THE IMMIGRANT, released 100 years ago today

The release date for The Immigrant is often given as June 17th, 1917 but trade publications & newspapers from the era say the 18th. Michael Hayde's recent book on the Mutuals, Chaplin's Vintage Year, also says the 18th, so that's the date I'm going with.

This was Chaplin's second to last film for the Mutual Film Corporation. The day before its release, he signed his first million-dollar contract with First National.

The rocking of the boat for the opening scenes was achieved by attaching a pendulum to the tripod head of the camera.

There is a very similar scene between Bugs Bunny and Christopher Columbus in the 1951 cartoon Hare We Go.
  Chaplin built the dining hall set on rockers so it would tilt back and forth.
These boat rocking tricks had previously been used in Shanghaied (1915)

Charlie sees Edna for the first time when she enters the dining room.

The gun-through-the-leg gag was recycled from The New Janitor (1914).

The immigrants see the Statue Of Liberty for the first time.

The part of the waiter was originally played by Henry Bergman but Chaplin didn't feel he was menacing enough so he replaced him with Eric Campbell and his diabolic eyebrows. 

The story goes that Chaplin did so many takes of Edna eating beans that she became ill.
According to Grace Kingsley, Edna told him: "It’s no use Charlie. I simply can’t swallow another one.'
‘Great Scott!’ retorted Charlie, ‘how am I going to get my gagging over, then?’
‘I give it up,’ replied Edna. ‘If you’d been gagging as much as I have for the past five hours you wouldn’t want to gag any more!’" (L.A. Times, May 20th, 1917)

Chaplin wrote in My Life In Pictures (1974):
"The Immigrant touched me more than any film I've made. I thought the ending had quite a poetic feeling"

Between takes on the set of THE ADVENTURER, 1917

Other familiar faces include Albert Austin (far right) and Rollie Totheroh (behind the camera). The man on the left looks like someone I should know as well. Fred Goodwins?

EASY STREET

Chaplin's ninth film for Mutual was released February 5th, 1917. The release of the film was delayed for two weeks due to rain, as well as an accident in which Chaplin received several stitches. More about this below.

Plot: Reformed Charlie becomes a policeman and his beat is Easy Street, the toughest street in town.

The film opens with Charlie asleep on the ground outside of the Hope Mission.

According to the Washington Times (Feb. 11, 1917), during the filming of this scene the baby, attracted to Chaplin's mustache, suddenly reached up and tore it off his lip ("and also part of said lip.") In order to go on with filming, Chaplin had to return to his dressing room to apply a replacement. Meanwhile, "the baby held tightly to its new possession and even went to the extent of insisting in a way all its own to taking it home. Here its mother finally secured it and she realized it was a souvenir well worth keeping. That evening she recounted the experience to her husband and showed him the prize." To make a long story short, the "prize" ended up being auctioned off at a charity bazaar for $110.

Charlie is enamored with Edna, the mission's organist.

"Chaplin at first proposed to take the part of the missionary in order that his affair with the beautiful Edna might have a better chance to fructify, but decided that it would be undignified for a clergyman to descend from the pulpit and beat up the irascible [Eric] Campbell." (Reel Life, 1917)

Crew member Dave Allen recalled that "when Charlie wanted anything, he'd yell for it, and the person nearest it would grab it and give it to him. When Charlie started yelling 'Truncheon! Truncheon!' I thought he was calling 'Luncheon' and sent the extras off to eat--it seems in London the cops call a nightstick a truncheon." When Chaplin heard of the mistake, he burst into laughter. (Harry Crocker manuscript via Charlie Chaplin Archives, Taschen 2015)

Filming was delayed when Chaplin injured himself while filming this scene with Eric Campbell: "I pulled a lamp post over on myself,” he explained. “It was necessary to take several stitches and I lost a good deal of blood--I didn’t know I had so much blood. We kept the scene, too. It makes one of those serious little touches, you know.” (The Day Book, Feb. 9, 1917)

Regarding this scene, Chaplin told Sergei Eisenstein in 1930: "You remember the scene in Easy Street where I scatter food from a box to poor children as if they were chickens? You see, I did this because I despise them. I don't like children." (Eisenstein, Notes Of A Film Director, 1959) 

Charlie accidently sits on a hypodermic needle which gives him the superhuman strength to beat up the Easy Street bullies. 

...and save the day.

BEHIND THE SCREEN, released this week in 1916

Goliath, the stage hand, and his assistant, David.

Charlie manages to carry a dozen chairs and a piano at once.

"Stage hands lunch hour." Charlie uses bellows to shield himself from Albert Austin's smelly onions.

Charlie discovers the new stage hand is really a girl (Edna).

He promises to keep her secret.

When Eric sees Charlie kissing the new stage hand, he makes fun
of him by doing an effeminate dance. These blatant references to homosexuality were very
risqué at the time. 

"The comedy department rehearses a new idea"--a pie fight.

After a fight with Charlie, Eric falls into the trap door that has been rigged with explosives
by the striking stage hands. 

Charlie and Edna congratulate each other on their escape. 

Fred Karno Company

Possibly aboard the Cairnrona in 1910--Chaplin's first trip to America.

L-R: Fred Karno, Jr., Chaplin, Arthur Dando, ??, Albert Austin, and Stan Laurel.

Chaplin poses with some cast members from The Immigrant

The only other person from the main cast that I can positively I.D. is Albert Austin who is on Chaplin's left.

Chaplin & company on location with Shoulder Arms, 1918

Albert Austin is at far left. Henry Bergman is talking to Syd Chaplin (with mustache). Studio manager Alf Reeves is in the center (wearing a straw hat), Charlie is seated in front. Cameraman Rollie Totheroh, wearing a visor, is next to the camera. 

Charlie (far left) with Fred Karno’s London Comedians, Spokane, WA, c. 1910

 Albert Austin is standing at far right.

With writer, Elmer Ellsworth, c. 1921

Clockwise from top: Albert Austin, Chuck Riesner (in costume for The Kid), Charlie, & Ellsworth.

Chaplin was introduced to his "sarcastic friend" Ellsworth by Ford Sterling during his early days at Keystone. In My Autobiography, he admitted that he disliked him at first and thought him to be "crass." He would taunt Charlie and ask him, "Well, are you funny?' After one such comment, Charlie replied, "Well, if I'm half as funny as you look, I'll do all right."
Weeks later Charlie ran into Elmer on the street. "'Say, listen,' said he, 'I've been seeing your pictures lately, and, by God, you're good! You have a quality entirely different from all the rest. And I'm not kidding. You're funny! Why the hell didn't you say so in the first place?' Of course, we became good friends after that."

Ellsworth worked for Chaplin for a brief time but their friendship came to an abrupt end when Charlie gave Ellsworth $300,000 to hold until his divorce from Mildred Harris was final. He immediately regretted the decision and worried that Ellsworth would not return the money. But instead of confronting him (direct confrontations were not Charlie's strong suit), he snubbed him instead. The story goes that when the time came for Ellsworth to give the money back, he produced a check for $290,000 claiming Charlie had promised him a bonus of $10,000 if he carried out the mission. This so infuriated Charlie that he fired Ellsworth and didn't speak to him for two years.

America, I am coming to conquer you!

 On the boat to America with the Fred Karno Company, 1910:

Back row L-R: Albert Austin, Bert Williams, Fred Palmer, unknown, Frank Melrose. Front row L-R: Stan Laurel (then Jefferson), Fred Karno, Jr., Muriel Palmer, Charlie (framed in the life preserver), Arthur Dando (behind), Mike Asher & Amy (Minister) Reeves.

L-R: Alf Reeves, his wife, Amy, Muriel Palmer, & Charlie. 

Stan Laurel had vivid memories of the crossing:

The Cairnrona was a cattle boat but it didn’t carry any cattle unless you call us cattle, and sometimes that’s just how we felt. For that matter, the food did mostly taste like fodder; and the weather was pretty rough. But we had fun because we were all in a great business, we were young and we were delighted to be going where we were going. I’ll never forget the details of what happened next. We were all on deck, sitting, watching the land in the mist. Suddenly, Charlie ran to the railing, took off his hat, waved it and shouted, “America, I am coming to conquer you! Every man, woman and child shall have my name on their lips—Charles Spencer Chaplin!” We all booed him affectionately, and he bowed to us formally and sat down again. Years later whenever I met any of the old [Karno] troupe, that was the one thing about those years we remembered the best, and we used to marvel on how right Charlie had been.

(Stan Laurel quoted in Charlie Chaplin by John McCabe)