''The Pawnshop'' was Charlie Chaplin's sixth film for

Mutual Film Corporation Mutual Film Corporation was an early American film conglomerate that produced some of Charlie Chaplin's greatest comedies. Founded in 1912, it was absorbed by Film Booking Offices of America, which evolved into RKO Pictures. Founding Mutual ...

. Released on October 2, 1916, it stars Chaplin in the role of assistant to the pawnshop owner, played by

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 ...

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 ...

plays the owner's daughter, while Albert Austin appears as an alarm clock owner who watches Chaplin in dismay as he dismantles the clock; the massive Eric Campbell's character attempts to rob the shop. This was one of Chaplin's more popular movies for Mutual, mainly for the slapstick comedy he was famous for at the time.

Synopsis

Chaplin plays an assistant in a pawnshop run by Henry Bergman. He goes about his job in the usual comic Chaplin manner: insulting various eccentric customers and dusting an electric fan while it is running. Quarreling over a ladder, Chaplin engages in a slapstick battles with his fellow pawnshop assistant and is fired. The pawnbroker gives Charlie a second chance because of his "eleven children"—a fiction which Charlie has hastily invented for the occasion. In the kitchen Charlie flirts with the pawnbroker's attractive daughter, helping her dry dishes by passing them through a clothes wringer. When a customer brings in an alarm clock to be pawned, Chaplin engages in one of his most famous solo sustained comedy bits: He thoroughly examines the clock as if he were a physician and a jeweler. He disassembles the clock piece by piece, damaging it beyond repair, and carefully puts the pieces into the man's hat. He then sorrowfully informs him that the clock can not be accepted. A crook enters the store and pretends he wants to buy diamonds. Charlie, who has hidden in a trunk after another raucous dispute with his co-worker, spots the man trying to open the pawnshop's vault. Charlie emerges from the trunk, knocks the armed thief out. Charlie is congratulated by the pawnbroker and embraced by his daughter for his bravery and good deed. The role of the pawnshop proprietor was Henry Bergman's first major appearance in a Chaplin film. (He had played a minor, uncredited role as an old man in '' The Floorwalker'' earlier in 1916.) Bergman would work closely with Chaplin until his death in 1946.

Primary 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 consid ...

: Pawnbroker's assistant *

: Pawnbroker *

: His daughter * John Rand: Pawnbroker's assistant * Albert Austin: Client with clock *

Wesley Ruggles Wesley Ruggles (June 11, 1889 – January 8, 1972) was an American film director. Life and work He was born in Los Angeles, California, younger brother of actor Charlie Ruggles. He began his career in 1915 as an actor, appearing in a do ...

: Client with ring * Eric Campbell: Thief * James T. Kelley: Old bum * Charlotte Mineau: Client with aquarium * Frank J. Coleman: Policeman

Sound version

In 1932, Amedee J. Van Beuren of

Van Beuren Studios The Van Beuren Corporation was a New York City-based animation studio that produced theatrical cartoons as well as live-action short-subjects from the 1920s to 1936. History In 1920, the Keith-Albee organization formed Fables Pictures for the ...

, purchased Chaplin's Mutual comedies for $10,000 each, added music by

Gene Rodemich Eugene Frederick Rodemich (April 13, 1890 in St Louis, Missouri – February 27, 1934 in New York) was a pianist and orchestra leader, who composed the music for numerous films in the late 1920s and early 1930s, mostly cartoons and live-action sho ...

and

Winston Sharples Winston Singleton Sharples (March 1, 1909 – April 3, 1978) was an American composer known for his work with animated short subjects, especially those created by the animation department at Paramount Pictures. In his 35-year career, Sharples s ...

and sound effects, and re-released them through

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...

. Chaplin had no legal recourse to stop the RKO release.

References

External links

*
''The Pawnshop'' at Internet Archive
1916 films 1916 comedy films 1916 short films American silent short films Short films directed by Charlie Chaplin American black-and-white films Silent American comedy films Articles containing video clips American comedy short films Mutual Film films 1910s American films {{1910s-short-comedy-film-stub

Synopsis

Primary cast

Sound version

See also

References

External links