''The Idle Class'' is a 1921 American
silent comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
written and directed by
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
for
First National Pictures
First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...
.
Plot summary
The "
Little Tramp
: ''See The Tramp for the character played by Charlie Chaplin''.
''Little Tramp'' is a musical with a book by David Pomeranz and Steven David Horwich and music and lyrics by David Pomeranz.
Based on the life of comedian Charles Chaplin and na ...
" (Charlie Chaplin) heads to a resort for warm weather and golf. At the golf course, the Tramp's theft of balls in play causes one golfer (
Mack Swain
Mack Swain (born Moroni Swain; February 16, 1876 – August 25, 1935) was an early American film actor, who appeared in many of Mack Sennett’s comedies at Keystone Studios, including the Keystone Cops series. He also appeared in major fea ...
) to mistakenly attack another (
John Rand). Meanwhile, a neglected wife (
Edna Purviance
Olga Edna Purviance (; October 21, 1895 – January 13, 1958) was an American actress of the silent film era. She was the leading lady in many of Charlie Chaplin's early films and in a span of eight years, she appeared in over 30 films with hi ...
) leaves her wealthy husband (also played by Chaplin) until he gives up drinking. When the Tramp is later mistaken for a pickpocket, he crashes a masquerade ball to escape from a policeman. There, he is mistaken for the woman's husband. Eventually, it is all straightened out, and the Tramp is once more on his way.
Review
Helen Rockwell of the ''New York Telegraph'' wrote,
"...instead of going for a five-reel affair, he has returned to his first short love. But what there is of ''The Idle Class'' is so good and so funny that one realizes how much better is it to be entertained by two reels than bored in five."
Chaplin biographer
Jeffrey Vance
Jeffrey Vance (born May 21, 1970) is an American film historian and author who has published books on movie stars including Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.
Career
While working as an archivist for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists he met E ...
describes ''The Idle Class'' as “one of Chaplin’s funniest short comedies.”
[ He notes that Chaplin began production on the film in January 1921 with the working title ''Vanity Fair'': ]“Ultimately, Chaplin favored a more equivocal title—''The Idle Class''—for it is purposely not clear in the film which is the idle class: the idle rich or the idle poor. Chaplin plays both. The film took five months to complete, an amazingly long time for a two-reel comedy.” Vance speculates, “It is perhaps ironic that the story of ''The Idle Class'' centers on an unhappy marriage between an absent-minded husband and a lonely wife. This state of affairs could easily describe the principal characters of the tragi-comedy that was Chaplin’s own marriage. In the film Chaplin manages to dramatize the two sides of his own personality: Charlie the Tramp and the Absent-minded husband, rich and neglectful, absorbed to his own interests and indifferent to others. The latter was certainly how Mildred Harris
Mildred Harris (April 18, 1901 – July 20, 1944) was an American stage, film, and vaudeville actress during the early part of the 20th century. Harris began her career in the film industry as a child actress when she was 10 years old. She was a ...
is first wife
In linguistics, a copula (plural: copulas or copulae; abbreviated
An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from t ...
regarded Chaplin.”[Vance, Jeffrey (2003) Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema New York: Harry N. Abrams, pg. 117 and 121. ISBN 0-8109-4532-0]
Cast
* Charles Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
as Tramp / Husband
* Edna Purviance
Olga Edna Purviance (; October 21, 1895 – January 13, 1958) was an American actress of the silent film era. She was the leading lady in many of Charlie Chaplin's early films and in a span of eight years, she appeared in over 30 films with hi ...
as Neglected Wife
* Mack Swain
Mack Swain (born Moroni Swain; February 16, 1876 – August 25, 1935) was an early American film actor, who appeared in many of Mack Sennett’s comedies at Keystone Studios, including the Keystone Cops series. He also appeared in major fea ...
as Her Father
* Henry Bergman
Henry Bergman (February 23, 1868 – October 22, 1946) was an American actor of stage and film, known for his long association with Charlie Chaplin.
Biography
Born in San Francisco, California, Bergman acted in live theatre, appearing in ''Hen ...
as Sleeping Hobo / Guest in Cop Uniform
* Al Ernest Garcia
Allan Ernest Garcia (11 March 1887 – 4 September 1938) was an American actor and casting director, best known for his long association with Charlie Chaplin.
Life and career
Al Ernest Garcia appeared in over 120 films between 1911 and 1938, mos ...
as Cop in Park / Guest
* John Rand as Golfer / Guest
* Rex Storey
Rex may refer to:
* Rex (title) (Latin: king, ruler, monarch), a royal title
** King of Rome (Latin: Rex Romae), chief magistrate of the Roman Kingdom
People
* Rex (given name), for people with the given name
* Rex (surname), for people with ...
as Pickpocket / Guest
* Lita Grey
Lita Grey (born Lillita Louise MacMurray, April 15, 1908 – December 29, 1995), who was known for most of her life as Lita Grey Chaplin, was an American actress and the second wife of Charlie Chaplin.
Background
She was born in Hollywood, Cali ...
as Guest
References
External links
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1921 films
1921 comedy films
Silent American comedy films
American silent short films
American black-and-white films
Short films directed by Charlie Chaplin
1921 short films
Articles containing video clips
American comedy short films
First National Pictures films
1920s American films
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