Easy Street (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Easy Street | |
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| Directed by | Charles Chaplin Edward Brewer (technical director) |
| Produced by | Henry P. Caulfield |
| Written by | Charles Chaplin Vincent Bryan Maverick Terrell |
| Starring | Charles Chaplin Edna Purviance Eric Campbell |
| Cinematography | Roland H. Totheroh George C. Zalibra |
| Editing by | Charles Chaplin |
| Distributed by | Mutual Film Corporation |
| Release date(s) | 22 January 1917 (USA) February 5, 1917 (UK) |
| Running time | 2 Reels (full length unknown) |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | Silent film English intertitles |
| IMDb profile | |
Easy Street is a 1917 short comedy film by Charlie Chaplin. It takes place on a street similar to where Chaplin himself was born – a despairing world beset by gangs, domestic violence, alcoholics and a tenuous authority represented by the church and police.
In the film, the police are failing to maintain law and order and so it is Chaplin, as the Little Tramp character, that steps forward (rather reluctantly) to rid the street of bullies, help the poor, save women from madmen and generally keep the peace.
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[edit] Plot
As the story begins, the Little Tramp is sleeping rough outside a mission near the streets of a lawless slum. He is reformed somewhat at a Mission where there is singing and religious education. His religious awakening inspired by a beautiful young woman who pleads for him to stay at the Mission.
Spotting a help wanted ad for a job at the police station, Chaplin hesitantly accepts and is assigned the rough-and-tumble Easy Street as his beat. Upon entering the street, he finds a bully, roughing up the locals and pilfering their money. Chaplin gets on the wrong side of this bully and following a chase the two eventually come to blows, culminating in Chaplin inventively using a gas lamp, to render the bully unconscious. The film continues with Chaplin aiding the people of Easy Street, rescuing a damsel in distress from the clutches of a sinister drug addict and putting the bully in his place once and for all.
[edit] Quote
Chaplin later reflected on his use of a policeman as an adversary. “If there is one human type more than any other that the whole wide world has it in for, it is the policeman type. Of course, the policeman isn’t really to blame for the public prejudice against his uniform—it’s just the natural human revulsion against any sort of authority—but just the same everybody loves to see the copper get it where the chicken got the axe.”[1]
[edit] Cast
- Charles Chaplin ... The Derelict
- Edna Purviance ... The Mission Worker
- Eric Campbell ... The Bully
- Albert Austin ... Minister/Policeman (uncredited)
- Lloyd Bacon ... Drug Addict (uncredited)
- Henry Bergman ... Anarchist (uncredited)
- Frank J. Coleman ... Policeman (uncredited)
- William Gillespie ... Heroin addict (uncredited)
- James T. Kelley ... Mission Visitor/Policeman (uncredited)
- Charlotte Mineau ... Big Eric's Wife (uncredited)
- John Rand ... Mission Tramp/Policeman (uncredited)
- Janet Miller Sully ... Mother in Mission (uncredited)
- Loyal Underwood ... Small Father/Policeman (uncredited)
- Erich von Stroheim Jr. ... Baby (uncredited)
- Leo White ... Policeman (uncredited)
- Tom Wood ... Chief of Police (uncredited)
[edit] External links
The Mack Sennett Comedies: Kid Auto Races at Venice
The Chaplin-Mutual Comedies: The Floorwalker • The Fireman • The Vagabond • One A.M. • The Count • The Pawnshop • Behind the Screen • The Rink • Easy Street • The Cure • The Immigrant • The Adventurer
Feature-length films: Tillie's Punctured Romance • The Kid • A Woman of Paris • The Gold Rush • The Circus • City Lights • Modern Times • The Great Dictator • Monsieur Verdoux • Limelight • A King in New York • A Countess from Hong Kong
Other films: The New Janitor • Chaplin
Stock company: Edna Purviance • Eric Campbell • Albert Austin • Henry Bergman
