Charlie Chaplin as a police officer - if ever there was an inherently contradictory twist of character in cinematic history, there was one. How could Chaplin, who so frequently took a stand against the tyranny and ineffectiveness of authority figures ever cast his sweetly bumbling Tramp character in the role of one of the most present and disliked authority figures of the film's time with anything less than hilariously twisted results? It was certainly enough of a hook to guarantee promise for Easy Street, one of the many two-reeler films Chaplin created for the Mutual Film Company, but, ever the innovator, Chaplin refused to let the film coast by on its comedic concept, and instead infused enough socially conscious undertones to his film to make it a remarkably compelling and complex piece of work as well as being enormously funny.
Despite the deceptively simplistic storyline, Chaplin manages to work an astonishing amount of subject matter and thematic content into a mere 22 minutes which could have been taken up by a simple serious of extended gags. While the wild fight scenes (astonishingly choreographed even by contemporary standards and alarmingly vicious for their time) and silly slapstick and sight gags suggest a typically flippant throwaway comedy (and Easy Street easily excels as such), the film lurking beneath the jovial exteriors is one of stark, devastating realism. The ironically named Easy Street proves a desolate, broken down block serving as a microcosm for the state of societal poverty, and Chaplin's depiction hardly shirks around the more unsettling elements, cheery comedy or not. From the rampant, incessant violence to the shockingly graphic depiction of drug abuse (squeezed by a more lenient age of censorship), both played mainly for laughs but with substantially dark undertones, the film paints a surprisingly despairing portrait only by its images and miraculously without ever jeopardising the comedy of the overall work.
By casting his now firmly established Tramp character (here called 'A Derelict') as an unwitting policeman, Chaplin mocks authority in the spirit of his previous benefactor Mack Sennett and his infamously blundering "Keystone Cops". However, Chaplin proves more underhandedly sympathetic, suggesting the genuine plight of an organization of law enforcement so desperate that it would take the Tramp's unassuming good will and accidental good fortune to become the soul voice of reason and ultimately save the day. However, most poignantly, even when the film's primary antagonist has been defeated, the conflict is not resolved, as all of the townspeople the Tramp has saved turn on him. Despite the film's more standard sentimental ending (potentially ironically so) such dark allusions suggest that the conflict is never-ending, and brief moments of hope are only fleeting - such complexity melded into a potentially paper thin project mark Chaplin for the cinematic genius he was quickly on the way to developing into.
It goes without saying that Chaplin's effortless performance as his timeless Tramp figure is easily the comedic highlight and heart of the show, capturing the audience's hearts from the first sight of him asleep huddled in a corner to every mirthful bodily twitch to wildly hilarious contortion. But Chaplin's exceptional work is not the sole performance worth noting, as his frequent co-star Edna Purviance proves as luminous and winsome as ever as a religious mission worker who captures the Tramp's heart, and character actor Eric Campbell is a truly foreboding presence despite his far over-exaggerated eyebrows as the near indestructible "bully" tearing a violent streak through the suffering town.
The striking social critique lying beneath the irreverent surfaces easily make Easy Street one of Chaplin's most satisfying as well as inventively hysterical early efforts. Seldom is such humour, pathos and complexity melded so effortlessly into one concise 22 minute package, making Easy Street a perfect candidate for those looking to discover or cherish more of the timelessly endearing spirit of Chaplin.
-9/10
Despite the deceptively simplistic storyline, Chaplin manages to work an astonishing amount of subject matter and thematic content into a mere 22 minutes which could have been taken up by a simple serious of extended gags. While the wild fight scenes (astonishingly choreographed even by contemporary standards and alarmingly vicious for their time) and silly slapstick and sight gags suggest a typically flippant throwaway comedy (and Easy Street easily excels as such), the film lurking beneath the jovial exteriors is one of stark, devastating realism. The ironically named Easy Street proves a desolate, broken down block serving as a microcosm for the state of societal poverty, and Chaplin's depiction hardly shirks around the more unsettling elements, cheery comedy or not. From the rampant, incessant violence to the shockingly graphic depiction of drug abuse (squeezed by a more lenient age of censorship), both played mainly for laughs but with substantially dark undertones, the film paints a surprisingly despairing portrait only by its images and miraculously without ever jeopardising the comedy of the overall work.
By casting his now firmly established Tramp character (here called 'A Derelict') as an unwitting policeman, Chaplin mocks authority in the spirit of his previous benefactor Mack Sennett and his infamously blundering "Keystone Cops". However, Chaplin proves more underhandedly sympathetic, suggesting the genuine plight of an organization of law enforcement so desperate that it would take the Tramp's unassuming good will and accidental good fortune to become the soul voice of reason and ultimately save the day. However, most poignantly, even when the film's primary antagonist has been defeated, the conflict is not resolved, as all of the townspeople the Tramp has saved turn on him. Despite the film's more standard sentimental ending (potentially ironically so) such dark allusions suggest that the conflict is never-ending, and brief moments of hope are only fleeting - such complexity melded into a potentially paper thin project mark Chaplin for the cinematic genius he was quickly on the way to developing into.
It goes without saying that Chaplin's effortless performance as his timeless Tramp figure is easily the comedic highlight and heart of the show, capturing the audience's hearts from the first sight of him asleep huddled in a corner to every mirthful bodily twitch to wildly hilarious contortion. But Chaplin's exceptional work is not the sole performance worth noting, as his frequent co-star Edna Purviance proves as luminous and winsome as ever as a religious mission worker who captures the Tramp's heart, and character actor Eric Campbell is a truly foreboding presence despite his far over-exaggerated eyebrows as the near indestructible "bully" tearing a violent streak through the suffering town.
The striking social critique lying beneath the irreverent surfaces easily make Easy Street one of Chaplin's most satisfying as well as inventively hysterical early efforts. Seldom is such humour, pathos and complexity melded so effortlessly into one concise 22 minute package, making Easy Street a perfect candidate for those looking to discover or cherish more of the timelessly endearing spirit of Chaplin.
-9/10