THE CHAPLIN REVUE: A DOG’S LIFE
Scen.: Charles Chaplin; F.: Roland Totheroh; Op.: Jack Wilson; Mu.: Charles Chaplin; Ass. R.: Charles Riesner; Int.: Charles Chaplin (vagabondo), Edna Purviance (cantante nel caffè), il cane Mut (Scraps), Sidney Chaplin (proprietario della bancarella dei panini), Henry Bergman (uomo nell’agenzia di collocamento; signora nella sala da ballo), Charles Riesner (impiegato del collocamento; commesso viaggiatore), Albert Austin (l’imbroglione), Tom Wilson (poliziotto), M.J. McCarty, Mel Brown, Charles Force, Bert Appling, Thomas Riley, Slim Cole, Ted Edwards, Louis Fitzroy, Dave Anderson (disoccupati), Granville Redmond (proprietario della sala da ballo), Minnie Chaplin (signora che piange nella sala da ballo), Alf Reeves (uomo nel bar), N. Tahbel (venditore di cibo indiano), Rob Wagner (uomo nella sala da ballo), I.S. McVey, J.F. Parker (orchestrali), Bud Jamison, J. Parks Jones, Al Blake, Loyal Underwood, James T. Kelley, Fred Starr, Janet Miller Sully, Grace Wilson, Jerry Ferragoma, Jack Duffy, Richard Dunbar, Edward Miller, Billy Dul, Bruce Randall, Brand O’Ree, Bill White, John Lord, Jim O’Niall, H.C. Simmons, J.L. Fraube, Jim Habif, Florence Parellee, Margaret Cullington, Margaret Dracup, Ella Eckhardt, Sarah Rosenberg, Lottie Smithson, Lillian Morgan, Jean Johnson, Fay Holderness, Dorothy Cleveland, J. Miller, Minnie Eckhardt, Mrs Rigoletti (comparse nella sala da ballo); Prod.: Charles Chaplin; 35mm. D.: 38’ a 18 f/s. Bn.
Film Notes
My first film in my new studio was A Dog’s Life. In the story, which had a satirical edge, I compared the life of a dog to that of a tramp. This leitmotif constituted the structure to which I added a large quantity of gags and humorous situations. I began thinking of comedy in terms of structure, always keeping its architectural form in mind. Each sequence implied the next, and they were all linked together. The first sequence consisted in saving a dog from a scuffle with other dogs. The next sequence consisted in saving a girl in a dance hall, who also led “a dog’s life”. There were many other sequences, all of which were linked together by a logical succession of the facts. As simple and obvious as they were, these comic situations required much reflection and imagination. If a gag interfered with the logic of the facts, no matter how humorous, I didn’t use it. During the Keystone era, the tramp was freer and less tied to a plot. Then, his brain almost never worked; he only went off his instincts, which aimed at the essentials: a little food, a little warmth, and a roof over his head. But with each successive comedy, the tramp became more complex. Emotions started to filter into the character. That may seem like a pretentious statement, but the farce too requires extremely rigorous psychology.
Charles Chaplin, My Autobiography
Restored in 2003 by Cineteca di Bologna at L’ Immagine Ritrovata laboratory. Parts of the films that made up “The Chaplin Revue” were stretch printed for the 1959 release. Wherever possible, this restoration has been made using the original negatives that Charles Chaplin re-edited at the time
Original score by Charles Chaplin reconstructed and conducted by Maestro Timothy Brock , performed live by Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna