The Pawnshop (1916)
Chaplin's Mutual Comedies (1916-1917)
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26m
In the sixth Mutual film, Charlie is a pawnbroker's assistant in a pawnshop that evokes the London of Chaplin's childhood. The film is rich in comic transposition, a key element to Chaplin's genius. The apex of such work in the Mutuals is the celebrated scene in THE PAWNSHOP in which Charlie examines an alarm clock brought in by a customer (Albert Austin).
In his first film for Chaplin, Henry Bergman played the pawnbroker. Berman became an indispensable member of Chaplin's team, appearing in every subsequent film up to Modern Times and remaining on the Chaplin Studios payroll until his death in 1946.
Up Next in Chaplin's Mutual Comedies (1916-1917)
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Behind the Screen (1916)
A refinement of his earlier comedies set in a film studio, BEHIND THE SCREEN, Chaplin's seventh film for Mutual, lampoons the unmotivated slapstick of the kind Chaplin disliked when he worked for Mack Sennett. Chaplin made the film as a sort of parody of the knockabout, pie-throwing comedy of the...
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The Rink (1916)
Chaplin's eighth film for Mutual, THE RINK, is one of Chaplin's most popular comedies. Charlie is an inept waiter who prepares the bill of Mr. Stout by examining the soup, spaghetti, melon stains, and other remnants on the sloppy eater's shirt front, tie, and ear. Charlie employs an unorthodox ap...
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Easy Street (1917)
For EASY STREET, his ninth film for Mutual and the most famous of the twelve, Chaplin ordered the first of the T-shaped street sets to be built that he would consistently utilize to provide a perfect backdrop to his comedy. The look and feel of Easy Street evoke the South London of his childhood ...
