Product Description

When Charlie Chaplin left Keystone Studios for more money and greater creative control at Essanay Film Manufacturing Company, he added more depth to his character, more thought to his direction, and more substance to his humor: at Essanay, he grew from a comedian to a true cinematic artist. This work carefully examines all sixteen Chaplin comedies produced at Essanay, showing Chaplin as an artist in transition from the knockabout Keystone farces to more refined, sometimes brilliant Mutual productions. From His New Job (1915) to Triple Trouble (1918), the book covers each film with key details, a history of its production, and valuable commentary that places the picture in context within Chaplin's canon.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1337926 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 220 pages

About the Author
James L. Neibaur is a film historian and a professional educator. He is also the author of Arbuckle and Keaton (2006), The Bob Hope Films (2005), The RKO Features (1994; paperback 2005) and co-author (with Ted Okuda) of The Jerry Lewis Films (1994).

Customer Reviews

Solid Chaplin Research at it's Finest
Chaplin at Essanay: A Film Artist in Transition 1915-16 is the work of film historian Jim Neibaur, who has been writing about silent and sound comedy for a quarter century. Like all his books, this one combines solid historical research with insightful analysis. Any historian working on the Essanay period has a limited set of resources to draw from beyond the films themselves. Chaplin himself rarely spoke or wrote about his Essanay period and his professional colleagues are now long gone. Rather than simply quoting other Chaplin authors from the last 50 years, Neibaur goes back to original publicity material issued by Essanay, contemporary news reports, interviews and reviews.

Framing the bulk of the book between chapters on "Keystone" and "Mutual and After", Neibaur takes each Essanay short in chronological order and presents a plot summary and full analysis as to the importance of the picture in Chaplin's development as a performer and director. Rather than seeing Chaplin's Essanay films as a series of rough drafts for better work to come, he makes a convincing case that each short can stand its own merit and urges the reader to look at the surviving films with new eyes. Neibaur looks at the progressively complex structures of the films as Chaplin took his art to new heights with each passing month. Even such overlooked films as "By the Sea" and "Shanghaied" show Chaplin pushing his mastery of slapstick to new heights. Best of all, Chaplin at Essanay is blessedly free of the academic jargon that curses many a doctoral thesis posing as a film history text. It presents itself as history and the author's interpretation of that history, nothing more or less.

Chaplin at Essanay should be on the bookshelf of all Chaplin buffs and anyone interested in our comic heritage.

Long Overdue Chaplin-Essanay Appreciation
An excellent and long overdue appreciation of Chaplin's transitional year at Essanay. Neibaur succeeds wonderfully in presenting CC's work at Essanay with the historical importance and excellence in film making development that it has always deserved. The connections from film to film showing the progress of acting, characterization, directing, plotting etc. are solid and well made. The reviews and other contemporary articles are interesting and enlightening. A must-read for Chaplin fans and film history students.