The Silent Cinema: The Pawnshop (1916)
Written and directed by Charlie Chaplin. Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Henry Bergman, John Rand, Eric Campbell, Albert Austin, Frank Coleman, James T. Kelly. Two Reels. Released October 2, 1916.
Having written two books on Charlie Chaplin’s early films for Keystone and transitional ones for Essanay, I’ve never really had the opportunity to write about his Mutual period, which is something of a culmination. At Keystone he was the apprentice who quickly learned the rudiments of transitioning from the stage to the screen, how to play to the camera and, as director, how to keep the action within the frame. With the Keystone short “The New Janitor” (1914), he realized his comic character could reach the audience more effectively if he offered more layers, and allowed him to be sympathetic while still maintaining the slapstick gags. This was further explored when Chaplin left Keystone for Essanay studios. His films there had a greater maturity, more depth to the character, and often a narrative structure enhanced by slapstick gags, rather than just a series of comic situations.
It was the 12 short films at Mutual where Charlie Chaplin perfected his craft. Slapstick, sentiment, well drawn characters, clever situations, and creative physical comedy all blended to create perhaps the greatest short comedies of the silent era. To some of us, these films are preferable to his much-lauded later features.
“The Pawnshop” comes at exactly the halfway point during Chaplin’s tenure at Mutual, which he would later refer to as the happiest time in his career. Given a lot of money and full creative freedom, Chaplin’s vision as both an actor and a filmmaker investigated so many great comic possibilities and “The Pawnshop” is an excellent example. Eschewing the pathos that were showing up more and more in his work (his later Mutual short “The Vagabond” is a good example), Chaplin instead concentrated fully on comedy, making “The Pawnshop” one of his funniest films.
That gags start immediately as Charlie shows up late to work at the pawnshop, dusts a working fan causing the feather duster to rip apart, catches his co-worker in the rungs of a ladder he is taking outside, and teeters high atop the ladder while polishing the building’s front sign.
There are some particularly fun bits of pantomime as Charlie takes his place behind the counter of the pawnshop. At one point, an actor tries to pawn his wife’s watch, telling a sad story with florid gestures and blatant facial expressions how he is so down on his luck, he is relegated to this situation. Charlie feels so sorry for him, he agrees to give him five dollars and doesn’t even intend to take the watch. He gives the man ten, asking for five back. When the man pulls out a wad of bills, Chaplin realizes he has been duped.
Another great scene has frequent Chaplin co-star Albert Austin come in to pawn an alarm clock. Charlie spends several minutes examining the clock, taking it apart, listening to it with a stethoscope, etc. When it is reduced to pieces, he pushes the debris into the man’s hat and hands it back to the customer. He is not interested.
Some of the gags are short visuals, such as Charlie attempting to dry dishes by running each plate through a ringer, or balancing with a broom as if he were walking a tightrope.
Perhaps the only underlying seriousness that permeates this gag-filled short regards Charlie’s being smitten with the store owner’s daughter, played by Edna Purviance. Purviance had been with Chaplin’s company since Essanay and is a real fixture in the Mutual shorts. Attractive, connected to the material, and responding well to Charlie’s character, she would enhance every seen in which she appears. Even after she was no longer appearing in his movies, Chaplin kept her on the payroll until she died.
Along with Edna, the most noted supporting player at Mutual was big Eric Campbell, who always played Charlie’s bullying adversary. In “The Pawnshop,” he is a crook who attempts to rob the place, but is thwarted by Charlie’s cleverness. The film concludes with him as the hero, lauded by the boss, hugged by Edna, and giving his co-worker rival one last kick.
Chaplin’s Mutual period is an example of slapstick comedy rising to the level of art. “The Pawnshop” is one of the best films from this creatively fertile period in the career of perhaps the single most important figure in the history of screen comedy.