My father is a huge Charlie Chaplin fan and has most of his movies, but what he loved the most were his shorts. I was wondering if you guys know where can I buy (if possible) or download (if no official release is available) all of the shorts he ever did.
For his Keystones, pretty much all the "collections" are of near-unwatchable quality. A few properly made silent comedy sets contain great prints, but really just in Slapstick Encyclopedia (from Image). However, there is a massive restoration effort going on at the British Film Institute to restore all of Chaplin's Keystone shorts (except for the sole lost one).
The Essanay shorts have three terrific volumes from Image. DON'T get the 7-disc set with Mutuals and Essanays...
The Mutuals are going to be re-released soon in a new 4-disc set that has brand new remasters and orchestral scores. The current DVD's have too much video noise and very bad snythesizer music.
Here's the three Essanay volumes (cheapest on Overstock.com): http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?cid=54554&PAGE=PRODUCT&PROD_ID=473319&fp=F&siteID=GYlB7G134v4-dFsZ5kGdShspfHuIVvvBAA&cid=60488&fp=F http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?cid=54554&PAGE=PRODUCT&PROD_ID=232114&fp=F&siteID=GYlB7G134v4-wXYX4nA0qJxEEVu8yjwg1Q&cid=60488&fp=F http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?cid=54554&PAGE=PRODUCT&PROD_ID=510124&fp=F&siteID=GYlB7G134v4-ozw314hsdh1At7QK20ThTw&cid=60488&fp=F
The new Mutual set (cheapest on DeepDiscountDVD): http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemid=IMA002477&promotion=y "I was a perfect idiot to listen to you!" "Listen here, there ain't nothing in this world that's perfect!"
Thanks a lot for the information . Do the Essanay, Keystone and Mutual collections contain all of his shorts? And what is this "sole lost episode" you mentioned? Can it be bought or downloaded from somewhere?
So the forthcoming 4-disc re-release of the Mutual set would make the 2-disc one from deepdiscountDVD obsolete, right? Any word on it, specifically if I can buy it from Amazon? What about the BFI's Keystone restorations, have they been release as well and can I buy them from Amazon? One more thing, these:
Well, the Mutuals set you want is the 90th anniversary edition with scores by Carl Davis.
The lost Keystone is definately lost... however, the British Film Institute is restoring all the surviving Keystones, so maybe they'll uncover it somewhere. Unlikely, though. "I was a perfect idiot to listen to you!" "Listen here, there ain't nothing in this world that's perfect!"
So the Mutuals 90th anniversary edition with scores by Carl Davis are the 4-disc set you recommended? That doesn't appear on Amazon, hopefully it will soon. About the lost keystone short, is at least its name known? I'd like to scour the web for it...
P.S: are the Essanays on the Amazon links I posted the same as the ones from Overstock you linked me to?
The infamous "lost" Chaplin Keystone short is entitled: "Her Friend The Bandit". It apparently has been lost for many decades now and has yet to be unearthed. Perhaps the BFI will luck out and find a copy during the restoration of Chaplin's 34 surviving Keystone films (all shorts plus the feature "Tillie's Punctured Romance"), but I seriously doubt it.
Glad to see there's another burgeoning Chaplin fan on this site besides me. I recommend the 3-disc Essanay collection from Image Entertainment, and the multi-disc "white" sets by mK2 (which have "The Gold Rush", etc.). I'm looking forward to the restored Mutual sets as well.
Many thanks for the name of the lost short, hopefully I'll manage to find it on the net . As for the Essanay releases you recommend me, could you confirm wether OgOggilby's recommendation, what I found in Amazon and what you recommend are the same ones?
Originally posted by: Byakko So the Mutuals 90th anniversary edition with scores by Carl Davis are the 4-disc set you recommended? That doesn't appear on Amazon, hopefully it will soon. About the lost keystone short, is at least its name known? I'd like to scour the web for it...
P.S: are the Essanays on the Amazon links I posted the same as the ones from Overstock you linked me to?
Yes, get the version with Carl Davis scores. The Essanay links are identical to what I posted earlier.
Please avoid the Platinum discs unless you have money to throw away. The quality is often horrible.
I said it before, but if you want the MK2 special editions, order the PAL R2 versions from England. The R1 Warner versions suffer from really bad ghosting due to improper conversion from PAL to NTSC. "I was a perfect idiot to listen to you!" "Listen here, there ain't nothing in this world that's perfect!"
Ok, so I'll buy the Essanays from Amazon soon and wait for the BFI's Keystones and the 4-disc Mutuals 90th anniversary edition with scores by Carl Davis. Thanks for all the information guys, I really appreciate it .
OgOggilby, my father and I recently finished watching Vol1 of the Essanay shorts and we are very disappointed. What we wanted was the shorts that usually aired on TV, which lasted about 15mins (20 at most) each and were pretty much filled with hilarious moments and gags. This Vol1 of the Essanay sets is in my honest opinion an extremely boring and dull collection of ~30min reduced-length movies with very few funny moments. I assume all of the Essanay shorts will be like this, do you think the Mutual and/or Keystone ones might be the ones my father and I are looking for?
P.S: I do admit that the transfer is of exceptional quality though: the picture is amazingly clear and only very fast scenes and certain parts where it seems like some sections were cut (couldn't be restored, I guess) hint at this being made from a very old source.
I think the Mutuals are much, much better films. Even Chaplin believed that his year working on the Mutual dozen was the happiest time of his life. "I was a perfect idiot to listen to you!" "Listen here, there ain't nothing in this world that's perfect!"
Aren't all of his movies in the pubic domain now? And I have a DVD with the following I'd be willing to rip and post online somwhere if it would help any: The Rink, The Immigrant, The Vagabond (all 20 mins) and Tillie's Punctured Romance (73 mins).
I don't think they are, and even if they were these dedicated remasters and restorations are well worth the price if you have any appreciation at all for Chaplin's work.
OgOggilby, you were definitely right about the Mutuals being much better. I downloaded "The Floorwalker" to see if it would be worth to buy the DVD and my father and I laughed a lot for most of its 24mins duration. We are definitely going to buy the whole set. Thanks a million for the recommendation .
. Do the Essanay, Keystone and Mutual collections contain all of his shorts? And what is this "sole lost episode" you mentioned? Can it be bought or downloaded from somewhere? 
