Product Details

• Actors: Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Charlie Chase, Billy Gilbert
• Directors: Hal Roach
• Format: Box set, Black & White, Full Screen, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Bci / Eclipse
• DVD Release Date: April 27, 2004
• Run Time: 1386 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0001WTVSY
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #192,827 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars chaplin 57 classic shorts-BCI DVD, March 28, 2005

By 

LL "LL" (boston, ma) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Charlie Chaplin: 57 Classics (DVD)

a good set for the money. there are 5 double sided discs and one single disc with a Chaplin documentary hosted by Burgess Meredith. There are shorts from 1914-1918, mostly of low to medium grade quality with less than satisfactory music scores. and also, features such as "the kid" and others. if you want quality, i suggest the restored sets from "image" and the like.

but this is a lot of Chaplin for a little money. not bad.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good quality for the Keystone comedies, December 5, 2007

By 

calvinnme - See all my reviews
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This set includes shorts from Chaplin's early career, plus "The Kid", his first feature. If you are looking for anything but the Keystone comedies, there are better offerings. However, this is the best quality I've seen for the 25 of Chaplin's 35 Keystone shorts included in this set. That doesn't mean they're great quality, it just means they're as good as we're probably going to get. Realize, if you've never seen them, that the Keystone comedies are quite crude in their humor and don't show the flair and originality Chaplin was demonstrating just two years later in his Mutual series. However, to get viewable copies of most of the Keystones plus a documentary, the price on this set is not bad. I make the following recommendations for everything else:

The Mutual & Essanay comedies - Go with Image Entertainment's "The Complete Restored Essanay & Mutual Collection". If you are interested only in the Mutual comedies, which is where Chaplin really hit his stride IMHO, go with the more recent "Chaplin Mutual Comedies", also by Image. The restoration on the Mutual Comedies is visibly superior to the older one that includes the Essanays.

The First National shorts and later features - Go with the two volume collection by Warner Home Video. Everything is completely restored and extra features abound.

As far as Chaplin's Keystones, this set does not include the following:

Cruel, Cruel Love (5.5/10) - found in "The Little Tramp: The Charlie Chaplin Collection" with good quality, but watermarked.

Mabel at the Wheel (5.3/10) - same as above.

Caught in the Rain (5.8/10)

Her Friend the Bandit (7.2/10)

Mabel's Busy Day (5.5/10)

The Property Man (6.0/10)

Gentlemen of Nerve (5.6/10)

His Trysting Place (6.6/10)

Tillie's Punctured Romance (6.7/10) - Image Entertainment has a good print of this one.

Getting Acquainted (5.8/10)

His Prehistoric Past (5.5/10)

The ratings come from a popular film database. As for the missing Keystones, other than "Tillie's Punctured Romance", "Cruel,Cruel Love", and "Mabel at the Wheel", I'm not sure what other DVD collections might include them.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A cane, a mustache, a bowler hat and Fatty Arbuckle's pants, June 5, 2007

By 

Annie Van Auken (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Charlie Chaplin: 57 Classics (DVD)

CHARLIE CHAPLIN 57 CLASSICS is a five doubled-sided DVD set of comedy shorts and features made during the first five years of Charlie Chaplin's screen career. Highlights include "The Kid," a six-reel fan favorite co-starring little Jackie Coogan, who worked with Chaplin two years earlier in a short called "A Day's Pleasure." In "Kid Auto Races at Venice," Charlie is seen for the first time in hobo rags, although he is not yet playing his famous "Little Tramp" character.

This extensive collection also includes "The Immigrant," one of C.C.'s famous early films. "The Bond" is a 5-minute short Chaplin made in 1918 to promote War Bonds, and another WWI related item, "Shoulder Arms," has Charlie's half-brother appearing in a dual-role: as a sergeant and as the Kaiser. Finally, a unique and daring film is "One A.M." Chaplin is all alone here, except for a brief appearance of a taxidriver at the movie's outset. It's a tour-de-force performance that only this master funnyman could pull off.

An added bonus are two parts of a TV documentary narrated by Burgess Meredith. In one episode, Chaplin's first full-length movie (it was also his last work at Keystone) is reconstructed from the short "Police" and a reel of material the studio edited out in order to create "Police."

Discover another silent-era superstar. The BUSTER KEATON COLLECTION - 15 Shorts, 5 Movies offers some of the finest comedy ever filmed.

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Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.

(7.5) The Adventurer (silent-1917) - CC/Edna Purviance/Eric Campbell

(6.4) The Bank (silent-1915) - CC/Edna Purviance/Carl Stockdale

(7.0) Behind The Screen (silent-1916) - CC/Eric Campbell/Edna Purviance

(5.5) Between Showers (silent-1914) - CC/Ford Sterling/Chester Conklin

(5.8) The Bond (silent-1918) - CC/Edna Purviance/Syd Chaplin

(6.0) Burlesque On Carmen (silent-1916) - CC/Edna Purviance/Ben Turpin

(5.3) A Busy Day (silent-1914) - CC/Mack Swain (uncredited actors: Billy Gilbert/Mack Sennett)

(5.8) By The Sea (silent-1915) - CC/Billy Armstrong/Edna Purviance

(5.5) Caught In A Cabaret (silent-1014) - CC/Mabel Normand/Chester Conklin/Edgar Kennedy

(5.7) The Champion (silent-1915) - CC/Edna Purviance/Ben Turpin (minor role)

(6.8) The Count (silent-1916) - CC/Eric Campbell/Edna Purviance

(7.3) The Cure (silent-1917) - CC/Edna Purviance/Eric Campbell

(6.7) A Day's Pleasure (silent-1919) - CC/Edna Purviance/Jackie Coogan

(5.7) Dough and Dynamite (silent-1914) - CC/Chester Conklin/Cecile Arnold/Vivian Edwards/Edgar Kennedy/Slim

(7.8) Easy Street (silent-1917) - CC/Edna Purviance/Eric Campbell

(5.2) The Face On The Bar Room Floor (silent-1914) - CC/Cecile Arnold/Chester Conklin

(5.6) The Fatal Mallet (silent-1914) - CC/Mabel Normand/Mack Sennett/Mack Swain

(5.5) A Film Johnnie (silent-1914) - CC/Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle/Mabel Normand/Ford Sterling/Billy Gilbert (uncredited)

(6.3) The Fireman (silent-1916) - CC/Edna Purviance/Lloyd Bacon/Eric Campbell

(6.8) The Floorwalker (silent-1916) - CC/Eric Campbell/Edna Purviance

(5.7) Getting Acquainted (silent-1914) - CC/Phyllis Allen//Mack Swain/Mabel Normand/Edgar Kennedy

(5.1) His Favorite Pastime (silent-1914) - CC/Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle/Billy Gilbert (uncredited)

(5.7) His Musical Career (silent-1914) - CC/Mack Swain/Charley Chase

(5.9) His New Profession (silent-1914) - CC/Charley Chase/Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (minor role)

(7.9) The Immigrant (silent-1917) - CC/Edna Purviance/Eric Campbell

(5.7) In The Park (silent-1915) - CC/Edna Purviance/Leo White

(8.1) The Kid (silent-1921) - CC/Edna Purviance/Jackie Coogan

(5.8) Kid Auto Races at Venice (silent-1914) - Charles Chaplin

(5.7) The Knockout (silent-1914) - CC (in support)/Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle/Minta Durfee/Edgar Kennedy

(5.6) Laughing Gas (silent-1914) - CC/Fritz Schade/Slim Summerville/Mack Swain

(5.5) Mabel's Married Life (silent-1914) - CC/Mabel Normand/Mack Swain/Al St. John

(5.2) Mabel's Strange Predicament (silent-1914) - CC/Mabel Normand/Chester Conklin/Al St. John

(5.5) Making A Living (silent-1914) - CC/Virginia Kirtley/Chester Conklin

(5.8) The Masquerader (silent-1914) - CC/Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle/Chester Conklin

(5.6) The New Janitor (silent-1914) - CC/Jess Dandy/John T. Dillon/Al St. John

(6.4) A Night In The Show (silent-1915) - CC/Edna Purviance/Charlotte Mineau

(6.0) A Night Out (silent-1915) - CC/Ben Turpin/Bud Jamison/Edna Purviance

(7.5) One A.M. (silent-1916) - CC/Albert Austin

(7.3) The Pawnshop (silent-1916) - CC/Henry Bergman//Edna Purviance

(6.6) Police (silent-1916) - CC/Edna Purviance/Wesley Ruggles

(5.2) Recreation (silent-1914) - CC/Charles Bennett

(7.1) The Rink (silent-1816) - CC/Edna Purviance/James T. Kelley

(6.1) The Rounders (silent-1914) - CC/Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle/Al St. John

(6.2) Shanghaied (silent-1915) - CC/Edna Purviance/Wesley Ruggles

(7.6) Shoulder Arms (silent-1918) - CC/Edna Purviance/Syd Chaplin

(5.3) The Star Boarder (silent-1914) - CC/Minta Durfee/Edgar Kennedy/Billy Gilbert (uncredited)

(6.8) Sunnyside (silent-1919) - CC/Edna Purviance/Tom Wilson

(5.3) Tango Tangles (silent-1914) - CC/Ford Sterling/Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle/Chester Conklin (uncredited actors: Billy Gilbert/Edgar Kennedy/Al St. John)

(5.4) Those Love Pangs (silent-1914) - CC/Chester Conklin/Cecile Arnold/Vivian Edwards (uncredited actors: Billy Gilbert/Slim Summerville)

(7.0) The Tramp (silent-1915) - CC/Edna Purviance/Ernest Van Pelt

(5.6) Triple Trouble (silent-1918) - CC/Edna Purviance

(5.6) Twenty Minutes Of Love (silent-1914) - CC/Minta Durfee/Edgar Kennedy/Chester Conklin

(6.9) The Vagabond (silent-1916) - CC/Edna Purviance/Eric Campbell/Leo White

(6.4) A Woman (silent-1915) - CC/Edna Purviance/Charles Inslee

(6.3) Work (silent-1915) - CC/Charles Inslee/Edna Purviance

PLUS--

(7.7) The Chaplin Puzzle (Pt. 1 & 2) (TV doc.-1992) - Charles Chaplin/Burgess Meredith (narrator)