Hitchcoc Charlie is doing thankless work for unappreciative people. His wife is on his case ever minute. He tries to get better pay. His work experiences are sad and defeating. The men he works with are in the same boat. The strength of this early feature is the ingenuity of Chaplin as he navigates every moment, trying to do what is right. He is tired at the end of the day, but his virago of a wife is relentless. I look forward to other Chaplin short features, having not been exposed to them before.

lugonian PAY DAY (First National, 1922), produced, written and directed by Charlie Chaplin, is one of the all time great silent comedy shorts, and one of Chaplin's most infamous. Though Chaplin sports his signature oversize trousers, derby and twirling cane, he doesn't play the traditional vagabond tramp but a working man with a domineering spouse (Phyllis Allen) after his weekly pay check. There's not much of a story to it, but in true Chaplin essence, enough gags to guarantee 22 minutes of non-stop laughter.The story introduces Charlie as a day laborer arriving late for work, close enough to lunch time. Moments after being caught sneaking in, Charlie appeases his foreman (Mack Swain) with a white lily, which doesn't impress him very much. As Charlie slowly digs a ditch, he quickly lays the bricks at a very high speed. During a lunch break, the foreman's daughter (Edna Purviance) arrives with a boxed lunch she prepared to eat with her father. Charlie's attempt to flirt with the young lady proves as unsuccessful as trying to convince the foreman on pay day that he's underpaid for his overtime. After short changing his "First National Bank" wife (Phyllis Allen) who's come to collect her husband's money, Charlie sneaks off with some take home money for an evening on the town, followed by a series of all night misadventures for the working man. Other members of the Chaplin stock players include Henry Bergman, Sydney Chaplin, Allan Garcia, John Rand and Loyal Underwood.For Chaplin's rare venture in both the work force and domestic situations, it's hard to forget his brick laying sequence; his acquiring of food during the lunch break; disturbing the peace while singing "Sweet Adeline" with a group of drunks; and his many attempts trying to get onto various overcrowded streetcars. Even minor scenes involving cats on the kitchen table and a glimpse of the awaiting Mrs. Chaplin sound asleep while holding onto a rolling pin for her husband shows there's not a single frame wasted in PAY DAY. Everything about PAY DAY works. Everything in it is timed to perfection. As the "THE END" title hits the screen, it makes one wish for more or to know that there's even a possible sequel involving the further misadventures of husband Charlie, the working man. Though Chaplin never produced a sequel of any kind since sequels rarely compare to the originals, as original and creative as Chaplin is, more great comedies for which he starred and directed (CITY LIGHTS, MODERN TIMES) were ahead of him. PAY DAY and others like it are just perfect examples of Chaplin's proper care and perfection to what he can do to get laughs.Unlike most of Chaplin's earlier comedy shorts made during 1914-1917, PAY DAY, along with others produced during his First National Pictures period (1919-23), were those with limited or no reissues. In fact, hardly any Chaplin's comedies from 1918-1923 were ever televised until many years after Chaplin's 1977 death. Before being readily available to home video on the centennial of Chaplin's birth (1989), those long unseen Chaplin shorts and feature length films were restored and accompanied by newly composed scores conducted by Chaplin himself. For the 1989 VHS copy of Chaplin's PAY DAY, it was preceded by his 1925 masterpiece, THE GOLD RUSH. The disadvantage of that issue is that THE GOLD RUSH was not an original print but one taken from the edited 1942 reissue with Chaplin's voice over narration in place of title cards. Fortunately the complete version of THE GOLD RUSH still exists as does PAY DAY, which turns up occasionally on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: March 17, 2004). For such a job well done, Chaplin's next pay day is a well deserved raise in salary. (****)

MartinHafer This film has some highly imaginative and well-timed stunts--all revolving around Charlie's job at a construction site. All the near-falls and accidents remind me of Sweet Pea from POPEYE cartoons--as the baby is nearly killed again and again but miraculously escapes. In Chaplin's case, it involved a funny sequence when he ALMOST falls down an elevator many times, dropping objects accidentally on those below and a really interesting sight gag involving guys throwing bricks up to Charlie who catches this with complete ease (it was done by running the film backwards). Later, Charlie's hideous and scary wife is introduced and it goes from a work comedy to a domestic one. In a way, this was a minor disappointment, as I preferred the faster paced work stunts, but all-in-all this is a funny and well executed short.

Snow Leopard This Chaplin short has a lot of variety and some great moments. The first half is especially good, with some very good material featuring Charlie working at a construction site. There is a part with Charlie laying bricks that you will want to see if you are a Chaplin fan - it must have taken a lot of care and planning to film. The film also gets a lot of mileage out of the service elevator that the crew is using. The second part of the movie is not really as good as the first, mostly in that it relies too much on drunkenness for comic effect, but it also has some good gags. The best moments of this part are with Charlie and his imposing wife.