Customer Reviews

Charlie Chaplin: 57 Classics

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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)

The 6 DVD's include :

The Adventurer
Behind the Screen
The Burlesque on Carmen
The Count
Cure
The Fireman
The Floorwalker
The Immigrant
The Kid
One A.M.
The Pawnshop
The Rink
Shanghaied
The Vagabond
A Day's Pleasure
Dough and Dynamite
The Knockout
Sunnyside
The Woman
Shoulder Arms
Recreation
The Star Boarder
Tango Tangles
Those Love Pangs
Twenty Minutes of Love
The Bank
By the Sea
The Champion
His New Job
In the Park
The Bond
A Night in the Show
The Tramp
Police
Between Showers
A Busy Day
Caught in a Cabaret
Cruel, Cruel Love
The Face on the Bar Room Floor
The Fatal Mallet
A Film Johnnie
His Favorite Pastime
His Musical Career
A Fair Exchange
Kid Auto Races at Venice
Mabel's Married Life
Mabel's Strange Predicament
Making a Living
The New Janitor
Work
Triple Trouble

Quality is not that good, but it is a good price...

The two stars given are only because I love Charlie Chaplin. As for this collection, most of the pictures are in bad condition and the heads are cut off of the majority of Charlie's earlier classics. It makes it very frustrating to watch. I would pay a bit more and go for a company that cares, not one that just wants a quick buck!

A comment that was left following my review of The Kid (2 Disc Special Edition) reminded readers what set I was reviewing, because Amazon has reviews for certain films showing up with unrelated editions. This eight DVD box set is an example of a collection that includes a poor quality edition of The Kid, and an uneven collection of other material. Many of the reviews appearing with this collection at the time I wrote this were for a completely different collection of 57 films, and with the rest of the reviews, I can't tell what collection they are reviewing.

With over 50 titles, it's hard to be an expert on which ones are presented in the best way in which set, but if you are looking to build a Chaplin collection, start off with his better known feature films. This particular collection includes only two films that were well known enough that the compilers chose to list them on the front cover. The rest of the set is like a diamond mine. You need to go though an awful lot of dirt before you find something valuable.

It's not cheap to get good Chaplin shorts but this set is still very good. It's weird because I have a few other dvds of Chaplin with the shorts on them and they are very good quailty while these prints are passable. I watched these on a Hi-Def tv and these shorts look very good; I dont have a Blu-Ray player yet but I wonder what it would do for this movies. The extra disc that is placed in a slipcase on the side is The Chaplin Puzzle narrated by Burgess Meredith, and it's a very well done film with a remastered version of Police. Overall, a cheap set but still very good considering the shorts are almost 100 years old.

Although it's cheap, having closed-captioned feature together with English subtitle will make a good appeai to younger generation into watching this classic movies. And of course, the picture quality is "kinda OK" (Whaddaya expect from movies produced in 1914?). If you're into Charlie Chaplin & just like to have him on affordable & cheap DVD, pls help yourself to buy this. Otherwise, forget it. Regards, Irwan Shah from Malaysia.