll toss your other Keystone Chaplin discs when you see this collection. Highly recommended!

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.