User Reviews

Charlie Chaplin's 13th Essanay film is loosely based on Georges Bizet's famous opera Carmen and stars Chaplin as Darn Hosiery, a Spanish Officer on watch at a popular smuggling point. Local barman Lillas Pastia (Jack Henderson) persuades an attractive gypsy girl, Carmen (Edna Purviance) to distract the guard while they smuggle their goods. Despite having no interest in the man Carmen uses her charms to distract Hosiery who ends up in a love quartet for the gypsy's heart.

Burlesque on Carmen is an above average Essanay picture and features some nice subtle comedy as well as the usual trips, kicks and pokes. It also features the first noticeably decent performance from Chaplin regular Edna Purviance.

Purviance who appeared in every one of Chaplin's Essanay films and went on to appear in over thirty with the comedian over an eight year period had up to now, in my opinion, merely been a background prop for Chaplin to move about and turn his attention to when necessary. Often, through no fault of her own she would play characters with names such as 'A Woman', 'Girl' or 'Maid' but here as Carmen, with a proper fleshed out character, she shines. She is saucy and flirty yet firm and strong headed and is at the forefront of the story. It's nice to see her finally come into her own.

What's also nice is for Chaplin to take the action away from his traditional locations such as a house or park and transplant the plot to Spain. This gives him the excuse to try different sets and costumes, many of which add to the humour. He has great fun with a rather bushy military moustache and finds humour in his Uniform. The imagined heat of the Spanish sun also gives Edna Purviance a chance to show her face (and body), often hidden under bonnets and shawls. This is the first instance where I actually noticed the lightness of her hair as it is so often hidden from view. As I mentioned at the top there is a fair bit of subtle humour here to go along with the more obvious attempts. I loved how Chaplin slyly stole a beer and the looks he gave his fellow officer when trying to get 'time alone' with Purviance were fantastic.

For me the biggest laugh came when Chaplin is annoyed at a man blowing a horn. He carefully positions himself behind the man, lifts up the back of his tunic, unsheathes his sword, sharpens it, raises it above his head and then kicks him up the arse before returning the sword to its sheath. I loved the misdirection and patience of the joke. Overall I laughed out loud around five or six times which puts it towards the top of the Essanay films in that respect.

The final few minutes are surprisingly dark, even for a comedian famed for his pathos. I was totally shocked by just how grim it was and was glad for the final reveal even if the relationship didn't make much sense.

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This film was recently reassembled by Blackhawk Films/Image Entertainment from fragments and adulterated versions released by the studio without Chaplin's permission. Because of this, the DVD tried very hard to assemble the best original version and I appreciate the effort.

This is a pretty Chaplin short in that it has nicer sets and costumes and just looks nicer than the usual comedies of the day. And I am sure that to lovers of the story of Carmen it's an impressive film (though being a SILENT it must lose a lot considering Carmen in an opera!). However, despite the quality of the film, I just didn't think it was very funny. Nice to look at--Yes. Funny--not especially.

This combination of Charlie Chaplin's familiar slapstick and mannerisms with some of the plot ideas from "Carmen" works pretty well. Although Chaplin retains many of the features of his usual screen persona, playing even a parody version of Don José is still a change-of-pace that he handles well. Edna Purviance combines enough of the expected Carmen character with her own style that so often complemented Chaplin in numerous successful comedies.

Note that, of the two "Burlesque on Carmen" titles that list Chaplin in the cast, this (the 1915 filming) is the one to see for Chaplin fans. The 1916 release was created when someone apparently decided that it might be a good idea to take this perfectly good original and pad it with a lot of extraneous, non-Chaplin footage to produce a much longer movie.

Parody is an inherently fragile genre. For it to produce anything of lasting value, the source material has to be both familiar and worthwhile, and then the adaptation has to be clever without forcing too many artificial parallels. Many parodies are over-praised upon their release, enjoy a vogue while their source material remains popular, and then fall into deserved obscurity.

The story of "Carmen", though, has a timeless combination of themes, and yet it is not at all stuffy or highbrow. While the original classic is now, unfortunately, less widely-known than it was in Chaplin's day, the material itself is still far more worthwhile than are the pop culture elements that are used as fodder for many parody films of the present era. While by no means one of his very finest efforts, Chaplin's "Burlesque on Carmen" is an enjoyable comic adaptation of the basic story, and for that reason it will always retain an appreciative, if small, audience.

"Carmen" the 1845 novella by Prosper Merimee and the Georges Bizet opera have been adapted on screen numerous times since 1913. The oldest existing film version is Cecil B. DeMille's October 1915 "Carmen."

"Carmen," set in 1830 Spain, dealt with smugglers who conscripted the female gypsy to persuade a high-moral young Army officer manning the city gates to allow the group in to sell their goods. Naturally, the officer succumbs to Carmen's sexy whiles and his slippery slide down the corrupt ladder begins.

The themes in Carmen was especially popular in the mid-1910's during the time DeMille directed his movie, which was nominated by the American Film Institute in its Top 100 Most Passionate Films Ever Made. A month after the DeMille effort, Raoul Walsh released his "Carmen" a month later with Theda Bara, a lost film.

In one of Charlie Chaplin's final films for Essanay Studios, the comedian produced "A Burlesque on Carmen" in December 1915, based on the DeMille movie. Edna Purviance starred as Carmen,.

Chaplin's contract had expired shortly with Essanay after he made his "Carmen" because the studio had failed to meet his higher salary demands. Once he left, the studio added discarded footage Chaplin had shot as well as it created a subplot with Ben Turpin, extending the 30-minute short. Furious about the inferior movie that came out, Chaplin unsuccessfully sued the studio, causing much bitterness between them. A recent restoration of what Chaplin's original intentions were produced a highly-praised comedy that is recognized as one of his more intelligent movies in his resume.

It's surprising how many films Chaplin made out of his tramp character in his earlier years. Here, in a parody of the famous opera (hence the highly original title), Chaplin plays a soldier in charge of the guard detailed to prevent smuggling onto its country's shores. The ne'er-do-wells who want to bring in their goods employ Carmen, a voluptuous young lady who is rather free and easy with her favours, to entice Chaplin away so that they can go about their business as usual. This one's a bit of a mess, with only a few scattered laughs found amongst a fairly turgid attempt at lampooning high(ish) art. Definitely not one of Chaplin's best, but then he was churning out so many films during this period that I suppose he was bound to produce a turkey every now and then.

If you look at the whole career of that madcap genius Cecil B. DeMille, his style and preoccupations changed considerably over time, but one thing was evident from day one – his unshakeable pomposity and over-confidence. That is why he was always a ripe target for satire. Getting an early shot in on the heels one of DeMille's earliest successes was Charlie Chaplin, with his farcical yet precisely aimed Burlesque on Carmen.

These were the days when people would go to see a popular picture many times over. Chaplin too has clearly studied the original, and played upon the familiarity it would have had with audiences of the time. He has mimicked the sets, set-ups and even copied many of the titles verbatim. He even bases gags around very minor aspects of the DeMille film such as the soldiers and smugglers pushing at the door. All this provides a rich environment for Chaplin to tweak into hilariously disrespectful mayhem.

This doesn't appear to be an especially popular or well-known short, perhaps because without the genuine little tramp and modern setting it is not considered kosher Charlie. Personally I feel it is one his best Essanay pictures, for a number of reasons. Virtually the whole of Chaplin's act was satirical on some level, whether he was lampooning the upper class, social norms or modern fads, and generally the bigger the target the bigger the laughs. And simply because of its period trappings it allows him to do funny business with props and situations he would never normally get hold of, such as the numerous gags involving his sword. With his semi-faithful recreation of a contemporary drama, you get to see the considerable straight acting talents of Chaplin and his leading lady Edna Purviance, in a role unlike any other she played, but one she is very suited to. You also have John Rand being very funny in his own right, and Leo White getting the lengthiest and most creative pummelling he ever received from Charlie. Burlesque on Carmen is a unique standout in Chaplin's career, but also great fun to watch.

All of which brings us to the all-important statistic –

Number of kicks up the arse: 0 (although it does contain practically everything else)

Chaplin liked Cecil B. DeMille's "Carmen"; this, I think, was his only effort devoted to parodying a sole film. I disliked DeMille's "Carmen"; neither the direction, nor narrative impressed me, and Geraldine Farrar was annoying. Edna Purviance is much easier to watch. Her caricature of Farrar's obnoxious narcissism was entertaining and rather satisfying--nearly making the experience of watching Farrar's performance worthwhile. And, Chaplin is funnier here than in any film he had done before. This, not "The Champion", "The Tramp", or "Police", is what I consider the jewel of his outturn at Essanay.

This short follows the same plot of DeMille's "Carmen", nicely condensed, absent the melodrama. And, I'm discussing the 1915 "Burlesque on Carmen", not the bastardized version Essanay created the following year, after Chaplin had left the studio. That one includes a subplot involving Ben Turpin, which pads on two more reels to the formerly 2-reel short. This, the original, preferred version is a visually coherent, appropriately photographed short (other than some jump cuts). Chaplin took the style, or look--tinting, mise-en-scène, composition and such--right out of DeMille's film. As a result, this is one of Chaplin's better-looking films from his early work. If nothing else, DeMille made some pretty pictures.

Chaplin did transform, or mature his comedy while at Essanay; although, of his Essanay films, only a few are very discernible from his Keystone shorts. You may witness a slight maturing in his other Essanay movies, but "Burlesque on Carmen" seems to introduce a radically more mature burlesque for Chaplin. And, I mean "burlesque" in two senses: first, this film is a burlesque in that it parodies another film, and, second, it may be that Chaplin learned to refine the broad, crude and frantic humor of his Keystone upbringing in the process of parodying that film. There's a clear focus here--in parodying DeMille's film, and thus we get a substantial refinement in Chaplin's style.

There are some very funny moments here, too. The swordfight, which turns into a wrestling match, is great. Chaplin continually interrupts the photoplay by breaking down the fourth wall, including winking at the camera. Another of my favorite gags is when Chaplin, looking as close to the tramp as in any part of the film, stops at a saloon before continuing with the expected storyline.

You gotta be a fan of the little man but I found Burlesque on Carmen dull, unimaginative and totally not funny.

Chaplin is retelling the story of Carmen and plays a big role himself as Don Jose. It's a story about men and the women they love, although it's unclear why one would love such a woman as Carmen, as she is playing the men against each other.

As I said I didn't think much of it. Chaplin made dozens and dozens of better movies so you can leave this one on the shelve.

Oh and I'm curious what the difference is between this movie and the 1915 version... or is it just an IMDB mistake?

On the whole: 3/10.

Although it is hard to follow the story of Carmen opera in this spoof (it is quite confusing), that is a very funny short from genius Charles Chaplin. Charlie does not play his tramp here, but a military called Darn Hosiery, a tramp-like version of Don José. There are numerous hilarious situations, making the fans not to miss the little tramp. Chaplin's slapstick is brilliant as usual. Just imagine comedian like Chaplin with military costumes, weapons, and making their gestures... It is as if the comedian were in an amusing park! The fencing (judo?!) scene is excellent! Intertitles make as laugh a lot too. Edna Purviance had one of her best performances in my opinion, as Carmen. Great end!

One of Chaplin's longest films up to that point, Burlesque on Carmen is a clever and surprisingly complex parody of what was then "Prosper Merimee's" well-known story about "Carmen." I was a little confused about the difference between the IMDb's listing of the 1915 Burlesque on Carmen and the 1916 version. Based on the running time I assume that it was the 1915 version that I saw, since the 1916 one is a good 20 minutes longer, and from what I've read, those are 20 unnecessary and unimpressive minutes.

From the very beginning, it's clear that Burlesque on Carmen is one of Chaplin's most complex and ambitious efforts to date, starting off with a long back story, told through inter-titles, about the tragic love story of Carmen.

Carmen is sent by a band of gypsies ("A band who put the GYP in gypsy."), to seduce a Spanish officer so they can pull off their smuggling operation. It's a clever, Chaplinesque band of criminals, the leader of whom, Lillas Pastia, has "spent 50 years learning to steal, thinking he might be offered a job in politics."

On a side note, I've seen some almost misogynistic messages and jokes in some of Chaplin's earlier work, but probably none quite as overt as in this one. Near the beginning of the movie, as the band of gypsies are traveling, there is a scene where the mules and women are loading, and an inter-title explains that "the mules are the ones with long ears." In case you couldn't tell, I guess.

Chaplin plays the part of Don Jose, the hapless officer who is to be seduced by Carmen. He is described as "a brave soldier and lover of women." Not exactly a stretch for Chaplin who removed any doubt about his ability to play a convincing comic soldier a few years later in the brilliant Shoulder Arms. And of course, he didn't have to act about being a lover of women.

What is different here, of course, is his polished military uniform and straight-backed disciplinary manner, interspersed, of course, with some of his traditional slap-stick moves. He strikes me as a little guy in a position of authority, struggling to maintain the respect of his subordinates by exerting a gruff, stolid exterior.

Soon Carmen enters ("Loved by all men under the age of 96…"), and she immediately begins flirting with Charlie. I should mention that for a good majority of the movie, it is surprisingly faithful to the original story, which was full of jealousy and tragedy. Chaplin is strangely convincing as a jealous lover, able to evoke a jealous passion that I've never seen from him. There's at least one scene where he is genuinely a little scary.

Chaplin has some great sight gags in the movie, like a hilarious table dance and some classic sword fighting near the end. And his boyish charm and the role of a soldier is also definitely a winning combination, although there is another peculiar stunt involving a group of men pushing a huge door back and forth that wasn't very effective to begin with but just kept going on and on and on, probably about five times longer than it was worth. Although it was interesting that when it finally fell over it clearly was revealed as a movie prop. I always appreciate such glimpses at the old movie sets.

The end of the film is it's strongest part. It bears striking resemblance to Romeo and Juliet, but just when you think that Chaplin is going to conduct a major thematic experiment by diverging distantly from his traditional style, there is a hilarious twist that is as vintage Chaplin as anything I've ever seen. Nice work!

Am a big fan of Charlie Chaplin, have been for over a decade now. Many films and shorts of his are very good to masterpiece, and like many others consider him a comedy genius and one of film's most important and influential directors.

From his Essanay period after leaving Keystone, 'A Burlesque on Carmen' is not one of his very best but is one of his best early efforts and among the better short films of his. It shows a noticeable step up in quality though from his Keystone period, where he was still evolving and in the infancy of his long career, from 1914, The Essanay period is something of Chaplin's adolescence period where his style had been found and starting to settle. Something that can be seen in the more than worthwhile 'A Burlesque on Carmen'.

The story is still flimsy and actually one of the most lightweight ones of the Essanay period, there are times where it struggles to sustain the short length, and could have had more variety.

On the other hand, 'A Burlesque on Carmen' looks pretty good, not incredible but it was obvious that Chaplin was taking more time with his work and not churning out countless shorts in the same year of very variable success like he did with Keystone. Appreciate the importance of his Keystone period and there is some good stuff he did there, but the more mature and careful quality seen here and later on is obvious.

While not one of his most hilarious or touching, 'A Burlesque on Carmen' is still very funny with some clever, entertaining and well-timed slapstick and is one of his first to have substance and pathos after 'The Bank', 'The Night in the Show' and 'The Tramp'. It moves quickly and there is no dullness in sight. The ending is great fun.

Chaplin directs more than competently, if not quite cinematic genius standard yet. He also, as usual, gives an amusing and expressive performance and at clear ease with the physicality and substance of the role. The supporting cast acquit themselves well, particularly a charming Edna Purviance.

In summary, very good and one of the best from Chaplin's Essanay period. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I must admit, I don't find Charlie Chaplin as funny as Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy and The Little Rascals. What says more to me about Chaplin is his pathos rather than comedy. His genius was in his pathos, depicting the grim reality of working class Victorian and Edwardian life. His comedy was merely a vehicle to communicate his pathos. Therefore, I did not find this funny, but I struck a chord with his pathos.

While working for Keystone Charlie started writing and directing his own movies as well as starring in them and that's when the light of Chaplin began to blink and eventually was destined to shine forever. After leaving Mack Sennett he joined Essanay where he worked for a year or so; during his tenure with them he met beautiful and very talented Edna Purviance who became Chaplin's first leading lady and worked closely with her on many of his movies until 1923. Edna was a gem, gentle yet very self-aware and confident on screen she always represented the heart and soul in Charlie's masterpieces among which is his only Essanay entry in my collection - "Burlesque on Carmen" (1915).

This silent picture is one of the first parody movies where Chaplin puts his own vision not only on Cecil B. DeMille's version of "Carmen" that came out the same year but on the legendary opera by Georges Bizet as well. The story is as old as the Earth: a boy falls in love with the girl only to realize later she was only in it for her own profit and is in fact in love with another man. "Carmen" is a romantic tragedy by its nature but Chaplin transforms it into farce with many gags, absurd set-ups and situations still maintaining to keep the tragic parts, highlighting them once in a while but not too much. Pure Chaplin.

By 1915 Charlie is yet to develop his own unique style but he is already a very skillful director, a witty writer and a great performer. By exploring Chaplin's filmography from the first to the last you can see his evolution, how far he has gone in just a year and the heights that he accomplished. But even the sky was no limit for him.

I saw the 1951 UK version of this. It was narrated by Peter Dellars of all people and be sounds like Pete Smith. This version is also based on the 4 reeler version which Chaplin sued to stop being screened (Essanay added two reels to Chaplin's original version after he left for another studio!

So because they added a dumb narration to an additional two reels that was added after the fact, it's hard to review.

On one hand I can't evaluate it because of the silly narration that keeps getting in the way. On the other hand if it wasn't there I would have likely shut this off.

Except for The Gold Rush, I've never like Chaplin much. I found him way to simplistic and at the same time too broad. I know he was huge back in the day, but I just don't "get" him. Maybe this movie being 113 years old tells us why.