Chaplin's "The Fireman"

2008-11-11 22:02:28

“The Fireman” (1916, Chaplin)

“The Fireman” is Chaplin’s second film for the Mutual Corp. is generally not one of the better Chaplin films of this period. There are funny gags such as Chaplin’s use of the fireman’s sliding pole. He goes up AND down! My personal favorite lasts all of a couple of seconds as Chaplin almost drops a stack of dishes before he ‘sets’ the table for the fire chief, played by Chaplin’s best adversary Eric Campbell, and other fireman. Of course, most of the film involves Chaplin running from the fire chief and both giving and taking plenty of ass-kicking. In one scene Chaplin runs into a horse stall in plain view of the chief. He turns around and their eyes meet, and he quickly finishes the last few paces to the corner of the stall whereupon the chief grabs. It’s too funny.

There are clear moments of hilarity in Chaplin’s early films and in most, those fleeting moments are all that can be remembered of them. The ass-kicking, pie throwing crap largely is filler. It’s the looks and body language. “The Fireman” definitely has its moments, but more comes across as 5-10 minutes too long.

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