Easy Street (film)

Easy Street

Directed by	Charles Chaplin Edward Brewer (technical director)
Produced by	Henry P. Caulfield
Written by	Charles Chaplin Vincent Bryan Maverick Terrell
Starring	Charles Chaplin Edna Purviance Eric Campbell
Cinematography	Roland H. Totheroh George C. Zalibra
Editing by	Charles Chaplin
Distributed by	Mutual Film Corporation
Release date(s)	22 January 1917 (USA) February 5, 1917 (UK)
Running time	19 min USA, Germany 24 min (restored version)
Country	United States
Language	Silent film English intertitles

Easy Street is a 1917 short comedy film by Charlie Chaplin.

In the film, the police are failing to maintain law and order and so it is Chaplin, as the Little Tramp character, who steps forward (rather reluctantly) to rid the street of bullies, help the poor, save women from madmen and generally keep the peace.

1 Plot
2 Quote
3 Cast
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Plot

As the story begins, the Little Tramp is sleeping rough outside a mission near the streets of a lawless slum. He is reformed somewhat at a Mission where there is singing and religious education. His religious awakening inspired by a beautiful young woman who pleads for him to stay at the Mission.

Spotting a help wanted ad for a job at the police station, Chaplin hesitantly accepts and is assigned the rough-and-tumble Easy Street as his beat. Upon entering the street, he finds a bully, roughing up the locals and pilfering their money. Chaplin gets on the wrong side of this bully and following a chase the two eventually come to blows, culminating in Chaplin inventively using a gas lamp, to render the bully unconscious. The film continues with Chaplin aiding the people of Easy Street, rescuing a damsel in distress from the clutches of a sinister drug addict and putting the bully in his place once and for all.

Quote

Chaplin later reflected on his use of a policeman as an adversary. “If there is one human type more than any other that the whole wide world has it in for, it is the policeman type. Of course, the policeman isn’t really to blame for the public prejudice against his uniform — it’s just the natural human revulsion against any sort of authority — but just the same everybody loves to see the copper get it where the chicken got the axe.”^[1]

Cast

Charles Chaplin ... The Derelict
Edna Purviance ... The Mission Worker
Eric Campbell ... The Bully

Albert Austin ... Minister/Policeman (uncredited)
Lloyd Bacon ... Drug Addict (uncredited)
Henry Bergman ... Anarchist (uncredited)
Frank J. Coleman ... Policeman (uncredited)
William Gillespie ... Heroin addict (uncredited)
James T. Kelley ... Mission Visitor/Policeman (uncredited)
Charlotte Mineau ... Big Eric's Wife (uncredited)
John Rand ... Mission Tramp/Policeman (uncredited)
Janet Miller Sully ... Mother in Mission (uncredited)
Loyal Underwood ... Small Father/Policeman (uncredited)
Erich von Stroheim Jr. ... Baby (uncredited)
Leo White ... Policeman (uncredited)
Tom Wood ... Chief of Police (uncredited)

References

^ Robinson, David. Chaplin: His Life and Art. p. 43.

External links

v • d • e Films directed by Charlie Chaplin

Keystone Studios (1914)	Twenty Minutes of Love • Caught in the Rain • A Busy Day • Her Friend the Bandit • Mabel's Married Life • Laughing Gas • The Face on the Bar Room Floor • Recreation • The Masquerader • His New Profession • The Rounders • The Property Man • The New Janitor • Those Love Pangs • Dough and Dynamite • Gentlemen of Nerve • His Musical Career • His Trysting Place • Getting Acquainted • His Prehistoric Past

Essanay Studios (1915-1918)	His New Job • A Night Out • The Champion • In the Park • A Jitney Elopement • The Tramp • By the Sea • His Regeneration (uncredited) • Work • A Woman • The Bank • Shanghaied • A Night in the Show • Burlesque on Carmen • Police • Triple Trouble

Mutual Film Corp (1916-1917)	The Floorwalker • The Fireman • The Vagabond • One A.M. • The Count • The Pawnshop • Behind the Screen • The Rink • Easy Street • The Cure • The Immigrant • The Adventurer

First National (1918-1923)	A Dog's Life • The Bond • Shoulder Arms • Sunnyside • A Day's Pleasure • The Professor • The Kid • The Idle Class • Pay Day • The Pilgrim

United Artists (1923-1952)	A Woman of Paris • The Gold Rush • The Circus • City Lights • Modern Times • The Great Dictator • Monsieur Verdoux • Limelight

Later productions	A King in New York • The Chaplin Revue • A Countess from Hong Kong • The Freak

See also	Charlie Chaplin filmography • Roy Export Company Establishment

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