This is an early silent short by Charlie Chaplin. There will be spoilers ahead:
This short, which celebrates its centennial this year, is a star vehicle for Charlie Chaplin, who plays two roles in this-first, a Mr. Pest, a "gentleman" in evening clothes and, second, a Mr. Rowdy, a less refined fellow sitting in the "cheap seats" up high. Both of them are well fortified against cold weather, though Mr. Rowdy is more obviously so, so much that his entry into the short shows him very nearly walking out of the balcony (something he comes close to doing several times.
It is Mr. Pest, however, who gets the most to do here. At first, it seems possible that Mr. Pest will be upstaged by the odd people populating the theater, with Mr. Pest merely reacting to the people around him, with the occasional rude bit of business on his part. The gags are fairly standard here. Mr. Pest having to move in and out of rows to change seats several times. The funniest of these comes when a woman sitting next to him glances in his direction with a "we are not amused" expression which would stop Big Ben in mid-chime! Chaplin's reaction is priceless! Pest then begins to cause all sorts of problems for the musicians seated directly in front of him, before getting struck repeatedly by accident and starting a fight. At one point, he briefly exits the theater forcefully enough to knock a woman into a fountain and a bit centers around the two which is fairly funny and indicative of Pest's "character". Pest reenters the theater are takes up different seats for different reasons, culminating in various gags, the majority of them old standards.
Ultimately, he winds up next to the stage, where he proceeds to run through a variety of seat mates, all of whom set up some bit of business, until the show on the stage begins. The "acts" are all bad, though some are truly awful. Mr. Pest and Mr. Rowdy both have their own responses to the "entertainment" being staged before their bleary eyes and they are more appreciated by the audience than the performers on the stage are. Mr. Pest lights his cigar on the snake charmer's cigarette, to her annoyance and then strikes a match on her foot. There are two "singers" who receive annoyed stares from Mr. Pest and thrown produce and pastries from Mr. Rowdy. The shorter one emerges more or less unscathed and continues to "sing" even after his partner departs until Mr. Pest applies the coup de grace.
Mr. Rowdy has the final triumph, during the fire-eater's act and the ending is excellent.
This short is included as an extra on the Criterion Blu Ray release of Limelight. It's been painstakingly restored and looks beautiful. It looks almost new and is well worth watching. Recommended.
This short, which celebrates its centennial this year, is a star vehicle for Charlie Chaplin, who plays two roles in this-first, a Mr. Pest, a "gentleman" in evening clothes and, second, a Mr. Rowdy, a less refined fellow sitting in the "cheap seats" up high. Both of them are well fortified against cold weather, though Mr. Rowdy is more obviously so, so much that his entry into the short shows him very nearly walking out of the balcony (something he comes close to doing several times.
It is Mr. Pest, however, who gets the most to do here. At first, it seems possible that Mr. Pest will be upstaged by the odd people populating the theater, with Mr. Pest merely reacting to the people around him, with the occasional rude bit of business on his part. The gags are fairly standard here. Mr. Pest having to move in and out of rows to change seats several times. The funniest of these comes when a woman sitting next to him glances in his direction with a "we are not amused" expression which would stop Big Ben in mid-chime! Chaplin's reaction is priceless! Pest then begins to cause all sorts of problems for the musicians seated directly in front of him, before getting struck repeatedly by accident and starting a fight. At one point, he briefly exits the theater forcefully enough to knock a woman into a fountain and a bit centers around the two which is fairly funny and indicative of Pest's "character". Pest reenters the theater are takes up different seats for different reasons, culminating in various gags, the majority of them old standards.
Ultimately, he winds up next to the stage, where he proceeds to run through a variety of seat mates, all of whom set up some bit of business, until the show on the stage begins. The "acts" are all bad, though some are truly awful. Mr. Pest and Mr. Rowdy both have their own responses to the "entertainment" being staged before their bleary eyes and they are more appreciated by the audience than the performers on the stage are. Mr. Pest lights his cigar on the snake charmer's cigarette, to her annoyance and then strikes a match on her foot. There are two "singers" who receive annoyed stares from Mr. Pest and thrown produce and pastries from Mr. Rowdy. The shorter one emerges more or less unscathed and continues to "sing" even after his partner departs until Mr. Pest applies the coup de grace.
Mr. Rowdy has the final triumph, during the fire-eater's act and the ending is excellent.
This short is included as an extra on the Criterion Blu Ray release of Limelight. It's been painstakingly restored and looks beautiful. It looks almost new and is well worth watching. Recommended.