First of all, let me say I am not the greatest Charlie Chaplin admirer under the sun. Far from it, actually. The humor in some of his short films leaves me rather unattached and hasn't aged particularly well for me. So I went rather critically in this one, but I ended up liking it.
Already the first scene, in which Chaplin manipulates the viewer by showing shots of seasick people before finally switching the camera to himself and surprising everybody was quite a winner. There were a few more funny scenes, especially when they were eating, but my favorite part were certainly those section that included Chaplin and Purvance together. Their initial meeting was downright sweet with the captain or another crew member catching him for pickpocketing and thus revealing his donation. Most of the other scenes with him and his sweetheart in this 20-minute-long short film were pretty cute too and Eric Campbell was a welcome physical presence as always. Sadly this was one of his last short films as he died in a car accident not much later, being the negative icing on the sad cake that his life was for many reasons. Quite a shame as him being around for many more decades would surely have elevated Chaplin's career even more, not to mention his own.
Anyway, grab your sweetheart just like Charlie does in the end of this short film and sit together to watch it. You'll probably love it.
Already the first scene, in which Chaplin manipulates the viewer by showing shots of seasick people before finally switching the camera to himself and surprising everybody was quite a winner. There were a few more funny scenes, especially when they were eating, but my favorite part were certainly those section that included Chaplin and Purvance together. Their initial meeting was downright sweet with the captain or another crew member catching him for pickpocketing and thus revealing his donation. Most of the other scenes with him and his sweetheart in this 20-minute-long short film were pretty cute too and Eric Campbell was a welcome physical presence as always. Sadly this was one of his last short films as he died in a car accident not much later, being the negative icing on the sad cake that his life was for many reasons. Quite a shame as him being around for many more decades would surely have elevated Chaplin's career even more, not to mention his own.
Anyway, grab your sweetheart just like Charlie does in the end of this short film and sit together to watch it. You'll probably love it.