Watch The Fireman For Free

Wonderful character development!

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Monday September 10, 7:00 pm, The Paramount Theater, SeattleReferring to Chaplin's Mutual films and The Fireman, in his book American Silent Film, William K. Everson explains, "The weakest of them, the purely slapstick entries, such as The Fireman, are still superior to the best of the Keystones and Essanays; and the best of them (The Immigrant, Easy Street, The Rink) could stand with his best work from any period." The Fireman relies entirely upon the physical brutality found in those earlier films for much of its humor. Charlie suffers the indignities of his fellow firemen and flirts with the chief's (Eric Campbell) sweetheart (Edna Purviance). She visits the station with her father who tells the chief, "Let my house burn. I'll get the insurance and you can wed my daughter." Of course, it goes wrong, there is "An honest fire," and Charlie rescues Edna from her burning house while the other firemen are occupied in truest Keystone fashion.

Charlie is a fireman in Eric Campbell's brigade. In the beginning, he oversleeps the alarm bells and therefor is kicked in the ass about a dozen times... I don't know why, but that still cracks me up.Later on a man is bribing the foreman (with his daughter!) to let his house burn, because he can use the insurance money. But when his place is lit, his own daughter is still in the house! Leave it up to Charlie to save her.Watch out for the scene where Charlie climbs the house to actually rescue the girl... amazing stuff.On the whole: pretty good Chaplin classic, not among the very best, but still loads of fun. 7/10.

"The Firemen," the second of Chaplin's golden dozen of comedies for the Mutual Company, is probably my least favorite of the bunch. It is a typical occupational comedy, where a comedian is placed in a certain job and wrings the comic potential from the various tools of the trade. It's not a terrible film by any stretch of the imagination. There certainly are laughs, and Chaplin does milk some simple gags, like the incessant butt-kicking, a little more successfully than he did at Keystone or Essanay. (For example, in a Keystone comedy, if someone bent over, someone else would automatically kick them in the butt. Here, if you bend over you will still get kicked, but Chaplin makes a little more of it. He will consider the butt, address it as it were, before he makes his kick. It is a small step to be sure, but every step is important.) Chaplin also attempts stretch a little technically with some backward motion gags, but they are obvious and not very funny. Overall, the film suffers because it does not reach the standard Chaplin would set for himself with his later efforts.

There's not very much to the simple short comedy "The Fireman" besides the kind of knockabout slapstick that might have been getting a little old even in 1916, but at least in Chaplin's hands it is watchable and it has some good moments. It moves quickly and gets pretty manic at times, and if there had been a little more depth or creativity, it could have been pretty good.The setting offers many props and story possibilities. A few times these are worked into the action in creative ways, but more often, the movie relies on the same type of humor repeated over and over again. When it comes to comedy ideas such as falling down, kicking someone, and the like, Chaplin is better than almost anyone else of his era in carrying off the gag, but in this case the movie just relies on such things too heavily, instead of working in some more imaginative material.The cast includes some Chaplin regulars, most notably Eric Campbell and Edna Purviance, who are always worth seeing. And there are the kernels of some good ideas, as well as some stretches when the slapstick is funny. So it had the makings of a very good comedy - but as it is, it's OK but below average for Chaplin.