Product Details

• Actors: Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Henry Bergman, Bud Jamison, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle
• Directors: Charles Chaplin, Mabel Normand, Joseph Maddern, Mack Sennett
• Writers: Charles Chaplin, Henry Lehrman, Hugh Antoine d'Arcy, Louella Parsons
• Format: Box set, Black & White, EP, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 10
• Studio: Madacy Records
• VHS Release Date: September 8, 1997
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302767911
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #332,446 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Vol. 1:      
Caught in a Cabaret    
Mabel's Busy Day      
Masqurader      
The Rounders      
In the Park      
      
Vol. 2:      
By the Sea      
The Bank      
Shanghaied      
A Night in the Show      

Vol. 3:
His new Job
The Champion
Face on the Barroom Floor

Vol. 4:
A Woman
The Count
His Trysting Places

Vol. 5:
The Vagabond
The Fireman
The Fatal Mallet

Vol. 6:
Behind the Screen
The Immigrant
20 Minutes of Love

Vol. 7:
The Adventurer
The Cure
Mabel's Strange Predicament

Vol. 8:
Easy Street
One a.m.
A Fair Exchange

Vol. 9:
The Pawnshop
The Floorwalker
His Prehistoric Past

Vol. 10:
A Builesque on Carmen
Laffing Gas

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rapid-fire collection of many Chaplin gems!, May 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Chaplin Collection [VHS] (VHS Tape)

As you can probably read below, there is an endless line-up of silent classics, featuring some of the Tramp's finest masterpieces and some of his worst ten-minute French films. But there all seldom-seen and well worth the price and wait. Don't miss this peerless collection.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some excellent Chaplin material with one or two rough spots., March 21, 2001

By 

Andrew McCaffrey "The Grumpy Young Man" (Satellite of Love, Maryland) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chaplin Collection [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is a huge Chaplin collection featuring thirty-two of his short films from the 1910s and 1920s. Be warned that while some of the films have obviously been well preserved, some others have not been as carefully looked after. There are definitely some signs of aging in this collection, but that is only to be expected. The poorer quality shorts seem to be randomly distributed throughout the videos, presumably based solely on who was in charge of taking care of each individual film. A few of the films are of quite poor quality, however, there is nothing that is actually unwatchable. This does not mean that the collection should be ignored by the silent movie fan. There is quite a lot of excellent material included in this collection that will leave you literally falling off of your chair in laughter.

Chaplin did a lot of things very well in his films and with thirty-two shorts to view here, you gets to see quite a bit of his filmmaking range. Some are hilarious, others are touching and sentimental, and a few others are early-film experiments that just do not quite work. Chaplin obviously enjoyed the sentimental themes that run though his film, however, more than any other filmmaker, he consistently got them right. The sentiment is not gratuitous and is rarely over the top. And the beauty of the short format is that if you don't care for the one you are currently viewing, you will not have long to wait until the next one starts (just like Sex Pistols songs).

My personal favourites from this are as follows:

THE ADVENTURER -- the story of Charlie as he escapes from jail and wrecks havoc on some upper-class people at a hotel. The chase sequences in this are priceless as Charlie jumps off of balconies and dives over banisters with the grace of a ballerina.

THE IMMIGRANT -- Charlie comes to America. This is an excellent story that manages to be both hilarious and thoughtfully sentimental at the same time. The downtrodden tramp adds a waiter and an immigration officer to the long list of people he has kicked in the backside.

ONE A.M. -- a drunken Charlie comes home late from a party and does battle with his house.

This collection is highly recommended viewing for any silent movie fan.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Look for better editions of Chaplin, October 22, 2002

By 

M. Granderson "mg" (APO, AE United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chaplin Collection [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Please Note: This review only refers to "Chaplin Collection by Madacy" It sometimes appears under other titles that have the same films but it is not intended to describe those transfers.

This set is boxed up very nicely. I thought that it would make a great gift. The quality of the transfer is disappointing but the worst pain is the sound! There is no attempt whatsoever to match any music to the action. If that isn't bad enough the recordings they are using have talking on them! You hear the musicians do some ... little skits about police and firemen. Obviously the individuals who created this collection didn't give the slightest effort to making it even a functionally entertaining experience. Every time the voices start it is like a train wreck to the story you are watching. They must have put this together on their coffee break. You will pay a bit more for other collections but it will be worth it!!