Chaplin's "Shanghied"

2008-01-05 12:51:32

“Shanghied” (1915, Chaplin)

This film can easily get lost in the multitude of one-two reel films Charlie Chaplin made. There is only so much butt-kicking, wrong person slapping, and falling down a person can watch and reasonably find funny. The story line here is thin and the jokes are stock (of course). The secret lies in the scenarios. My favorite is the kitchen sequence where Charlie serves up some dishwater soup. I also enjoyed the violent ending where Charlie tosses a barrel of gun powder, complete with wick lit, into a boat the antagonists hoped to escape in. No, there’s no body parts flying or blood splattered Charlie and his girl, despite they are only mere yards away. Reality takes a break in the cause and effect department of Chaplin films. To finish it off, Charlie pushes his girl’s father into the water and the two lovers ride off laughing heartily. Nothin like blowing people up and pushing your potential in-law into open water to get a romance off on the right foot!