guisreis "The fireman" is a funny short film from Chaplin, although not being among his very best movies. The little tramp here is, as expected, a fireman. Off course everything he does is a disaster, as he is sleepy, clumsy, quarrelsome and sneaky. The outcome is that he is probably the character most times kicked in the ass ever in the history of cinema! Chaplin's slapstick is funny as it uses to be and I always love Eric Campbell as his antagonist (here, as the furious boss, also with the same love interest as usual). The choreographs performed by the firefighters are very charming. The most interesting element in this short film, that makes it somewhat innovative ans special, are the visual effects. Although simple, they are smart and funny. The horse drawn fire pumper moving backward, the quick change of clothes by the firemen... these are all simple visual effects, off course, but they are precise in adding funny moments to the story. I said that everything our favorite fireman did was a disaster, didn't I? Well, not everything. Edna Purviance was there...

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) This 1916 Chaplin short film builds a lot on its factors from the past. It's about 24 minutes long, a duration found for several of Chaplin's shorts. Eric Campbell is the main antagonist again and Edna Purviance plays the damsel in distress, although she doesn't appear until 9 minutes in. Before that it's Chaplin versus Campbell at the fire station and as always the huge Eric Cambell gets in trouble from Charlie's accidental actions. And of course, as you could expect from the location, there's lots of water splashing and foam action going on.After the comedic action, it gets a bit more serious, when Purviance enters the picture. Attempted insurance fraud, a big dangerous fire threatening a woman's life and some more critical scenes turn it into quite a drama. Of course, it's still paired with Chaplin's slapstick routine, so it's nothing too hard to digest. Nonetheless,I have to say I wasn't too fond of this film. The fire station action wasn't half as funny as it could have been, romance was almost non-existent here and was usually a factor that elevated some of Chaplin's other works, because it was displayed with so much heart and there's a scene where Campbell's character punches Charlie with full power in the face. Surprisingly, or probably not surprisingly given the tone of Chaplin's films, he gets up pretty quickly, but that was a scene of unnecessary brutal violence that is rather uncommon for most of Chaplin's films. On a more positive note, my favorite scene was the one where Chaplin stops the alarm from ringing as he wants to finish his board-game with another fireman, which made me quite laugh. All in all, I'd recommend this one only to Chaplin fanatics and for everybody else there's better choices to get into his filmography.

Petri Pelkonen This silent short takes place in a fire station.Charlie is a fireman who does everything wrong.A man talks the fire chief into ignoring his burning home, because he wants the insurance money.What the man doesn't know is that his daughter (the love of the chief) happens to be upstairs in the house.Will Chaplin safe the day? The Fireman from 1916 is Charles Chaplin's second film he created for Mutual Film Corporation.The movie has its usual Chaplin cast.Alongside the comedian there is Edna Purviance as Girl.Lloyd Bacon is Her Father.Big man Eric Campbell is Foreman of the Brigade.Leo White plays Owner of Burning House.It's most funny to watch Chaplin waking up.And the way he uses the fireman's pole, is just hilarious.And reversing the horses is lots of fun to watch.This Chaplin short is an action-packed comedy that's gonna leave a smile on your face.

Snow Leopard 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.