Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Chaplin’s Mutual Comedies 1916-1917 (1916-2013)

Contents: The Floorwalker (1916), The Fireman (1916), The Vagabond (1916), One A.M. (1916), The Count (1916), The Pawnshop (1916), Behind the Screen (1916), The Rink (1916), Easy Street (1917), The Cure (1917), The Immigrant (1917), The Adventurer (1917), Chaplin’s Goliath (1996) and The Birth of the Tramp (2013).

Charles Chaplin was delighted when he began fulfilling his 1916 contract with the Mutual Film Company, a distribution outfit that handled the films of many of the top film producers of the time. The contract was the first made with Chaplin’s own production company, which meant that he could produce his comedies with total creative control.

The Mutual comedies show signs of Chaplin maturing as a cinema artist. His Mutual stories became more carefully constructed and less reliant on senseless bash-and-bop slapstick. The gags show flashes of comic brilliance.

— Carl Bennett

This dual-format Blu-ray Disc / DVD collection of the twelve Chaplin Mutual contract films features new high-definition pillarboxed video transfers from 35mm archival material, including additional footage and quality improvements from film materials which have surfaced since David Shepard’s earlier home video editions. The edition has been a cooperative project of Cineteca de Bologna, Film Preservation Associates and Lobster Films, Paris, in cooperation with Association Chaplin.

The running times are slightly longer here than in previous home video editions. We hope that apart from a different video transfer frame rate this also means that additional footage will be seen that has not been part of previous editions.

The films are presented with optional music scores composed and performed by Neil Brand, Timothy Brock, Antonio Coppola, Carl Davis, Stephen Horne, Robert Israel, Maud Nelissen, Donald Sosin and Gabriel Thibaudeau.

For our comparative reviews of the individual films in this collection, see our The Floorwalker on home video, The Fireman on home video, The Vagabond on home video, One A.M. on home video, The Count on home video, The Pawnshop on home video, Behind the Screen on home video, The Rink on home video, Easy Street on home video, The Cure on home video, The Immigrant on home video and The Adventurer on home video pages.

The supplemental material includes a 28-page booklet, the documentary The Birth of the Tramp (2013); the documentary Chaplin’s Goliath (1996) on Chaplin star heavy Eric Campbell.

The collection is issued in limited-edition steelbook packaging, which we feel must be handled gingerly to avoid damaging its discs and the case itself.

USA: Click the logo to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc / Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Support Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logo to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc / Region 1 NTSC DVD from Amazon.ca. Support Silent Era.
This Region A Blu-ray Disc / Region 1 NTSC DVD edition is also available directly from . . .

Other SHORT COMEDY FILMS of the silent era available on home video.

Other silent film music scores by CARL DAVIS available on home video.