By the Sea is a 1915 American silentcomedy filmCharlie Chaplin made while waiting for a studio to work in Los Angeles. He had just left Niles Essanay Studio after doing five films at that location. By the Sea was filmed all on location in Santa Monica on the beach near Ocean Park Pier and on Crystal Pier in April 1915. The story centers on Charlie's Little Tramp character and how he gets into trouble trying to grab the attention of women on the beach. Edna Purviance plays one of the wives in whom he shows interest. It is said to be the first film to incorporate the classic gag of a man slipping on a banana skin.
The film starts with a drunk being told to stay where he is by his wife. Charlie enters about thirty seconds into the film, eating a banana while wandering along the seashore on the Crystal Pier. He nonchalantly throws the banana peel away and quickly slips on it.
Shortly thereafter Charlie encounters the aforementioned drunk. Heavy wind blows off their hats and results in confusion as to whose hat is whose. Chaplin mixes up the drunk's white hat with his own bowler hat, and they fight and kick over the issue. They run to the beach, where they collide with each other, and the drunk seems to have won the fight when he grab Charlie by the neck.
However, Charlie makes a clever comeback by kicking the drunk over. Another fight ensues, where Charlie tears up his adversary's hat and another battle ensues. Charlie makes a hasty escape to a nearby pole holding a lifebelt, where he challenges the drunk. The man's drunkenness gets the better of him, and he barely manages to stand.
After a mini-fight, Charlie knocks him out. To appear less conspicuous, he pretends the man is his friend, ruffling up his hair and grinning at the passers-by, all the while punching him discreetly.
Just then, the wife of a dandy, played by Edna Purviance, passes Charlie and the drunk. She sees what Charlie has done to him. Charlie plays along, soon forgetting about Edna's husband and sitting on him multiple times. However, the knocked-out man could not take Charlie's weight, and eventually, gave way, making Charlie fall down and raising a few chuckles from Edna and a six-foot dandy.
The drunk recovers, and when he realising what Charlie had done to him, is understandably furious. The fight is on the brink of escalation when a policeman comes. However, in spite of his presence, the fight escalates, and a poorly-aimed punch by the drunk hits the policeman in the face, knocking him out.
Soon, they become weary of fighting and decide to be pals. They agree to have ice cream cones together. However, an argument ensues over which man will pay for them. Their battle restarts. They smear the ice cream over each other's face, and that soon blows over to a full-fledged fight again.
The dandy keeps chuckling and goes over closer to see the fight in detail. However, that, he soon realizes, was a false move, because the drunk, originally intending to throw his ice-cream (well, what was left of it, anyway!) at Charlie, aims poorly, and thus, throws his cone over the six-foot dandy.
A second battle begins but Charlie slips away and starts flirting with the dandy's wife. The dandy recognizes Charlie when he comes back, however, and, his blood boiling, sits down on the bench. Charlie hurriedly scuttles away - towards his drunk adversary, where he was fighting the policeman. However, the drunk recognizes him, and runs after him.
Charlie sits himself on a bench on the beach where the drunk's wife from the first scene is waiting. He is soon surrounded by his enemies: the drunk who wants to continue the fight, the angry dandy, and the dandy's wife. Thinking fast, Charlie cleverly tips the bench backwards, toppling everyone and allowing himself to hastily escape.
Location
The movie was the first of Chaplin's Essanay films to be shot in southern California. At Chaplin's insistence, all his remaining Essanay films were made there in the rented Majestic Studios. Chaplin had found the facilities at the Essanay Studios in Niles, California to be unsatisfactory.
Specifically, the film shot on location at:
1 Westminster Avenue, Venice Beach (Scene where Chaplin gets his hat tangled up with a man passing by). [1]
Beach adjacent to the north side of Abbott Kinney Pier, Venice Beach (The tangled hat man starts choking Chaplin).[2]
Palisades Park opposite Arizona Avenue in Santa Monica (Chaplin flirts with the woman sitting on the bench).[3]
In front of 14 Horizon Avenue, Venice Beach (Encounter with a cop).[4]
A reviewer from the British film periodical Bioscope wrote, "More irresistible absurdities by the inimitable Charles, with the broad Pacific Ocean as a background. Chaplin's humor needs neither description nor recommendation."
Essanay Studios, officially the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company, was an early American motion picture studio. The studio was founded in 1907 in Chicago by George Kirke Spoor and Gilbert M. Anderson, originally as the Peerless Film Manufacturing Company, then as Essanay on August 10, 1907. Essanay is probably best known today for its series of Charlie Chaplin comedies produced in 1915-1916. In late 1916, it merged distribution with other studios and stopped issuing films in the fall of 1918. According to film historian Steve Massa, Essanay is one of the important early studios, with comedies as a particular strength. Founders Spoor and Anderson were subsequently awarded special Academy Awards for pioneering contributions to film.
OlgaEdna Purviance was an American actress of the silent film era. She was the leading lady in many of Charlie Chaplin's early films and in a span of eight years, she appeared in over 30 films with him.
Behind the Screen is a 1916 American silent short comedy film written by, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin, and also starring Eric Campbell and Edna Purviance. The film is in the public domain.
A Night in the Show was Charlie Chaplin's 12th film for Essanay. It was made at Majestic Studio in Los Angeles in the fall of 1915. Chaplin played two roles: one as Mr. Pest and one as Mr. Rowdy. The film was created from Chaplin's stage work from a play called Mumming Birds with the Karno Company from London. Chaplin performed this play during his U.S. tours with Fred Karno company and decided to bring some of this play to his film work. Edna Purviance played a minor role as a lady in the audience.
The Pawnshop is Charlie Chaplin's sixth film for Mutual Film Corporation. Released on October 2, 1916, it stars Chaplin in the role of assistant to the pawnshop owner, played by Henry Bergman. Edna Purviance plays the owner's daughter, while Albert Austin appears as an alarm clock owner who watches Chaplin in dismay as he dismantles the clock; the massive Eric Campbell's character attempts to rob the shop.
A Woman was Charlie Chaplin's ninth film for Essanay Films. It was made in Los Angeles at the Majestic Studio and released in 1915.
A Jitney Elopement was Charlie Chaplin's fifth film for Essanay Films. It starred Chaplin and Edna Purviance as lovers, with Purviance wanting Chaplin to take her away from an arranged marriage her father had planned for her. Chaplin does take her away in a jitney, a type of share taxi popular in the US between 1914 and 1916. Most of the film was made in San Francisco and includes scenes of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park and the large windmills still on the park's west side.
The Tramp is the sixth film directed by Charlie Chaplin for Essanay Studios, released in 1915. It was Chaplin's fifth and final film produced at Essanay's Niles, California studio. The Tramp marked the emergence of The Tramp character, a role Chaplin had played in earlier films but with a more emotional depth, showing a caring side towards others. The film also stars Edna Purviance as the farmer's daughter and Ernest Van Pelt as Edna's father. The outdoor scenes were filmed on location near Niles.
Police is Charlie Chaplin's 14th film with Essanay Studios and was released in 1916. It was made at the Majestic Studio in Los Angeles. Charlie plays an ex-convict who finds life on the outside not to his liking and leads him to breaking into a home with another thief. Edna Purviance plays the girl living in the home who tries to change him.
A Day's Pleasure (1919) is Charlie Chaplin's fourth film for First National Films. It was created at the Chaplin Studio. It was a quickly made two-reeler to help fill a gap while working on his first feature The Kid. It is about a day outing with his wife and the kids and things do not go smoothly. Edna Purviance plays Chaplin's wife and Jackie Coogan one of the kids. The first scene shows the Chaplin Studio corner office in the background while Chaplin tries to get his car started.
The Rink, a silent film from 1916, was Charlie Chaplin's eighth film for Mutual Films. The film co-starred Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell, Henry Bergman, and Albert Austin, and is best known for showcasing Chaplin's roller skating skills. Chaplin's obvious skill on roller skates surprised many of his fans, but Charlie was an experienced performer. As a touring vaudevillian with Fred Karno's pantomime troupe, Chaplin appeared in a roller-skating skit in which he displayed a talent for comedic falls—and the ability to cause other skaters to topple.
A Burlesque on Carmen is Charlie Chaplin's thirteenth film for Essanay Studios, originally released as Carmen on December 18, 1915. Chaplin played the leading man and Edna Purviance played Carmen. The film is a parody of Cecil B. DeMille's Carmen 1915, which was itself an interpretation of the popular novella Carmen by Prosper Mérimée.
In the Park is Charlie Chaplin's fourth film released in 1915 by Essanay Films. It was his third film while at the Niles Essanay Studio. It was one of several films Charlie Chaplin created in a park setting at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The film co-starred Edna Purviance, Leo White, Lloyd Bacon, and Bud Jamison.
The Bank is a silent slapstick comedy. It was Charlie Chaplin's tenth film for Essanay Films.
Triple Trouble is a two-reel American silent comedy film that was released in 1918. It stars Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, and Leo White. This film was not an official Chaplin film, even though it has many Chaplin-directed scenes; after he left the studio, Essanay edited it together using outtakes and newly shot footage directed by White. It had already been established in court that Chaplin had no legal control over the films made during his time with Essanay and could not prevent its release. In his 1967 autobiography, Chaplin included "Triple Trouble" in his filmography.
Work is a 1915 American silent film starring Charlie Chaplin, and co-starring Edna Purviance, Marta Golden and Charles Inslee. It was filmed at the Majestic Studio in Los Angeles.
A Night Out is a 1915 Charlie Chaplin comedy short. It was Chaplin's first film with Edna Purviance, who would continue as his leading lady for the following eight years. It was also Chaplin's first film with Essanay Film Company in Niles, California. Chaplin's first Essanay film, His New Job, was made in the Chicago studio, after which he moved to Niles Studios. He found Purviance in San Francisco when he was searching for a leading lady for his films. A Night Out also stars Ben Turpin, Leo White and Bud Jamison.
The Adventurer is an American short comedy film made in 1917 written and directed by Charlie Chaplin, and is the last of the twelve films made under contract for the Mutual Film Corporation.
The Champion is a 1915 American silent comedy film released by Essanay Studios, starring Charlie Chaplin alongside Edna Purviance and Leo White. Essanay co-owner and star, Broncho Billy Anderson can be seen as an enthusiastic audience member in the boxing match scene.
Shanghaied is a 1915 American comedy silent film made by Essanay Studios starring Charlie Chaplin.
↑ Bengtson, John (2006). Silent Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Charlie Chaplin (1sted.). Santa Monica, California: Santa Monica Press. pp.83–85. ISBN978-1595800145.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
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