Prismark10 Work is a rather messy Chaplin short but feels overlong as some of the situations drag on.Chaplin plays a workman on his way to decorate a house, we see him pulling his boss on a cart who also whips him, there are several scenes where he crosses a train track just before the train passes through and then he struggles to get up a hill. In one scene the boss invites a friend to hop on the cart. You can see Chaplin is already taking a stand against exploitative capitalism already!Once they arrive at the middle class house, there is all kinds of slapstick as they try to wallpaper the house, there is an exploding stove, Chaplin takes a shine to the maid, and the householder's wife is visited by her secret lover.This is the first Chaplin short I have seen in some years, they just do not get repeated as often as they used to be on television. In Work Chaplin has not found his 'tramp' persona but there is some good skills used to for the slapstick but it gets too repetitive.

Steffi_P Charlie Chaplin, in what was probably his most anarchic phase, was now basing many of his short comedies around a normal, "straight" setting, into which his little tramp character could blunder, causing mayhem as he went. Work is probably the most carefully constructed and effective in this respect.The picture begins with a couple of extremely regular shots establishing the house in which most of the action is going to take place, and introducing us to its prim middle-class residents. Everything appears very formal, all composed of straight lines and neat areas of black and white. We then suddenly cut to Charlie chugging down the street with his boss's cart behind him. Everything in this shot has to do with disorder, with wonky telegraph poles, extras cutting across the frame, not to mention the ramshackle contraption the tramp is pulling. When we arrive at the harmonious household, the camera set-ups from the opening shots remain the same, but gradually the tramp's chaos begins to spread. The neatness and formality disappear while the mess and clutter builds up as, one by one, the rooms (and their occupants) are thrown into disarray.Of course, Chaplin's popularity was not just founded on his comical capers. His satirical streak, here in full swing, would have struck a chord with many in his audience. I have certainly had a fair few employers who take after Chaplin's boss, and it's great fun to see this kind of character lampooned. And as in most of Chaplin's shorts there is a heart amidst the havoc, here in the form of the "sad story" scene. Even then, Chaplin wisely keeps the comedy going and stops the moment from getting too serious and saccharine.Work is by no means the most hilarious of the Essanays, and certainly not the best developed in storyline, but on its own terms it is a pure work of genius, and positive proof that Charlie Chaplin was not just a funny little man. When it came to film-making, he knew exactly what he was doing.And last but not least, the all-important statistic – Number of kicks up the arse: 2 (2 against)

CitizenCaine Chaplin again edited, wrote, directed, and starred in this film where Chaplin plays a put upon paper hanger. Chaplin has fun poking jabs at authority figures and upper-crust hypocrisy in a film more heavily plotted than his other films of the era. The film opens with visual gags of Chaplin pulling a work cart with his boss literally cracking the whip and the difficulties he faces. They arrive at a home of a snobby husband bossing his wife around. Once the wall-hanging paste is mixed, Chaplin plays with it like a musical instrument, creating havoc in the house while taking a shine to the maid (played by Edna Purviance). Chaplin's boss is literally up to his ears with wall-hanging paste (which appears more like plaster), the stove explodes several times, and the wife's secret lover (hilariously played by Leo White), dressed like a 19th century dandy, arrives much to the chagrin of the snobby husband. More chaos ensues as Chaplin, his boss, the lover, and the couple participate in a melange of slapstick punctuated by the husband firing shots, the stove exploding, and the house's interior reduced to rubble. The film is well edited, paced, and directed with a balance of plot and slapstick. **1/2 of 4 stars.

MartinHafer This isn't a great short movie by Chaplin standards, though compared to many other slapstick films of the time, it's pretty good. In fact, the operative word for this film is "slapstick", as this movie has a larger than normal for Chaplin amount of pratfalls. Falling, hitting, exploding ovens and buckets of wallpaper paste getting tossed about is pretty much all this film is about from start to finish. This is funny, I guess, but it certainly doesn't look like a film about "the Little Tramp". And, now that I think about it, it looks like an early Chaplin film fused with a Three Stooges short. Kids will probably like it, but devoted fans of Chaplin will probably feel a tad disappointed.