The Idle Class
The Idle Class | |
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Lobby card | |
Directed by | Charles Chaplin |
Produced by | Charles Chaplin |
Written by | Charles Chaplin |
Starring |
Charles Chaplin Edna Purviance Henry Bergman Mack Swain |
Music by | Johnnie von Haines (1969) |
Cinematography | Roland Totheroh |
Edited by | Charles Chaplin |
Production company | |
Distributed by |
First National Playhouse Home Video (1985) (USA) Key Video (1989) (USA) (VHS) Image Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD) Koch Vision (2000) (USA) (DVD) MK2 Diffusion (2001) (World-wide) (all media) Warner Home Video (2004, DVD) Continental Home VĂdeo (Brazil) (VHS) |
Release date |
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Running time | 32 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
The Idle Class is a 1921 American silent comedy film written and directed by Charlie Chaplin for First National Pictures.
Plot summary
The "Little Tramp" (Charlie Chaplin) heads to a resort for warm weather and a bit of golf. At the golf course, the Tramp's theft of balls in play causes one golfer (Mack Swain) to mistakenly attack another (John Rand). Meanwhile, a neglected wife (Edna Purviance) leaves her wealthy husband (also played by Chaplin) until he gives up drinking. When the Tramp is later mistaken for a pickpocket, he crashes a masquerade ball to escape from a policeman. There, he is mistaken for the woman's husband. Eventually, it is all straightened out, and the Tramp is once more on his way.
Review
Helen Rockwell of the New York Telegraph penned this review of The Idle Class: "Brevity is something else beside the soul of wit. It is sometimes a great relief and a rare treat. [This] is the case of Charles Chaplin's latest contribution to the silent drama, The Idle Class. The story was written and the picture was directed by Charlie himself, and instead of going for a five-reel affair, he has returned to his first short love. But what there is of The Idle Class is so good and so funny that one realizes how much better is it to be entertained by two reels than bored in five. Charlie is too clever to prolong an idea unless it is really worth it, and his latest picture is just long enough. Charlie assumes two roles [in the film] since everybody is doing it. He is seen as an absent-minded husband and as a tramp, and it is difficult to say in which guise he is more winning."
Cast
- Charles Chaplin as Tramp / Husband
- Edna Purviance as Neglected Wife
- Mack Swain as Her Father
- Henry Bergman as Sleeping Hobo / Guest in Cop Uniform
- Al Ernest Garcia as Cop in Park / Guest
- John Rand as Golfer / Guest
- Rex Storey as Pickpocket / Guest
- Mack Swain as Edna's Father
Lita Grey, Chaplin's future wife, played a guest.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Idle Class. |
- The Idle Class on IMDb
- The Idle Class at AllMovie
- The Idle Class is available for free download at the Internet Archive