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quadraphonicfreak
Reviews
The Immigrant (1917)
There is one blooper in the film!
Although there is no mistaking this film is a masterpiece, there is quite a severe flaw in the film that I am surprised Chaplin himself did not notice when he was editing it, nor has anyone else for that matter! The big blunder is when Eric Campbell (the waiter) can not seem to make Chaplin understand in English he must remove his hat time and time again. And that would be understandable if you were an immigrant who did not speak English. However, after the customer who was 10 cents short was beat the crap out of, Chaplin asks the other waiter what the problem was and he understands instantly and then translates to Edna Purviance in whatever their supposed native language was! Had they removed the hat sequence from the restaurant scenes the entire sequence
'would have been believable aboard the ship too, where apparently he also responded to English commands from an officer when being accused of stealing and so did Edna! They also seemed to have had a full command of the English language with the artist (Henry Bergman) at the end of the film too! But only in the restaurant does Chaplin seem to forget he does not speak any English, hence the trouble understanding Eric Campbell! Had Chaplin simply cut the hat sequence in the restaurant the entire film would have been perfection. I can not believe no one has ever noticed this major blunder in the film over one simple misplaced gag!
The Bakery (1921)
One of the best slapstick comedies!
Other than Oliver Hardy playing the same type of villain as Eric Campbell, I see nothing else that resembles Chaplin in the least. Chaplin was never as physical in his comedy as Semon was. "The Bakery" is thin on plot like most all of his films but if you're looking to laugh a plot does not seem that necessary. And laugh you will as this film has some of the best sight gags ever put on film. The mouse sequence is one of the funniest in the film, as well as the owner falling into a vat of dough one story below. The teetering ladder across a fence into the motorway just missing large oncoming trucks is pure genius! This film really is one of the best from Semon then at the height of his career with Vitagraph. While Chaplin would often milk a single gag to unbearably long lengths in many of his films, Semon would move quickly through all his usual gags. The 1921 review of this film claimed it brought the house down at the Rialto during its premier...it's easy even today to see why. If you're a Larry Semon fan you may also want to check out "The Show" from 1922 or "School days" from 1920, which were also released from Vitagraph.