Customer Reviews

Charlie Chaplin Marathon

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

 

 

This is a LaserLight product, and they don't care. They don't care about silent movies, or they wouldn't have put out three short comedies that run too fast. Correcting the film speed is one of the most basic remastering processes, but they couldn't be bothered.

The main feature is an old (1950's graphics) repackaging effort, with the same ham-fisted and intrusive sound effects as used in the short comedies. On top of that there is a (gasp of horror)...
a NARRATOR! He is from the 1950's,too. His endless pointing out of every action in the movie is an insult to my intelligence.
The LaserLight people obviously couldn't be bothered to remaster this film or record a new sound track.

The LaserLight people also don't care about their customers. On the back cover of the DVD box they say this, "Digitally mastered from the best available sources, with a newly recorded music score for the highest quality possible".

Fortunately, higher quality versions of these works are not only possible, but they already exist - so you don't need to buy this sloth-ridden turkey (now there's an image!).

Avoid at all cost,This is one of the worst collections I have ever seen.It has lame music and annoying sound effects.Save your money and buy one of the Mutuals or Essanay collections

The reviews on this page seem to be referring to two or three different editions of "Tillie's Punctured Romance." So let me start by saying that I'm reviewing the Image DVD version (which also contains the one-reeler "Mabel's Married Life" as a bonus feature) and not the Chaplin marathon which seems to be the recipient of the bad reviews here.

"Tillie's Punctured Romance" is an important film for a couple of reasons. It was the very first feature length comedy, providing film comedy an alternative to one- and two-reel shorts. It was also the last film with Charles Chaplin as merely an actor; he began directing all of his films after this.

In addition to its importance, "Tillie's Punctured Romance" is still enjoyable to watch. The print on this DVD is a little rough in places, a few times switching from what appears to be a nice 35mm print to a seemingly worn out 16mm print and then back again within the same scene. But overall, this is a quality presentation of the film when you consider the fact that it was made in 1914.

A pretty decent collection and includes the first full-length feature, hence historically important. However, the sound quality is one of the worst possible on a DVD..and is sometimes annoying..though the picture quality is reasonable for the price. Not a bad piece for a collection, if the Image and Mutual Versions is out-of-bounds for your wallet. If you are expecting a "real" DVD-like quality, you will be disappointed. Though, that is the result of the source itself.

This 1914 film is considered the first feature-lenth comedy ever made and, as such, is worth viewing just for that. The film on its merits, however, is less interesting. Sure, this is slapstick, but I personally found the Tillie character to be quite ridiculous; ridiulous, moreover, without being particularly amusing. She's made up to look like---and seemingly acts like---a guy in drag pledging a fraternity. Marie Dressler, then 45 years-old, playing such a supposedly youthful character as "Tillie", to boot, is less comical than it is distracting. If you are going to take the time to see this film, in other words, you ought be doing so simply to see a historically significant film. So, no, it's not a film you'll most likely want to own and watch again and again, unless you're simply enamored by anything and everything Chaplin has done. If you haven't seen anything by Chaplin don't start here! And if you are a discerning Chaplin fan you'd be better served (if you care to be amused) by sampling some of his much greater efforts. For the curious, I offer a brief synopsis of Tillie's Punctured Romance: "What's this he's got---one of Ringling's elephants?" So remarks Mabel Normand's character (so to speak, in this silent film) as she spies Chaplin's 'City Guy' arm in arm with "Built like a battleship" Tillie. Tillie has "got a bankroll as thick as herself", Chaplin's character later explains to Normand, his old partner in crime. Then once successful in lifting said cash from Tillie, Chaplin flees with Normand. Upon hearing of Tillie's apparent inheritance of 3 million dollars soon after, however, he returns to her and begs Tillie to marry him ASAP. They later whoop it up with many quests (with Normand working as hired help) at a celebratory party at Tillies's "new" home, until her uncle---thought dead---returns to claim it back, throwing them out into the street as he does so. A keystone-cops-like chase ensues all through town and seaside along a boardwalk and then ends with Normand and (a soaking wet) Tillie agreeing that Chaplin's favor is hardly worth pursuing anyway. Curtain. Cheers!

Please ignore the reviews for this video that refer to it as a Laser Light release. THIS IS NOT A LASERLIGHT RELEASE. This DVD is remastered by Image Entertainment with a new score. The image quality is pretty good considering this is a film from 1914! Image Entertainment is the best out there when it comes to releasing silent films on DVD. Image Entertainment remasters all their silent films from the best available 35mm nitrate source and they create new scores for the films. Don't let the other reviews turn you off from experiencing this early silent film gem.

Quality prints of Chaplin's Keystones are so hard to find! This is one. Image Entertainment has done it again. The quality is crisp and clear. Highly recommend!

This review is for the Tillie's/Mabel DVD, NOT the Chaplin Marathon!

Historically important as the very first feature length comedy, it's also a pleasingly funny little show. Con man (25 year-old Charlie) sweet talks country gal (45 year-old Marie) into stealing her Papa's money and running away with him to the Big City-where he dumps Marie and goes back to his flame Normand. Meanwhile, Dressler has inherited a fortune.................. This little flick contains a hilarious tango scene at the wedding party and we get to see the Keystone Kops in the final scenes. A novel curiousity for which director Mack Sennett pulled out all the stops!

Sure,the sound is very,very annoying,but the picture quality is suprisingly good.The picture quality on the three short films is good,but the picture on Tillie's Puntured Romance is horrible. This is good for its price.Worth buying if you're too cheap to buy the Image DVDs.

First of all, this review is for the Laserlight dvd "Charlie Chaplin Marathon", which has different content from other dvds that this review may appear on.

What we have is is three readily available Chaplin short films, and the feature "Tillie's Punctured Romance".

The three short films, "The Immigrant", "The Rink", and "The Vagabond", are three of Chaplin's best from the Mutual Films period, 1916-1917. In this edition, the films are presented in copies from the Blackhawk collection, with the 1930's era Van Buren soundtracks added on. The picture quality is surprisingly good for a budget dvd, the soundtracks are as horrible as they have always been, and the films are not as restored as the copies on the Image "Chaplin Mutual Films" collection. This makes the dvd not a bad starting place for the Chaplin novice.

However, the copy of "Tillie's Punctured Romance" is a horror, a very bad print, missing many shots and scenes, with a narrator droning endlessly on to try and make sense of this choppy film. It is an abomination, and it saddens me to think that people might be buying this instead of the Image dvd of the film. The Image dvd is fully restored, and looks and sounds a good as possible.

The verdict - this disc may pass for someone who isn't that interested in Chaplin, but it is not for the discerning fan. There are many discs to recommend instead of it.